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I would have done a lot worse, that was certain. And Michelle might never have been found.
Michelle finished her drawing and brought it to me proudly. I stared at it. I passed it to the doctor, and she to Gregor, who paled a shade or two but stayed stoic as he looked at what our daughter had depicted.
It was him. I could tell from his enormous leather coat, the crayon-squiggle wavy dark hair, and the two splashes of silver wax for eyes. He was with a little girl who was probably her, with yellow hair and pink pajamas. He held her hand with a hand that looked big and soft as a baseball glove.
In his other hand was a gun. Just a silver L, but anyone could have told right away what it was. The hand that held it was dark, claw like. Behind them was a burning house.
That strange fear I’d felt before intensified inside me. I looked over at Gregor, and he couldn’t look at me.
What was going on?
Chapter 16
Gregor
The ride back was too quiet. The matter of Michelle’s drawing hung between us, unspoken. I knew why, and so I kept quiet about it until we were home and Michelle had eaten her lunch and gone down for an afternoon nap.
Once that happened, Alissa sat down next to me on the couch, hands folded in her lap. She didn’t look at me for several seconds, and I felt cold reality running a finger down my spine. She already suspected something. I should just tell her. Pull off the band aid.
But I couldn’t. She was depending on me for her safety, and that of her child. If I scared her away now, she would end up in a perilous situation again. I hadn’t seen any sign of her ex since our confrontation, but I knew his fear of me might still be overcome by his obsession.
“So…” she started, and I turned and forced myself to look at her. “Do you want to tell me what really happened the night you rescued Michelle?”
“As I told you, I rescued her at gunpoint. It was a very tense scene, and, apparently, I made an impression on Michelle.”
“She seems to think you’re a hero. So do I. But I also think you’re holding back on what happened.” She looked me right in the eye as I wished she was a touch less observant.
“Look, if I’ve skimped on the details, it’s because they’re ugly and some of my sources do not want to be named. I did everything I could not to expose Michelle to anything violent, but it’s pretty clear she figured out something about how I got them to let her go.”
“And the burning house?”
All the words caught in my throat. How the hell was I going to explain that? “I…might have lost my temper when I found out what they were doing to kids.”
She stared at me. I waited, bracing myself. “Jesus,” she breathed finally. At least she was still talking to me, and not freaking out. “I’m guessing you got Michelle cleared out of there first?”
“Absolutely. Found her a hiding place outside after I bundled her up properly.”
“I…holy crap. Um, sorry, I just don’t know very many people who have burned a house down.”
“It wasn’t a house, it was more like a prison. A place of torture. I didn’t want to leave them with the ability to just take the whole thing up again as soon as they got their hands on more kids.”
She nodded, chewing her lip. I felt a tiny, tentative scrap of relief. “I guess I can’t blame you, but aren’t you worried about getting in trouble?”
“Not really. What are they going to do, go to the police and complain that their kiddie porn studio got burned down?” I was thankful that the story had dropped off the front pages of the newspapers, to be replaced instead by news of ice stormsand the associated chaos. Alissa was probably too caught up in the tragedy of her own life, to pay much heed to the headlines of ‘Deadly explosion rocks quiet Highland Park neighborhood’. Fuck, I hated having to lie to her about what I do, but it’s the only way.
She let out a high laugh that sounded a little nervous. “I guess not.”
“Exactly.” I smiled at her, and she smiled tentatively back.
“Well, I mean, as long as nothing from it comes back to bite us.”
“It won’t,” I promised, even knowing that might be premature. “You’re not freaked out and planning to bail on me, are you?”
She hesitated, and then shook her head. “I don’t think I would ever have the nerve to burn a place down, or rescue someone by holding their captors at gunpoint. But, thinking about it, I’m glad you did.”
I sighed in relief. “Good. I don’t want you thinking I run around doing things like that for fun or anything. I do it…” I trailed off, suddenly forced to search for the right words.I do it because my boss orders it. I do it because the organization needs it. I do it because someone betrayed us, or is our enemy.“I have only done things like that because it was required of me.”
“Required?” I didn’t like the look on her face.
