Page 32

THIRTY-TWO

Gabriel

I don’t know what possesses me to stop by the hospital to see Sadie a few days after Abby’s death when it clearly isn’t our case to deal with. I force Liam to go with me, which he thinks is ridiculous and states that “Just because she lived doesn’t mean she deserves special attention.”

But I drag him there anyway because I feel like the two of them maybe have a bit more in common than Liam would ever believe.

“I wish we had more answers on why Abby chose to do this,” I say as we head across the parking lot toward the hospital.

Liam sighs. “I think at the end of the day it was simply a darkness inside of her. I don’t think you’ll ever get the answers you’re hoping for, like her stating that they were all horrible people or they deserved it or whatever. She wanted to manipulate others, watch them as they’re pushed to the brink, and she found people willing to do so. You watched Matthew’s interview with Ryan. He felt no remorse for what he did. He honestly seemed to believe that these people deserved it. He claimed that she found them and basically ran the whole thing. She knew how to dive into the darkest desires of people to find those who would join her.

“We could claim Abby did it because she was neglected and abused but in reality, I think she just liked the way it made her feel. Unless someone else can dig up something that this group of unrelated people did to piss her off, I don’t think we’re going to get the answers you want,” Liam says.

“I wonder if there was a reason they all had a similar look to them. Was there something behind it? Or was she simply drawn to that type of person?”

“I’m not sure. I think some killers are just drawn to specific people. It’s hard to understand motives. Although she did say something about how perfect people were monsters, so maybe she especially hated people others perceived as perfect.”

I shrug. “I just really thought we could help her… I thought we were helping her. And instead, we were playing her fucked-up game. I still wonder what was so important about the iPad that she hid on the cabinet in Mitch’s house. If she had videos of what happened on there, wouldn’t we have found them?”

“You know, I was thinking about that this morning. I think it was that she didn’t want whoever had killed Steven to see who she interacted with. We weren’t looking into her information with the belief that she was the killer. Obviously, it wasn’t blatant who she was communicating with on there, but I can bet you if we looked through it with that in mind, we’d find connections. She probably had nicknames for those she worked with, but if we tore it apart, I bet we could find something.”

“We’ll have them look into that then, see if that’s why she was trying to keep it hidden,” I say as we get in the elevator to head up to Sadie’s floor. “I know you were disappointed you didn’t get to interview Sadie, but Matthew did a good job getting information out of her. It sounds like after she nosed into Jesse’s file and realized her sister’s death wasn’t accidental, she looked into who was with Christa that night. Sadie had spoken to Steven previously, back when they were younger, I guess. Sounds like after realizing Christa was murdered, she stalked him for a while until she found one of his videos. It was the only one on his computer she’d snuck in to look through, almost like it got saved to the wrong place. It wasn’t of Christa’s death, but it gave her enough of an idea of what was happening. So then when she had Steven tied up, he finally spilled to her where more of the tapes were. Sounds like Christa’s wasn’t in there, though.”

“She did some good detective work piecing together the connection of people from when Christa was alive versus the stills from the videos she found. I know she mentioned that Christa liked taking photographs, so she could thankfully compare those; otherwise, she’s unsure if she’d have ever narrowed them down,” Liam says. “But it’s still impressive.”

“I think you’re supposed to say things like ‘Oh, I wish she’d have gone to the police,’ and not ‘That’s impressive!’” I tease.

Liam just grins at me.

“Do you think anything will ever come to light about the other girl with the tattoo who was listed as a suicide? Like we never found her in any of the recordings we watched, but that doesn’t mean there’s not one out there. I guess none of the other targets had a tattoo. It might have just been something Abby and her close friends had done and tragedy fell on both of them.”

“Possibly. I did peek at her case some more when Matthew wasn’t looking and I didn’t see anything off about it. A part of me wonders if she knew… was it too much and the guilt made her kill herself? Surely not everyone Abby tried to manipulate stayed with her until the end.”

I look over at him. “I didn’t think about that.”

The elevator door opens up on the fourth floor and we step out.

Liam walks into room 421, takes one look at Sadie, and gives her a thumbs-up. “You’re alive. Good job. A-plus for effort.”

She seems confused, but aren’t we all when dealing with Liam?

“How are you feeling?” I ask, which I feel is a more normal greeting.

Sadie stares at us for a long moment before she goes, “Numb. Christa adored Abby. She looked up to her. Wanted to be just like her. How could Abby just… I guess this is a reminder that you should trust no one. I tried so hard to believe there were good people out there… but now I don’t know what to believe.”

“You’re going to have plenty of time in prison to make friends,” Liam assures her, which… isn’t the most helpful.

She snorts. “I sure will, won’t I?”

“Not everyone is bad,” I say. “Just like not everyone will screw you over or refuse to help. I’m glad we could find you the answers you deserved. I’m sorry they came so late… and I’m sorry they ended up destroying so much for you. I really wish you could have come to us sooner… before all of this.”

“You act like I was an innocent party in this,” Sadie responds. “But I just… I hated them so much. I hated all of them to the point that I saw no reason. I was blind to everything else. I just wanted them to fucking end. And now that they’re all gone… it didn’t bring Christa back.”

