Page 135 of Our Daughter's Bones

“Good.”

“David Falkner was killed during the rescue,” he elaborated. “We arrested Nathaniel Jones for his involvement.”

Samuel closed his eyes. “I see.”

Mackenzie said, “Nathaniel gave us some disturbing information. We know what you did.”

“You know what I remember the most?” He winced as if in pain. “I remember Erica trying to sneak into this room when she was a baby. She was probably around two years old. I’d be working and I’d look down, and there she was on the floor with a mischievous smile on her face. Whenever I hear a sound, I look for her again. It’s instinct.”

They sat in knee-deep silence. There was nothing left to say. She could see Nick struggle inside—to sympathize with another father or remember what he had done.

“It doesn’t get better.” His voice broke. He gasped and held the picture tighter. “It gets worse. I just want her back. I’ll give anything.Anything.I don’t want to live in this world without her. I can’t even breathe. I… She was everything, Detective Blackwood. She was the beginning and the end and everything in between.”

Tears streamed down his face as his chest shook violently.

Mackenzie noticed a gun under one of the files on the table. She jerked up straight. Her skin felt taut. She looked at Nick and Daniel, but they seemed oblivious. Slowly, she moved closer to the table.

“Why did you join Club 916?” she asked, to distract Perez.

“I was lost. It got to my head. The power. The money. How easy everything came. Back then, when we played football and partied afterwards, things seemed simpler. We’d heard about the original club and wanted to pay tribute to them. That’s why we specifically requested those numbers. I wanted to feel that sense of brotherhood again. It was just supposed to be fun.”

“Fun?” Daniel repeated in a tight voice.

“We always went after girls who wouldn’t be missed. That foster care runaway. Your sister? I didn’t know she had a family, Agent St. Clair. It was David’s job to pick the girls. He obviously made a mistake. He grabbed her when she was on her way to the bus station. I wouldneverhurt someone who had a family.Never.I… I had a child too.”

Mackenzie moved closer to the table. “What about Abby? She had a family. You knew her too.”

“Abby was a mistake. I hadnoidea David had taken her until I got to the cabin. He told me he’d found her at Bill’s. He has a key. She said something about looking for 916, and he panicked and hit her on the head. Abby swore that she knew nothing. But we didn’t know what to believe anymore. When David attacked her, he put us all in danger.”

Swiftly, Mackenzie swiped the gun off the table. The movement drew all eyes in her direction. Shock crossed Nick and Daniel’s faces. Samuel looked at her with a wan smile. “I’ll find another way, Detective Price.”

“Who killed them?” Nick asked. “Something tells me it wasn’t you.”

“It wasn’t!” he bellowed. “I never wanted tokillthose girls. But David took it to another level. He even ordered personalized paper napkins online. He came up with a logo and got it printed on some border design from a strip club he liked. He wanted to be morecreative.Like we were a cult. I didn’t know why hebrandedthat girl either. I swear. He was violent with them. Nathaniel was indifferent. But I cared. I had a daughter. They don’t have daughters. They didn’t understand. You have no idea how many times I fought with him over this. I cared.”

“Just enough to rape them, but not kill them,” Daniel snapped.

“I’m sorry.” Samuel wiped his face with his sleeves. “I had thisurgethat I couldn’t control. I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know why. Sometimes, I go crazy thinking about it. My daughter deserved a better father.”

“Keep talking,” Nick ordered.

“We looked the other way. We let David do whatever he wanted; he couldn’t be reasoned with. He was mad. Nathaniel had a monopoly over the media. He ensured the attention was focused on other things. He got Hawkins’ computer hacked into when it all started. He was a dangerous reporter; he was that good. Peck is a good friend. Of course, he had no idea what was happening, but he was easy to influence. I would fill his ears with suggestions. I made sure the authorities weren’t looking into this seriously. Always knew what to say, how to shift attention.”

Like cutting the budget for investigating Abby’s disappearance, Mackenzie thought.And more…

“Like the burglaries in Lakemore?” she asked.

“Y-yes.” With shaking hands, Samuel swigged the remaining vodka, unfazed. “I paid them to steal and helped them get out of town. Timed them around the same time as the girls were taken. Even made Nathaniel the first target so that no one suspected us.”

“But then why Arthur Bishop in January, and Mayor Rathbone after that? Why not your home, or Falkner’s?”

“To throw off anyone who was looking for a pattern. Hawkins, especially. Plus, I never liked Bishop.”

“That’s how that cocktail napkin ended up in Erica’s room? It came from you,” Nick said.

“I must have been careless. I didn’t even realize it had ended up in her room until you told me about it.”

“When did Erica find out what you did?” Nick asked.