Page 89 of The Hanging Dolls
Zoe pressed an ice pack to her jaw. Luckily she hadn’t broken it.
“He’s a ticking time bomb.” Aiden appeared by her side, looking at him in the interrogation room.
“Did we get anything from the computers?”
“Terri is still looking into it but Sam Buster is John Doe. We found evidence of that. Travis is working on the other guy you captured, but it seems like Buster was the leader. Need me in there?”
“Nah. He’s a punk. I got this.”
As Zoe barged into the interrogation room, she caught a reflection of her face in the two-way mirror. It wasn’t the bruise on the right side of her jaw that startled her—it was her expression. Hard eyes, stone-faced andso done.
“How’s that jaw doing?” Sam sneered, revealing his chipped tooth.
She sat back, nonchalant. “Do you know what people do to people like you in prison?”
He locked his jaw. “I don’t hurt children if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“We know you are John Doe offering to sell pictures of the victims to people. Your associate is with the chief of Harborwood PD right now giving his statement.”
Sam stroked his jaw. “Like I said, I don’t hurt children.”
“Then what exclusive, unseen pictures are you selling?”
“It’s not that!” He sat back in his chair, appalled.
There was a sharp knock on the door. Terri strolled in and handed Zoe a file, whispering in her ear, “We just started retrieving some of the images from their computers.”
When she left, Zoe braced herself and cleaved out whatever emotions were stirring inside her. It was better to rip off the Band-Aid and get this over with. She flipped through the file until she came to the collection of pictures.
“What’s this?” she said.
“See?” Sam said. “I told you, you got this all wrong!”
The pictures were of Lily, Tara, and Lucy. Their bodies arranged in different poses in different locations. One picture had zombies in it and one was in a submarine with sharks. “The hell is this?”
Sam brooded and crossed his arms. Zoe could sense he didn’t like being bossed around, but she didn’t have time for this.
“Pictures don’t have to be sexual for their distribution to be illegal. Violent pictures such as these violate many laws include obscenity laws.” She forced him to look at them. “And since your subject matter are underage girls, I can guarantee you’ll be going to jail for a long time.”
He wiped his nose. “There’s a market for people on the dark web who are fascinated by people, especially kids who are either dead or gone missing, and enjoy violence. For them, it’s art. Since they’re dead it’s not harassment or defamation?—”
“It still is, you asshole,” she hissed. “They have families.”
He took a strained breath, controlling his anger. “Like I said, no one was harmed. We just create pictures using AI that will sell.”
“You’re going away for a long time.” She closed the file and pushed the chair back.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“I know something.” He licked his lips. “About Carly and Lucy that can help your case.”
She drummed her fingers on the table, pretending to consider what he was saying. Was he lying to get out of this? But he was close to Carly. “What is it?”
“First promise me leniency.” He pointed a finger at her.
She suppressed a grin. “Sure, I promise.”
