Authors: Karen Rose
‘Scarlett? Hello? Yo, Earth to Detective Bishop.’ She blinked as Deacon’s hand waved in front of her face. He was hunched forward, staring at her with eyes narrowed in concern. ‘You okay?’
Cheeks heating in embarrassment, she squared her shoulders. ‘Yeah. Sorry. My mind wandered for a second.’
Deacon straightened to his full height. ‘Or ten,’ he said warily. ‘Did you even hear what I just said?’
Scarlett barely resisted the urge to drop her gaze to her shoes. ‘No, I didn’t. Could you repeat it?’
‘I asked Carrie if the victim had been sexually assaulted,’ he said, still frowning.
That was a good question
, Scarlett thought.
I should have asked it myself.
Instead, she’d been daydreaming about Marcus O’Bannion’s emotional state.
Get your brain back in the damn game, Bishop
. ‘And was she?’ she asked evenly.
‘There’s no evidence of recent physical trauma per se. No vaginal bruising or fluids present. But she has been sexually active. She has gonorrhea and genital warts, vaginal and anal. They’re not visible, so she might not have known she had them. I’ve sent a culture to the lab to determine what strain is present.’
‘Not surprising,’ Scarlett said quietly. ‘I’m more surprised you didn’t find evidence of repeated assault.’
‘So was I,’ Carrie admitted, ‘especially after seeing the bruises and welts. I’ll report this to the health department – they’ll want to be informed after you’ve identified her and found her captors. Anyone who’s had sexual contact with her is potentially infected.’
‘I’d be only too happy if the bastards who raped her got infected too,’ Deacon said tightly, ‘except that they’ll take it home to their wives and girlfriends, who haven’t done anything wrong other than believing the lying sonofabitch they had the misfortune to trust in the first place.’
Surprised by the leashed viciousness in his voice, Scarlett turned to study his face. His jaw was clenched, his eyes hard, twin streaks of dark red staining his cheekbones. He was holding on to his temper by a thread. Deacon was a natural protector and she’d seen him get righteously angry on a victim’s behalf many times over their ten-month partnership. But this was more than indignant anger. This was fury, and it was personal.
And then Scarlett suddenly understood. She’d known Deacon’s sister Dani was HIV positive, but she had never asked when or how she’d contracted the virus. It was simply not her business. But now, looking at Deacon’s furious face, she realized that Dani had been one of those innocent girlfriends victimized by a lying sonofabitch.
She placed a careful hand on Deacon’s shoulder. ‘Easy,’ she murmured.
Deacon’s chest expanded as he drew a deep breath and slowly, visibly, calmed himself. Closed his eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be,’ Carrie said. ‘I couldn’t have said it better myself. So when you report it, it’ll be for the innocent wives and girlfriends.’
Carrie’s ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ seemed to calm Deacon a little further. His eyes opened, and he was back in control. ‘You got it, Doc.’
Scarlett gave his arm a squeeze before dropping her hand to her side. ‘You’ll contact us with anything new?’ she asked Carrie.
‘Absolutely, but I wasn’t finished,’ Carrie said.
Scarlett’s heart sank. ‘There’s more?’
Carrie nodded. ‘Your victim has given birth at least once. From the pelvic spread, I’d say the birth occurred within the past one to three years and that the child was carried to term.’
Scarlett felt the added weight of new dread settle over her. ‘Assuming that the child lived, he’s out there somewhere.’
‘I’d say her child lived,’ Carrie said grimly. ‘Your victim was still lactating.’
Deacon’s jaw tightened. ‘Then we’ve got a baby out there somewhere who’s becoming very hungry.’
Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday 4 August, 8.45
A.M.
Marcus stared at the phone on his desk for a long, long moment before forcing himself to pick it up and call his mother. Her maid picked it up on the first ring and Marcus nearly collapsed in relief, like the coward he was. Guilt chased the relief, quickly overwhelming it.
‘Yarborough residence. May I help you?’
Della Yarborough had retaken her maiden name when she and Jeremy O’Bannion had divorced almost twenty years ago now. Here in Cincinnati, the Yarborough name had status and his mother had known the power it could wield. But Marcus and Stone had kept Jeremy’s name, a gesture of love and support for the stepfather who’d legally adopted them, caring for them like they’d been his own sons.
