Jill occupied the seat next to Audrey, but it was Keith's leg on which she rested her head. Her eyes were closed, but tears were seeping out, wetting the knee of Keith's trousers. Jeremy's husband had an uncharacteristically gentle expression on his face as he stroked the hair off Jill's forehead. Once again Scarlett was reminded of how young the girl was. And how prescient. This was exactly what Jill had feared her aunt getting hurt because of the risks Marcus and his team had taken.

Lisette and Diesel shared a sofa, looking shell-shocked and numb and alone. Everyone, with the exception of Scarlett's parents, looked shell-shocked.

Everyone, including her parents, wore body armor heavy vests that looked sadly out of place. Marcus had taken his helmet off once he'd gotten to the safety of the waiting room, but he'd worn it just as he'd promised.

Scarlett went straight to Marcus and kissed his forehead. 'Nothing,' she murmured in his ear. 'I'm sorry. DJ is one of the coolest customers I've seen in years. He wouldn't give me a thing. Even Alice gave us more.'

Marcus's shoulders sagged. 'I didn't think he would, but I'd hoped.'

'I left Kate with him, hoping she'd have better luck. Any news on Stone?'

'In surgery. Deacon came with him in the ambulance but left to go back to the . . .' He swallowed. 'Back to the crime scene. Stone stayed conscious all the way to the hospital. Long enough for us to see him before they took him to the OR.' He opened his mouth, then closed it after looking at his mother.

Scarlett nodded, understanding that they'd debrief more privately. She noted Della Yarborough's curious, yet muted, glance. Marcus's mother wasn't blitzed out, but she had definitely taken something. Maybe a lot of somethings.

Scarlett leaned down and kissed her own mother on the cheek. 'Hi, Mom. I didn't expect to see you here.'

'Your father called to say he wouldn't be home for dinner and he told me about Marcus. If he's important to you, he's important to us. So we're here.'

Scarlett's heart swelled. 'Thank you.' She turned to Marcus's mother, half kneeling so that the older woman didn't have to look up. 'Mrs Yarborough. I . . . I wish we weren't seeing each other again under these circumstances.'

'Just Della is fine.' Della's mouth curved, but she didn't hold the smile, as if it took too much energy. 'So you and my Marcus . . . ?'

Scarlett's cheeks heated. 'Yes, ma'am. I hope you're okay with that.'

'And if I'm not?'

'I would respectfully keep him anyway.'

Della's smile lasted a little longer this time before dimming. 'You came to Mikhail's funeral. You didn't have to.'

'I did have to.' She hesitated, then shrugged. 'I go to all the funerals. For all of the victims. It seems like the right thing to do.'

A slow-motion nod. 'You'll be perfect for Marcus. So yes, Scarlett, I'm okay with it.'

'Whew.' Scarlett smiled up at her. 'I was worried there for a second or two.' She looked over at her own mother and saw approval. Jackie gave her a nod and it felt good.

Abruptly Della skewered Scarlett with a look. 'Do you know where Gayle is yet?'

'No, ma'am, not yet. But we're looking.' A rustling behind Scarlett had her turning to see Jill coming to her feet, her expression grim, her eyes red from crying.

'Not hard enough,' Jill said coldly. 'You have suspects in custody. You're the super-cop. Make them tell you where that bastard took my aunt.'

Scarlett rose slowly, suddenly bone-tired. 'I'm no super-cop, Jill, and this is real life. The suspects don't always talk. A lot of times they don't. Sometimes a lot of times I want to strangle the truth out of them, but I can't do that.'

'Trick them into confessing.'

God, she's young. 'If they're dumb enough to be tricked, they're probably so dumb that I don't need a confession. They leave evidence all over the place. Unfortunately the people who took your aunt aren't dumb.'

Jill wasn't convinced. 'Then make a deal, dammit.'

'That's not going to happen. These people have killed too many people, have bought and sold families and made them slaves. They've trafficked children, Jill. Innocent children. We don't even know what the children suffered. Do you think your aunt would really want these criminals walking free, victimizing even more people?'

Jill's face crumpled, her shoulders sagging as she hugged herself, her sobs starting anew. 'They have my aunt. They've killed all those people and they have my aunt.'

Sighing wearily, Scarlett gathered the girl in her arms. For a moment they just stood there, then Jill balled her hands into fists and pounded them into Scarlett's collarbones, so hard that Scarlett found herself knocked back a step and sucking in a lungful of air.

Fury in her eyes, the girls fists came up like she was considering throwing a real punch. 'No,' Jill fumed. 'You don't get to act like you care. Not until you bring her home.'

