Page 50 of Knife in the Back (New Orleans #4)

“It was the first time the cop I suspected had been put on the guard roster,” André said. “That was the other thing that drew my eye. I’ve kept a tight rein on who was standing outside Susan’s door. She’s our only witness right now.”

“She’s wary,” Shannon said. “She didn’t trust us at first, but it’s getting better. I don’t know what you’ll get out of her today, but do not press her. Her vitals still aren’t stable and her throat is sore, so talking will hurt. She just had her breathing tube removed.”

“We’ll be gentle,” Naomi assured her. “We just want to know what, if anything, she heard that can help us find who took her. Who hurt her.”

Shannon’s expression softened. “We want that, too.”

“Did the nurse have a badge?” Val asked as they resumed walking to Susan’s room. “One that let her into the ICU ward?”

“She did.” André scowled. “Stole it off one of the nurses who’d clocked out. The nurse was shocked when I called her to find out if she still had her badge. She said that she bumped into someone coming off the elevator but had no idea that her badge had been taken out of her purse.”

Shannon stopped at a closed door, where a uniformed officer stood.

“No activity, Captain,” the officer said to André.

André gave the officer a nod. “Thank you.”

“Five minutes,” Shannon reminded them as she escorted them into the girl’s room.

Naomi’s heart hurt when she set eyes on Susan Snyder. The girl looked so young. So frail. So scared.

“These are the people I told you about,” Nurse Shannon said.

“This is Naomi, Burke, and Val. They’re private investigators.

They’re working with Captain Holmes, who you’ve also met.

You can tell them whatever you like or you can say nothing.

No one will force you. And if it gets to be too much, I’ll make them leave. ”

Susan gave them all a thorough inspection. She was indeed wary. But she nodded. “Okay.”

Naomi patted the plastic chair that sat next to the bed. “Is it okay if I sit down?”

A wordless nod was Susan’s answer, so Naomi lowered herself into the chair. “I’m Naomi. The people who hurt you framed me for a crime I didn’t commit,” she said quietly. “I went to prison for five years.”

“I’m sorry,” Susan whispered. “That you went to prison.”

“And I’m sorry for what happened to you.”

Susan’s eyes filled as she turned her face away.

Naomi took her hand. “Is this okay? If I hold your hand?”

Susan’s nod was slight. “Is that why you’re chasing them? Because they put you in prison?”

“No. I’m chasing them because they threatened to hurt my fifteen-year-old son if I didn’t sell drugs for them.”

“I can believe that,” Susan said bitterly.

“Did they ask you to sell drugs for them?” André asked from the foot of her bed.

Susan swallowed again. “Yeah. I hated it. Made the men worse. You know, the men who paid to…”

“We get it,” Naomi murmured. “They tried to abduct my son on Monday afternoon. They weren’t successful.”

“Good,” Susan whispered harshly. “They would have done to him what they did to me.” She glanced at André. “They have boys there, too. Not only girls.”

Naomi’s gut twisted. Thank you, Harrison. Thank you for keeping my son from a similar fate.

“Thank you, Susan,” André said. “We thought they might, but we weren’t certain.”

“Did you check for missing kids?” Susan demanded.

“I have,” André said, his tone grave. “Since we found out that you went missing out of the foster care system, I’ve had my teams running searches for other missing kids.”

Which is something we should have been doing , Naomi thought. They’d been distracted by Gaffney and his people at every turn. Shootings, abductions, burning homes…

But it seemed Captain Holmes had been focused on the right things.

“Did you find any?” Susan asked.

“Too many,” André admitted. “I’ve got photos that I’m going to ask you to look at when you’re ready. Maybe you’ve seen some of them.”

“Okay. I can do that.” Susan turned back to Naomi. “What do you want to know?”

“Do you know where they were keeping you?” Naomi asked. André had said that Susan hadn’t been able to answer that question using the alphabet card when she’d first awoken from the coma, but if her thoughts were getting clearer, it was worth a second ask.

“No, but it was really nice.” Susan tightened her hold on Naomi’s hand. “It was a mansion. There were five of us in our room, but it was still nicer than anywhere I’ve ever lived. We got to sleep in nice beds. During the day.”

“But at night?”

Susan looked away. “At night it was bad.”

“But you were found in a motel room,” Val said. “Were you assaulted in the mansion or in motel rooms? Or both?”

“Both. Some of the customers didn’t trust coming to a fancy house, Pablo said.

That they thought it was a police trap. So there were a few of us who got taken to the motels to meet customers.

” She fussed with the sheet, distressed.

When she spoke again, it was to change the subject. “Did you get…hurt? In prison?”