‘Hi, Fiona. It’s Marcus. Is she awake?’ he asked, even though he knew the answer. The quick pickup of the phone meant that his mother was still asleep. That she was still asleep meant that she’d taken sleeping pills the night before. She’d been going to bed earlier and earlier and sleeping later and later as the weeks went by.
‘No, sir,’ Fiona said quietly.
‘Have you been in to check on her this morning?’
‘Yes, sir, three times since dawn. She’s sleeping soundly. Can I help you with something?’
‘Um, well, yes. When she wakes up, have her call me or Stone, right away.’
‘Is something wrong?’
‘No, no, we’re both fine. But there’s a story online that I’d like to talk to her about before she reads it. It will be in the morning papers too, so I need to talk to her before she reads those.’
‘All right,’ Fiona said hesitantly. ‘Should I have her doctor here?’
‘No, I just want her to hear my voice and know I’m all right. Thanks, Fi.’
Marcus hung up, torn between anger and pity and fear for his mother. He’d nearly lost her once. He didn’t want her to get to that place ever, ever again. Especially by her own hand. But there didn’t seem to be much he could do. She’d do what she wanted to do, no matter what he said, no matter how worried he became.
With a slight wince he remembered Cal’s almost identical words from morning meeting.
At least I come by my stubbornness honestly.
He checked his cell phone, knowing he had several calls or texts. He’d felt his phone vibrate at least five times during morning meeting. He sighed when he checked his log. Two of the four calls and two of the texts were from Scarlett Bishop. The others were from his stepfather. Marcus knew what the detective wanted – most likely the same thing she’d wanted before he went into the meeting. The list of threats. But he listened to the new messages anyway, just to hear her voice. And how goddamn pathetic was that?
The first message was another request for a status update, asking if he’d sent the list yet. The second message sounded worried. ‘Marcus, it’s Scarlett Bishop. I haven’t heard from you and I’m . . . well, I just wanted to be sure you were all right. If your back begins to bother you, I hope you’ll call for medical attention. I hope you’re simply getting some rest. Could you call me when you wake up? I have a few follow-up questions.’
Marcus played the second message twice more and would have played it a third time had his cell not started to ring in that moment. It was his stepfather, Jeremy, which made sense since the last two messages were from him.
He answered, feeling a bit foolish for listening to Scarlett’s message several times before playing Jeremy’s even once. That Jeremy O’Bannion was his stepfather was a blessing for which he’d be grateful for the rest of his life. The man had come into their lives when he and Stone had been so young, so broken. And so desperate for a good father. Despite being only twenty-one at the time – only eleven years older than Marcus – Jeremy had adopted them, given them his last name and helped drive many of their nightmares away.
Jeremy loved them and Marcus loved him too, even though he and his mother were no longer married. ‘Hi, Jeremy. What’s up?’
A long sigh. ‘God, Marcus, I needed to hear your voice. I’ve been worried ever since Detective Bishop called me.’
Marcus blinked. Hard. ‘Scarlett Bishop called you? Why?’
‘She was looking for you. She thought maybe you’d come to my house for some reason, since you weren’t answering your home or cell. I made her tell me why she was looking for you because she sounded worried.’
A delicious heat curled around Marcus’s heart. ‘I’m fine, just busy. I was in morning meeting. I’ll call her back.’
When I’ve finished that damn list
. ‘Where are you?’ he asked when he heard a familiar bark in the background.
‘Home. I went to your apartment to see if you were there, but I only found BB. I . . . brought her home with me for a while. I hope you don’t mind. She’s . . . I know it sounds silly, but sometimes . . .’
‘She’s all we have left of Mikhail,’ Marcus murmured, his heart breaking for Jeremy’s double loss. Jeremy had found out that Mikhail was his son only a short time before Mickey’s murder. Jeremy had always loved Mikhail, who’d been conceived after the divorce in what had appeared to be a one-time fling. Marcus understood why his mother had kept the identity of Mikhail’s father a secret – she’d been worried that Jeremy’s new partner, Keith, would be angry at Jeremy’s indiscretion. But the secret had cost both Jeremy and Mikhail dearly. Mikhail had missed out on having the best father on the planet, and poor Jeremy . . . To have found out Mikhail was his son only to lose him so soon thereafter had broken his heart.
