Daniel stood up. “Then let’s go. We meet back here at six.”
Atlanta , Wednesday, January 31, 9:35 a.m.
“Alex, will you sit down?”
Alex stopped pacing to stare at Meredith’s reflection in the one-way glass. Meredith sat behind her calmly working on her laptop, while Alex was a bundle of nerves. On the other side of the glass Hope sat with child psychologist Mary McCrady and a forensic artist who seemed to have the patience of Job.
“How can you be so calm? They’re not getting anything.”
“I was a wreck yesterday. It was that music.” She shuddered. “Today, no music and I’ve had my run. I’m good.” She looked at Hope, who was refusing to meet either the psychologist’s eyes or the artist’s. “They just started, Alex. Give Hope some time.”
“We don’t have time.” Alex gripped her fingers, wringing them. “Bailey’s been gone seven days. Four women are dead. We don’t have time to wait.”
“And your pacing won’t change that.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “I know,” she gritted furiously. “Don’t you think I know?”
Meredith set her laptop aside and slung her arm around Alex’s shoulders. “Alex…”
Alex leaned her head against Meredith’s shoulder. “They found another victim,” she murmured, feeling… powerless. For a few moments, with Daniel on the sofa, she’d felt powerful, important. Now, reality intruded and she knew how helpless she really was.
“And if it had been Bailey, Daniel would have told you.”
“I know. But, Mer… three women and Sheila. And Reverend Beardsley. This is worse than any nightmare I’ve ever had.”
Meredith hugged Alex harder and together they watched Hope through the glass. When the door behind them opened, they spun around as Daniel closed the door behind him.
Alex’s pulse quickened and her heart lifted at the sight of him. But his mouth didn’t smile and she knew what he had to say would not be good. She braced herself for the worst, although she wasn’t even sure what could be worse.
“I don’t have much time,” he murmured. “But I need to talk to you.”
“You want me to leave?” Meredith asked, and Daniel shook his head.
“No need.” He squeezed Alex’s upper arms. “I don’t how to tell you this, so I’ll just tell you. Sister Anne is in the hospital. She was beaten during the night. It’s not good.”
Alex’s knees buckled and she lowered herself to a chair, suddenly sapped. “Oh, no.”
He crouched so that he looked up into her face. “I’m sorry, honey,” he said softly. He took her hands, warming them. “We sent a CSU team to check out her apartment.”
She swallowed. “And Desmond?”
“He’s okay.”
She sighed, relief and fear combined. “Sister Anne. My God.”
He squeezed her hands. “Alex, it’s not your fault.”
“I feel so helpless.”
“I know,” he whispered and she could see his eyes were haunted, too. He cleared his throat. “But I hear Hope called Hatton ‘Pa-paw.’ ”
Alex nodded, the violent screeching in her mind at any mention of Craig Crighton no longer taking her by surprise. “We think Bailey found her father. Maybe she gave him the letter Wade had written.”
“Hatton’s going to try to track him down today.”
Alex used what little energy she had left to push the screeching back. “I’ll go, too.”
Daniel rose, a forbidding frown on his face. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“He won’t know what Craig looks like.”
“He’s got his driver’s license picture.”
“I need to go, Daniel.” She grabbed his arm, needing to make him understand. “Every time someone mentions his name, it starts in my head. He’s one of my triggers. I need to see him. I need to understand why.”
His eyes bored into hers and his face went stern. “I need you to be safe.”
“I need to make this stop,” she gritted through her teeth. “I need to find out why I’m so afraid of him. I need to know if he knows who took Bailey.” She pointed at the glass and her hand shook. “Hope hasn’t spoken in a week. I need to know what happened.”
He tugged at her chin so that she met his eyes. “Then or now, Alex?” he asked.
“Both. You said I could trust Hatton. If I’m with him I’ll be safe. Don’t make me stay.” She grabbed his arm harder. “Daniel, please. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
He held her gaze another long minute while a storm raged in his eyes. Then he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If Hatton’s okay with it, I won’t stop you. I have it on good authority that you’re old enough to make your own decisions.”
Her lips curved sadly and he kissed her mouth tenderly. “Thank you, Daniel.”
He pulled her to him, hard, then let her go. “I have to change my clothes. I’m going to try to find the women you remembered from the pictures. You call me,” he said fiercely, “every hour. If I don’t answer, leave me a voicemail. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“I should be with you when you talk to him,” he said.
She leaned up and pecked his stubbly cheek. “I’ll be fine. I’ll call you. I promise.”
“Daniel.” Meredith leaned against the wall, watching them. “You said we could think about a safe house for Hope.”
Daniel nodded. “I can make that happen today.”
“For Hope and Meredith,” Alex countered.
Meredith’s look shouted disagreement, but she nodded. “Alex won’t be alone?”
“No,” Daniel said, his voice again fierce, as was his expression. “I’ll make sure of it.”
One side of Meredith’s mouth lifted. “Somehow, I’m sure you will,” she said dryly.
“That’s the first thing I’ve felt comfortable about in days.” He started to walk away, but Alex held him back.
“Daniel, the new victim. Who is she?”
“Gemma Martin. Did you know her?”
“No. I know the Martin name, of course, but I never would have babysat for them. The Martins had nannies and butlers. She was the same age as the other two?”
He nodded. “The other two lived in Atlanta, but Gemma lived here with her grandmother in Dutton. The school seems to be the only link between them so far.” He covered her mouth in one last hard kiss. “Don’t forget to call me.”
“Every hour,” Alex said dutifully. “I promise.” She thought about what he was about to do, the women he was about to talk to. “Good luck.”
He gave her a curt nod, then was gone.
For a moment there was only silence, then Meredith spoke. “So, now you know.”
Alex fixed her eyes on Hope through the glass. “Know what?” But she knew.
“That thinking about Craig Crighton is one thing that triggers the screams.”
Alex swallowed, too weary to shove the screams back again. “I’ve always known there was something about Craig. I never wanted to know what it was.”
“Alex… did Bailey’s father molest you?”
Reflected in the glass, Alex watched her own head wag back and forth in slow motion. “I don’t think so. But I don’t know. Every time I’ve tried to remember…” She closed her eyes. “But now the screams won’t go away. I can’t make them go away.”
“Alex, what do you remember about the day we took you home, away from Dutton?”
Alex leaned her forehead against the glass. “I remember the horrible old women who were talking about me and Alicia. Aunt Kim bawling you out because you let them.”
“And then?”
“He came.” She made herself say his name. “Craig. With Bailey. And Wade. He argued with Kim. He wanted to keep me. Said he loved me. Said I called him ‘daddy.’ ” The word stuck in her throat. Tasted bad on her tongue.
“But you hadn’t.”
“No. Never. He wasn’t my father. He was Bailey’s father. Always.”
Meredith said nothing, patiently waiting. Alex turned her face so that the glass was cool against her hot cheek. “He was often harsh with us, me and Alicia. He said Mama spoiled us. He may have been right. For so long it was just the three of us after my real dad died. But you’re asking if Craig… if he made us have sex with him. No. I don’t remember anything like that. I think I would remember.”