Scarlett heard both her father and Marcus come to their feet behind her. She lifted her hand, staying them, and took Jill's arm in a firm grip. 'Come on. Let's take a walk.'

'Scarlett?' Faith murmured, looking concerned. 'Remember, she's just a kid.'

Scarlett rolled her eyes. 'Finally somebody sees my mean streak. I thought I'd gone soft.' She heard a few chuckles as the tension in the room went down a notch. Even Jill smiled, and that pissed Scarlett off all over again. 'But you know what? She isn't just a kid. She's nineteen and old enough to take a swing at a cop. So she can damn well listen to what I have to say. Don't worry, Faith. We're just going to take a walk.' She tightened her grip a little when Jill tried to pull free. 'Don't make me worry Faith any more than I already have, kid.'

Jill stopped fighting and allowed herself to be led to another, smaller waiting room which was unoccupied. She yanked her arm free, rubbing her wrist. 'You hurt me.'

'That hurt you? Fuck that. You're lucky I didn't break both of your arms.'

The curse got Jill's attention, and the threat made her seethe. 'You wouldn't.'

'You're right. I wouldn't, because I can control myself. If I'd let my reflexes rule me, you would have carpet burns on your face right now. I'm going to say this only once. Grow the hell up. You're scared and pissed off. I get that. But you're not the only one who loves Gayle or who's worried about her. You're just the only one throwing a temper tantrum over it. That one hit was your freebie, kid. You touch me again and I will not control myself. Understood?'

'Yes,' Jill said sullenly.

'All right. If you want to be a temperamental brat, stay here alone. If you want to help your aunt, then settle down.'

Jill sat down. 'I'll stay here.'

'Fine.' Scarlett started to leave, but her adrenaline abruptly crashed, along with her blood sugar. Exhaustion hit her almost as hard as Jill had, and the chair next to the kid suddenly looked damn inviting. She dropped into it and let her head fall back.

Jill gave her a snotty look. 'It's only staying here alone if I am alone.'

Scarlett threw the look right back. 'Don't you ever shut up, kid?'

'You sound like Stone,' Jill grumbled.

Scarlett snorted. 'Now you're just being mean.'

Jill chuckled, then sighed. 'I'm sorry I hit you. I'm not sure why I did that.'

'I imagine it was because you're scared and upset and I was handy. Don't do it again.'

'Got it. Are you okay?' Jill asked. 'You look a little pale.'

'Long day. I probably should eat. But I don't have the energy to get up and get something. I think I used up the last of my reserves dragging you down here.'

'I have a Snickers bar. I'll split it with you.'

Scarlett wolfed her half down. 'Now I'm only half a monster.'

'You're not so bad.'

'High praise.'

Jill sat silent for a whole minute and a half. 'I know what they're doing.'

'Who?'

'Marcus, Gayle, Lisette and the others. They're using the Ledger to expose abusers or turning their investigations over to the cops so that the abusers can be arrested.'

'And you know this how?'

'Because a lot of the threats on that list didn't make sense because the stories were never printed in the paper. So why would someone threaten Marcus? But then I cross-checked those threats against arrest records. Almost all of the people making threats had an arrest record for some kind of abuse in the past. I'm not as stupid as Marcus seems to think.'

'He doesn't think you're stupid at all, Jill. That's why you make him nervous. You're smart, but he doesn't know where your loyalties lie.'

'They lie with Gayle. She took me in.'

'And she's all you have left. Don't you think he knows that?'

'I guess.' She mimicked Scarlett's pose, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling. 'It wasn't really his fault,' she said softly. 'Gayle's heart attack, I mean. She'd been having issues for a while but she wouldn't let me tell anyone.'

'That was stupid of her.'

'She's proud. And she doesn't like to worry Stone and Marcus. She walks on eggshells around them. It's like she's afraid they'll break.'

'Maybe they will.'

It was Jill's turn to snort. 'Those guys are tanks. Nobody bothers them.'

'Not now. Doesn't mean it's always been that way. You got your phone?'

'Duh.' Jill fished it out of her pocket. 'Why?'

'Do me a favor. Google "Matthias Gargano", "Lexington" and "1989".' Scarlett closed her eyes while Jill did so. The girl's gasp told her that she'd found the articles.

'Oh my God. I didn't know. Stone and Marcus . . . they had another brother?'

'Yeah. Matty was killed by the kidnappers and Gayle was the one who kept that family together afterward. She's seen those big tanks as small, scared little boys and that's a hard image to erase. Maybe you understand their relationship a little better now.'