‘Exactly,’ Jeremy said quietly. ‘You always seem to understand. Your heart is too big, Marcus. It’s going to get you hurt someday.’
‘I’m fine,’ Marcus assured him. ‘Barely a bruise.’ That was a goddamn lie, but Marcus told it convincingly. ‘Are you all right, Dad?’
He didn’t always call Jeremy ‘Dad’, but sometimes he needed to say it and he thought Jeremy needed to hear it.
‘I’m fine,’ Jeremy said hoarsely, tears in his voice. ‘I tried to call your mother. I didn’t want her to read about it online.’
‘I know. So did I. But she was still asleep.’
‘I’m worried about her, Marcus. She’s taking so many pills. Along with her drinking . . .’
One of the things that Marcus loved about Jeremy was that the man loved others so genuinely. He understood why Jeremy hadn’t been able to stay married to his mother, but he also knew that the divorce hadn’t meant that he had stopped caring about her or her children.
Marcus’s mother had explained everything to her sons when she and Jeremy had filed for divorce, because they’d been so angry and hurt with Jeremy for leaving. But Della hadn’t been angry or hurt. Jeremy had been honest with her, telling her that he was gay when they’d first met. She’d only asked that he be discreet and not cheat with other women. She’d had enough of that with Marcus and Stone’s biological father. Della and Jeremy had nearly a decade of happiness and had produced Audrey together. But then Jeremy had met Sammy.
He’d asked for a divorce, and Della had given her blessing. She’d been so truly happy for them that Marcus and Stone couldn’t help but be happy too. They’d all loved Sammy, and when he had been killed in a car accident, they’d all grieved along with Jeremy.
Jeremy’s new partner, Keith . . . Well, he was intense. Not a bad guy, but not a super-friendly type. Marcus suspected that he was threatened by the family bonds that Jeremy had been unwilling to sever. Especially Jeremy’s bond with Della. Whenever she’d needed him, Jeremy had dropped everything to go to her side.
‘I’m worried too,’ Marcus said. ‘I tried to get her to therapy. I thought Faith might actually have managed it, but Mom backed out at the last minute.’
Jeremy’s chuckle was watery. ‘That Faith. She’s got a big heart too. Promise me you’ll be careful, son. Please.’
‘I promise. How’s Keith?’
‘Grumpy, but he’s walking again.’ Jeremy’s husband had had to undergo knee replacements on both legs because his kneecaps had been shot by the same psychopath who’d shot Marcus and stalked and tried to kill his cousin Faith on multiple occasions.
The man had murdered Mikhail in cold blood when he’d found him in the family’s cabin in the Kentucky forest. The murderer had been using the cabin to hide the two young women he’d taken hostage, and Mikhail had simply been there at the wrong time. Stone had been the one to find Mikhail’s body, sending him spiraling into the dark place where he retreated when his memories became too intense to bear.
Mikhail had been shot in the head. Marcus swallowed hard.
Just like Tala
.
He cleared his throat roughly. Pushed the memory of the hole in Tala’s head to the side so that he could focus. ‘I’m glad he’s doing better. Tell him that we’ve been missing him at third base.’ Keith had been one of the best players on the
Ledger
’s softball team. ‘We’re six games behind the guys at the country radio station.’
‘I’ll tell him. I have class this afternoon, so I’ll drop BB back at your place around noon. Will you be home by then?’
‘God, I hope so,’ Marcus muttered. ‘If not, it won’t be much after that. I’ll make sure I walk her this afternoon. Thanks, Jeremy. And if Detective Bishop calls back, tell her I’m fine.’
‘That’s all you want me to tell her?’ Jeremy asked. ‘I’m not stupid, son. I heard what she didn’t say. She was pretty scared for you this morning too.’
The warmth returned to curl around Marcus’s heart. ‘That’s all I want you to tell her, Dad. And don’t tell Audrey. She’s a pest about stuff like this.’