Page 61 of The Sister's Curse

“No,” I said. “I’m not here because of him. I’m here because I thought something might have happened to you.”

She made a face. “I’m trying to get out of here. Can you…can you maybe pretend you never saw me?”

“How are you going to get out of here sitting in a gas station?” I asked.

Bored of mice, Gibby trotted out of the shadows and headed behind the counter. He snuffled at Leah. She rubbed his nose. “Is he a police dog or something?”

“Gibby’s not a police dog. He’s my pet.”

“He’s cute.”

I waited for her to speak again. It was a tricky thing, waiting for a victim to open up. Leah had things to say. I didn’t think I got the full story from her the night Mason nearly drowned—she was too focused on that, and she didn’t know if she could trust me. She didn’t dare say much in front of her father, angry as she was. But now…it was just her and me and the dark. She was in huge trouble. She knew it. And maybe she didn’t have anything to lose.

She eventually sighed. “My boyfriend’s supposed to pick me up here, and we’re gonna run away to the city.”

I pulled up a wobbly stool and sat down. “Your boyfriend?”

“Well, I thought he was my boyfriend.” She stared at the ceiling, blinking back tears. “He didn’t show up. And he left me on read.”

“I’m sorry, Leah.” She must have had a burner phone.

“Yeah, me, too.” She scrubbed her arm across her face, smearing her makeup. She wasn’t wearing her standard-issue pearl purity ring. “There’s gonna be hell to pay when I go back, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean?”

She focused on Gibby. “My dad will be furious that I tried to run away. He’ll be humiliated, and if he’s humiliated, he’ll take it out on me. Last time I embarrassed him, he locked me in the basement.”

“Leah, that’s not right.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, well…nobody’s gonna stop him, you know? My mom didn’t.”

“How long has she been gone?”

“She died when I was eight.” Leah’s fist clenched, and she radiated wrath. “Dad—I mean, he’s really my stepdad—wouldn’t let her see a doctor. Said that God would heal her. He didn’t. I stopped believing in God then.”

“I can see why.” I exhaled. “Where’s your biological dad?”

She shrugged. “No idea. Don’t remember him.”

“Leah, did you call 911 yesterday, about screaming from the church?”

She looked away. “Yeah. I couldn’t…I couldn’t stand the screaming.”

“Did you know what they were doing?”

She nodded. “Girls get rebaptized if they’re disobedient. It’s a thing. Purified.”

My heart hammered. If I could get her to say this to CPS, then I could keep Rebecca safe. And Sarah and Elizabeth. And maybe more girls…

“Do you believe in God?” she asked me.

I was taken aback by the question. I mulled it over. “I don’t believe in a god, no, not the way there’s one in the Bible.”

“I didn’t think you did. If you were in my dad’s church, you wouldn’t be able to be a cop.” I thought I detected a moment of longing in her voice.

“Leah. Is your father abusing you?”

She pressed her crimson lips together. “I’m supposed to do what he says, since he’s a man. And God talks to him. I get sent to the basement if I misbehave. Away from God’s light, he says.”