'Yes, I do. And then Mikhail dying too? No wonder Della takes all those sleeping pills. I wouldn't want to be awake either. Poor Aunt Gayle. She grieved Mikhail so much. I kept thinking, Hello! What about me? Am I chopped liver or something? I didn't understand.'

'Now you do. Ball's in your court as to what you do with it.'

She blew out a breath. 'I have been a brat, haven't I?'

'Yep.'

Jill huffed a laugh. 'I'll do better.'

'Good.' Eyes still closed, Scarlett kept talking, partly to keep herself awake and partly to keep Jill distracted from the terror that would return once she started thinking about Gayle's current situation. 'I will throw you a bone, though. Gayle's heart attack was indirectly triggered by the team's efforts, so you were right about that. Your concern was well placed. Just not well acted upon.'

'How do you know that, about her heart attack?'

'I was listening at the door yesterday when Gayle told Marcus about the letter she was reading that day. The letter writer threatened to "take away" somebody that Marcus loved just like he'd taken away somebody she loved. Her husband had reportedly committed suicide in prison. Gayle read the letter when Mikhail was missing. Given their past experience with kidnapping . . .'

'Holy shit.' Jill sighed, frustrated. 'That was the worst timing ever. I wish I'd given her the letter when I got it. At least she wouldn't have had to worry about Mikhail.'

Scarlett rolled her head, opening her eyes so that she could see Jill's profile. 'What do you mean? When did you get the letter?'

'The week before. Gayle had missed a few days at work because she was so tired I guess that was a warning sign for the heart attack. I'd locked the mail up in my desk because she wasn't there. The Ledger has a clean desk policy, you know. But I had a big project due for school, so I took a few days off in between. I didn't give her the letters until the day I came back. That was the day she had her heart attack and then later we found out about Mikhail being dead. I know that Mickey was alive when the letter arrived in the mail. If I'd given it to her then, she wouldn't have been so shocked.'

Scarlett frowned. Something wasn't right about that, but her tired brain wasn't sure what. From her pocket she fished out the folded papers that Stone had printed for her earlier that day.

'What's that?' Jill asked.

'Stone's story about Woody McCord, the husband of the woman who wrote the letter.' Getting her second wind, Scarlett rose and paced while she read to herself. She didn't want to share any more with Jill until she knew where she was going with this.

After a minute, she stopped pacing and turned the paper over to write the key dates on the back. 'What day did you actually receive that letter, Jill?'

Puzzled, Jill scooted to sit on the edge of her seat, her brow furrowed. 'Thursday. I remember because Halloween was the next day and I was going to a party with Mikhail and his friends. We went to the party store to pick up our costumes.' She looked away. 'He didn't run away until the weekend, but the party was the last time I saw him alive.'

'I'm sorry to dredge this up, but it's important.'

'Why?' Jill frowned. 'How do you know?'

'I feel it.' Scarlett made a face. 'Too weird, I know, but I've learned to trust my gut. Usually my gut remembers stuff my conscious mind has forgotten.'

Jill gave her a look. 'Maybe you are a super-cop,' she said with mild sarcasm.

Scarlett shook her head, ignoring the girl's attitude. 'No. That would be Deacon. The guy remembers everything. He kills at Jeopardy. I'm just good at Wheel of Fortune.' She looked at her page of scribbles. 'If you received that letter on Thursday, it had to have been mailed Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday at the latest.' She wrote that down too.

'Okay,' Jill said. 'So? What does all that mean?'

'So . . . I don't know yet.' Scarlett rearranged her scribbles into a timeline.

Mon. 10/27Wed. 10/29: letter written/mailed by Leslie McCord Wed. 10/29: McCord tells his attorney and prosecutor that he will name names Thurs. 10/30: Letter received at Ledger by Jill via USPS Thurs. 10/30: Woody McCord found hanged in his cell (murder or suicide???) Mon. 11/3: Leslie McCord ODs on pills (estimated by ME) Wed. 11/5: Gayle reads letter, has heart attack; Mikhail's body found; Marcus shot Thurs, 11/6: Leslie's body found in her home per police report Reviewing the dates, Scarlett saw what she'd been missing. What it means, she thought, is that Leslie McCord wrote a letter referring to her husband's death before he died. She looked up from her notes to meet Jill's curious gaze. 'It means I need to see that letter.'

'Another gut feeling?'

'Yeah. Do you know the combination to your aunt's safe?'

'No. She wouldn't trust me with that. I tried to break in once, to see if I could, but I couldn't.'

Scarlett bet that Diesel could. 'Come with me. You can't stay here alone. It's not safe.'

Jill frowned, but got up. 'Why did you tell me to earlier?'