Page 90 of Our Daughter's Bones
He shrugged.
“How are you, Samuel?” Nick asked.
He nodded faintly. “They say time fixes everything. I’m waiting, but I don’t think that time will ever come.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have a daughter, don’t you?”
Nick paused. “Yes, I do.”
“Never let her leave the house. Add bars to the windows if you have to. Butneverlet her go.”
Nick entwined his fingers tightly. It was his biggest nightmare.
“Where is Agent St. Clair?” Samuel asked. “I thought he was consulting on the case.”
Mackenzie exchanged a nervous look with Nick. “We have an update on that. Daniel is still consulting on the case, but there have been some developments.”
“What?”
“What happened to Erica appears to be related to two other crimes,” Nick said. “Daphne Cho and Chloe St. Clair went missing in the two Septembers before last. Chloe was Agent St. Clair’s sister. It complicates things a bit.”
“Oh, dear God,” Gabriella whispered. “I-I don’t understand. How is this related to Erica?”
“Other than the crimes occurring in the month of September, there is another piece of evidence. The number 916. We found it printed on a paper napkin in Erica’s room. And the same number was branded on Daphne’s skin. We believe the culprit is the same.”
Samuel’s face was bone white. “Branded on her skin?What?”
“Yes. We believe Abby was taken because she found out something about 916. She wrote down the number in her private journal and on the inside of her locker.”
Gabriella pinched the bridge of her nose. Samuel rubbed her back, distractedly.
“Have either of you seen this before?” She handed them her phone with the picture of the napkin on it.
“I’m sorry, but no.” Samuel’s voice was thick. “Are you sure? Why Erica?”
“We don’t know. We are trying to figure out how this ended up in Erica’s room. Who else had access to her room besides the family?”
“A lot of people,” Gabriella huffed. “We were never strict. She would have friends over all the time. Quinn, Abby, basically everyone from school. We’re both so busy. Most days she would be alone here.”
Nick’s phone vibrated. His eyebrows dipped at the screen. He jerked his head to grab Mackenzie. “Excuse us for a moment.”
“What happened?” Mackenzie asked when they’d retreated to a corner of the room.
Nick ran his hand through his hair. “Jenna just got back to me. She was able to track the cocktail napkin from the blue border. It’s sold by a wholesaler in north-east Lakemore; they’re going through their records to track down buyers, but people can pay in cash at the warehouse, so that’s likely a dead-end. She’s also confirmed that Tequiza is still being bought by strip joints in the city.”
“Strip joints? Go figure. But not the logo?”
“No. But Anthony said that was printed on later anyway. Guess which is the only strip club in that area buying Tequiza?”
Mackenzie fumbled. But then it clicked.
“Remington’s.”
Where Hannah Correia worked.
Forty-Nine