“That’s why you find something else to live for,” Liam tells her before glancing over at me. “Took me over twenty years, but I found it.”

She shrugs. “Maybe there’s still hope yet.”

“Well, this was fun, but we have a meeting, so we have to go,” Liam says. “Have fun in prison.”

I quirk an eyebrow at him, wondering if that’s generally what someone says when they’re shipping someone off to prison, but Liam doesn’t care. Of course he doesn’t.

We head out the door and I look over at him. “What meeting do we have to get to?”

“Meeting you in my bed,” Liam says with a wink.

“You have fun with that. I need to go to my house. Do you think you can drop me off there? I’ll head over for dinner, that okay?”

“Sure. You don’t want me to hang with you?”

“I just have some shit to do, and I’ll be over. I’ll be over even faster if you make me cookies.”

“Yes, my darling. Cookies for you. Make sure you bring them to work tomorrow and eat them in front of everyone and don’t share. Moan, too.”

“Oh yes, that’s definitely my plan. Moaning was already on the table. But you know if I bring them to work I’m going to cave and give them to someone, and then we’ll have another Donna on our hands.”

“That’s true…”

We head out to Liam’s car and I slide into the passenger seat. “I feel really bad for her.”

Liam shrugs. “She can rest easy now that all of her demons are dead. My demon, on the other hand…” He trails off, doubtlessly thinking about Kenny. “I have to go testify or some shit. Sounds horrible. Would have been so much easier to just…” He draws a line over his throat. “You know?”

“No, I don’t know,” I say.

“You know… just like… pow, dead.”

“I’m still rather confused how that’s easier than going to testify.”

“It just is.”

“I wonder what will happen with him.”

“Hopefully he gets free, and I can just like… haunt him. Steadily drive him crazy. Break into his house like once a year on the anniversary of him breaking into my house. Now that would be delightful.”

“Absolutely none of that is a good idea,” I say with a grin.

“Sometimes I feel like you need to broaden your hobbies,” Liam tells me.

“Do I? Do I really ?”

Liam just laughs, likely fantasizing about the two of us kidnapping Kenny.

He drives me home and drops me off, so I head into my bedroom as Lucille Pawl trots after me.

“Hey, baby girl,” I say as I drop her carrier in front of her. She hisses at it and beats it around a bit as I grab a box and toss it on the bed. I throw some clothes and books into it before closing it up and heading toward the carrier when I hear the doorbell go off. I bring the box over to the front door and set it down before opening the door and seeing that it’s Cole. I haven’t seen him since the brawl in the front yard.

“Hey,” I say.

He gives me a soft smile. “Sup.”

“How are you?”

“Fine,” he says as I look over and notice an unfamiliar car in his driveway. “That’s my grandma.”

“Yeah? You staying with her?”

Cole fiddles with the edge of his jacket. “Yeah… It’s… been different. I never met her before… well, I guess I did when my mom was still alive. But my dad didn’t like her, so I don’t remember her. She’s nice… really nice.”

“I’m glad.”

“I don’t know why I turned down help for so long,” he says quietly.

“It’s okay.”

“I didn’t know… no… I knew. I just… I just wanted him to love me and care about me… and I was stupid.”

“You weren’t stupid, Cole.”

He shakes his head. “I just… can I come by the department again? I just… I want to learn more about what that lab lady does. I… I think I want to do that.”

“Of course,” I say. “Let me give you my number.”

I back into the house and grab a notepad and write it down. “Please don’t hesitate to call or text me if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” he says as he starts back toward his house and I watch him go, glad I could help someone. Glad that he could come to us. That he won’t stay on the dark road that leads to nightmares like Sadie and Abby and so many others faced.

With a sigh, I turn from the door and grab the carrier. After Lucille makes sure her legs spread every which way so that she won’t fit in the carrier, I finally stuff her into it before grabbing the box. As she yowls out her complaints, I drive to Liam’s house.

I sling the strap on Lucille’s carrier over my shoulder and grab the box before heading up to the front door. Instead of letting myself in like I usually do, I hit the doorbell.

It doesn’t take long for Liam to swing open the door and look out at me in confusion. “Here I thought it was someone absolutely dreadful ringing the doorbell that I’d have to interact with.”

“How heinous.”

“I know, right?”

“I was just… wondering if you and Butter had room for two more.”

Liam eyes me for a long moment. “Like… for dinner?”

“No. For good.”

He’s clearly trying his absolute hardest not to beam at me before shrugging. “Uh… yeah, I guess there’s enough room.”

“Yeah?” I ask with a grin.

“If I have to let you into my home, I guess I will. What do you think, Margarine?”

I laugh as he breaks into a smile that ignites across his entire face. He doesn’t need to say a single word to show how excited he is. When I met Liam, I had absolutely no idea this man could smile like this. He quickly takes the box from me as he steps back and waves me into his home… no… our home.

“Welcome home,” he says.

“I’m happy to be home,” I respond as he pulls me in for a kiss.