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The kid’s knees buckled like soggy cardboard and he hit the floor so hard that Kaj winced. Hunching over, the kid curled into himself, shaking with silent sobs.
Kaj didn’t want to feel sympathy. He knew better.
But he felt some anyway.
Maybe it was knowing that Rick had been tortured. What had been done to Jace?
“Look at me, please,” Kaj said quietly.
It took a moment, but the boy obeyed, sniffling. He had clear blue eyes, not bright sky blue like Val’s, but more like a field of cornflowers. Tears tracked through the dirt on his face and he seemed to be valiantly trying to stay in control.
The kid smelled bad. Like sour sweat and chemicals.
No, like cat piss. Kaj had smelled that same odor before—most recently on Aaron Gates. It was meth. But the kid wasn’t high. Not at this moment.
“Who are you?” Kaj asked harshly.
“Jace Gates. Sir. I already told him.” He gestured at Burke with a tilt of his head. “I don’t mean you no harm, sir. I’m trying to find my brother.”
This could be a trap. Send Jace in the back while Dewey Talley comes in the front for Elijah. New fear spiked in Kaj’s heart and he rounded the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room to check on his son.
Elijah was, unbelievably, still sleeping. Val was, very believably, still standing guard. She gave him an even nod and he returned to where Jace Gates cowered on his kitchen floor.
A moment later he saw Val back her way to the edge of the counter. She was still close enough to Elijah to protect him, but also close enough to hear what Jace Gates had to say.
She slid her phone onto the counter so that it leaned against a stack of cookbooks, pointing toward the kitchen where Jace knelt. The camera app was open and the red video recording light was on. Smart thinking. Kaj checked that Jace was centered in the frame, then gave her a nod before turning his attention back to the crying boy kneeling on his kitchen floor.
“Which brother?” Kaj asked. “I understand you have three.”
“R-R-Rick,” Jace stuttered. “Is he alive?”
“He is.”
Jace seemed surprised at this. “He is? Is he hurt? Did you...” He looked up, fear in his eyes, but there was courage, too. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” Kaj said. “He was dropped off here earlier tonight and I called the police. They took him to the hospital because he was unconscious.”
Jace pursed his lips. “Corey,” he muttered, then straightened his shoulders. “What are you going to do to me?”
Kaj met the kid’s terrified eyes. If he was acting, he was damn good. “Depends. Your brother tried to kidnap my son. He deserves to go to jail. What do you deserve?”
New tears welled in the kid’s eyes along with fresh terror. “I don’t know. I just... I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go to jail, but...” He shuddered. “I deserve that, too. Just please don’t hurt my brother. He was wrong, but he was scared. We both were scared.”
The hairs on the back of Kaj’s neck stood up straight. We both were? Rick certainly had been. He’d had a right to be, based on the burn marks that the ER doctor had found on his genitals. Had Jace also been tortured? And why did Jace believe he deserved jail?
What had been Jace’s part in the abduction attempt?
Kaj crouched down so that he and Jace were at eye level. “Tell me the truth. And start from the beginning. I’ll help you if I can.”
“Will I have to go to jail?”
The question sounded so frightened, so vulnerable, that Kaj felt another spear of compassion. “Depends on what you did. I’ll be able to tell you once you come clean.”
“You’re young,” Burke said mildly. “They’ll take that into account.” He still stood at the boy’s back, and even though his voice had been mild, his expression was fierce. He was prepared to restrain Jace if he made a move. Burke had Jace contained, and Val had Elijah safe.
That was the only thing keeping Kaj from grabbing his son and running for the hills.
Jace swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing awkwardly. “My brother Aaron got arrested for killing a doctor. You know that, though, because you’re the prosecutor on his case.”
