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She was completely quiet as I carried her outside, I didn’t know whether she was in shock, or if she was used to being ordered around and my heart went out to the poor kid, but at that moment her silence and quiet obedience was good. She hid in the bushes at the bottom of the garden like I told her, and took my hand and walked with me when I returned from setting the explosives. She didn’t seem scared at all, only kept looking at me quizzically, as if she was more confused by everything, than worried about her home or the fate of her parents.
If they were her parents. Everyone in that house had been tall and dark-haired, closer to me in looks than the little girl who calmly walked beside me. She was tiny, pale in eyes and hair, and so delicate looking that I worried about holding her hand too tightly.
In fact, she reminded me of someone I once knew. But that had to be a coincidence, didn’t it?
I got us on the road just as the first whisps of smoke started rolling off the house’s eaves and tumbling into the sky. She looked from me to behind us as the house dwindled in my rearview mirror, but didn’t protest, fidget, or even look nervous.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” I asked her as I drove. She shook her head, and I sighed. “That’s probably for the best.”
If Vasily found out about her and called me on it, I could point out that she was too young to act as a witness against us, she didn’t talk, and she was just an innocent child. He knew where I stood on such things, and should have expected it.
But her silence still kept her from answering any of the questions that nagged at me as I drove us home, toward the apartment where I hoped to get to work solving the mystery of this child, and why she looked so familiar.
Chapter 3
Alissa
Iwoke up to a flood of messages from my support group. They were all cheering that I’d gotten rid of Alan. But all I could feel was exhaustion.
Lorelei:Hey there. Good to hear you dumped that guy. I couldn’t believe some of the things he thought he could say to you.
That just made me smirk, I texted back.
Me:My mother would have probably put your jaw on the floor. She was a real master of saying audaciously mean crap.Most of it was ironically Jesus-flavored.
Lorelei:LOL, my aunt is that exact way. Nobody in the family talks to her after the last election. She just went off the deep end with all that stuff.
Me:I was gone way before that. I don’t even want to think about my parents under the influence of the red hat crowd.
When I got no immediate response, I got myself cleaned up and made a fresh mug of tea. Outside, the ice had gone blinding in the winter sun, icicles dripped from every overhang as it all melted and refroze. A rippled sheet of ice slid off a rooftop across the street as I watched, shattering with a noise that made passersby jump.
Finally, Lorelei got back to me.I didn’t know if I should ask this or not, but if your parents were abusive…is there any chance they could have grabbed your kid?
I winced, digging the heel of my hand against my temple.That got brought up pretty early in the investigation. They even got a search warrant for my parents’ house. I’d been no-contact for years, and that was how they found out they have a grandchild.
Lorelei:Ouch. Well, they’re lucky they got to find out at all.And the father?
Me:I used a donor.
A lie, but a necessary one. I didn’t know how to tell her about that one-night stand with Dimitri, or how much I wish he’d made any effort to stay in touch.
But he’d warned me from the beginning that he wasn’t the kind of man who could make commitments. His job got in the way, he’d claimed. He’d been upfront about this being something casual, temporary, and not repeated.
And yet I’d kept his baby, and I still missed him even though I’d only known him for an evening.
Now, I had to miss them both.
Lorelie:Damn. Not much chance the guy went and grabbed her then.
Me:No.They checked all my exes too, just in case. Friends, the landlord, and neighbors. Said it was routine. But they came up with nothing.
Lorelei:I’m sorry. I shouldn’t quiz you on this stuff. I just notice how often cops around here seem to overlook the obvious.
Me:It’s okay. The truth is I’m starting to think about crowdfunding some help paying for a private investigator.
Lorelei:Hey, that’s a good idea. I’d be all in on helping you. I know a lot of people in the group would. George has some crowdfunding experience, just send him a text.
That made me smile a little. I hated to have to beg for financial aid from strangers, but with the police on the brink of giving up, it looked like my only choice.