“No. Well, yes. I was stabbed in the neck and nearly died, but I wasn’t sexually assaulted, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then you don’t really get it.”

“I don’t,” Naomi agreed.

“I do.” Val stepped up to the other side of the bed. “I know what you’re talking about, Susan. I was raped years ago. Not the same as what you experienced, but I do understand the basics.”

Susan met Val’s gaze. “I wish you didn’t. I don’t wish that for anyone.”

“I understand that, too,” Val said gently. “But you can trust me and my friends. You can trust Captain Holmes. And when this is all over, you have my word that I’ll help you get back on your feet, whatever that looks like.”

“I’m sixteen,” Susan said bitterly. “They’ll put me back in the system.”

“I know good people in the foster system. We can help you have a good life.”

Tears streaked down Susan’s face. “I can’t think that far.”

“I know,” Val said, plucking a tissue from the box on the nightstand and drying Susan’s cheeks. “But we can. So let us do the thinking. All you need to do is get better.”

“And help you find the people who did this to me,” Susan said, her jaw set in determination. “To all of us kids.”

“Yes,” Naomi said. “Who did you see at this mansion where you stayed?”

“They wore masks, all the time. Fancy masks with feathers. For Mardi Gras, you know.”

“That sounds creepy,” Naomi said.

“It was. I heard voices, but I didn’t see most of their faces. Just Pablo, and I already told the police about him. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, honey,” Naomi said quietly. “How many adults did you see? Even the ones wearing masks.”

“Three women. Three men, plus Pablo. He was the only one who didn’t wear a mask in the mansion. The others did.”

“What were their roles?”

“Only one of the women was there all the time. She served us food in our rooms, washed the clothes.” Susan closed her eyes. “Made sure we got condoms. Made sure we used them. One of the other women called her Maya. She said she was our ‘ housemother .’?” She spat the word. “Like she cared .”

“How old do you think she was?” Val asked.

“Not too old. Maybe college aged? Not as old as either of you.”

Naomi gave her hand a light squeeze. “What about the other two women?”

“One was our recruiter. They called her Elaine. She was older. Maybe your age. I never saw her face, there in the mansion, but I think I knew her.”

“You only have another minute,” Nurse Shannon said. “Sorry.”

“No.” Susan shook her head. “Let them stay. I want to tell them. I want them to catch those bastards.” Her pulse monitor started to beep and it looked like Shannon was about to throw them all out.

“Deep breaths,” Val said. “Gotta bring down your blood pressure or Nurse Shannon’s gonna be unhappy with us.”

Susan complied, breathing with Val until both her pulse and blood pressure had decreased.

“How did you know the woman they called Elaine?” Naomi asked.

“You’re not going to believe me,” Susan muttered.

“I think you’ll find we will,” Naomi said, taking her phone from her pocket. They’d all downloaded the photos that had been posted on the whiteboard in Burke’s home office, so that anyone who got the opportunity could show them to Susan.

“She was my social worker. Back in Baton Rouge.”

“Oh no,” Naomi murmured. “That’s why so many kids came out of foster care.”

Susan nodded, her lips trembling. “I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

“We do.” Naomi showed Susan her phone. “Do any of these women look familiar?”

Susan shook her head at the photo of Winnifred but then went stiff at the photo of the woman who’d been seen coming and going from the Delgados’ house, posing as a nurse.

The woman who’d helped bug both Molly’s and Val’s cars, and—for reasons they did not yet understand—had kept Ernesto Delgado from taking Harper.

“Her,” Susan whispered. “That’s her. You have to find her.”

“I’ve sent my computer expert her first name,” Burke said, “and that she was a social worker in Baton Rouge. We’ll have a full name in a short while. Thank you, Susan. That’s helpful.”

“I want her to die.” Susan began to cry again. “She said she was moving me to a better house. Somewhere I could have a real family.”

Naomi’s heart broke. “She lied.”

“Yeah. She must have drugged me because I woke up later and I was trapped.”

“In the mansion?” Val asked.

“No. Not then. That’s when I was twelve. It was a man’s house, out in the country. Just one man. His name was Charles Hanson. He made me…do things.”

Naomi brought Susan’s hand to her cheek. “You don’t have to say any more about that. How did you get to the mansion?”

“Elaine came to see Charles one day. Said she’d trade him for me. Said she’d give him another girl who was younger. He liked them younger. I was too old, he said. She drugged me again, and that’s when I woke up at the mansion.”

Behind Naomi, Burke drew a deep breath. “My computer guy’s already found her name. Elaine Billings.”

“I’ll get out a BOLO on Elaine Billings and Charles Hanson,” André said and began tapping his phone screen.