Page 24 of Dark Memories
“Hello, Robbie.”
“Why are you here?” His eyes darted to Zach. “Are you two back together?”
“Not yet,” Zach said.
Why did he have to say things like that?
Zach strode to his brother, getting in his face. “Where’s my daughter?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with it.” He threw his hands up. “I swear, Zach. I’d never do anything to hurt Kali.”
Harry stepped between them before Zach lost his cool and wrapped his hands around his brother’s throat. “Okay, let’s take a moment to calm down. Both of you.” She slipped her hand into Zach’s. “Let’s sit and listen to what he has to say.”
He squeezed her fingers as he let her lead him to the sofa. Robbie sat in the chair farthest away from them.
“Robbie, I’m a detective now, and Kali’s disappearance is an official investigation. You need to tell us what you know.”
“I didn’t know anything.” His leg bounced so fast that she wondered if he needed a fix. “So, I had this cellmate, and he just got out of prison last week. I stopped by to see him this morning…” He glanced away. “You know, to welcome him out.”
And hope he had some drugs on him? “And?”
“Okay, so he’s staying with friends until he gets his own place, and, ah, it’s this odd little house where the front door is on the side, so I had to walk past one of the bedroom windows.” He shot his brother a glance.
Zach was sitting forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped so tightly that his knuckles were white. “Get to the point.”
“I swear I didn’t know,” Robbie said, turning back to her, his eyes beseeching her to believe him. “When we were in prison, we’d come up with schemes to make big money when we got out.” His gaze returned to Zach. “I talked about you, how you were like a billionaire, and he said we should find a way to tap into that. I thought it was all talk, you know, a way to pass the time.”
“Robbie,” Zach growled.
She put her hand on his leg. His temper was on a barely controlled leash, and he was going to explode any minute.
“Did he know about Kali?” she asked.
Robbie nodded. “Yeah. Mom sent me a picture of her, and I showed it to him. I bragged about what a great kid she was.”
“And you think he has her?”
“Maybe. When I was walking past the window, I heard a little girl. She was crying and asking for her daddy.” He flinched when Zach uttered a moan of agony that could have come from the depths of hell. “It sounded like her, but I thought, no way, man. That’s not Kali. I listened some more, but the little girl just cried after that. It couldn’t be her, but what if it was? I left and called you, praying that you’d tell me she was with you.”
Tears streamed down his face now, and although he wasn’t literally involved in taking Kali, he’d unknowingly planted the seed. She didn’t think Zach would ever forgive him for that.
“So they don’t know you were there, that you heard her?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m sure of it.” He met Zach’s gaze straight on. “I know I’m a fuckup, but hurting Kali is one thing I’d never do… Not knowingly. Honestly, this has been a wakeup call. If you’re still talking to me when this is over, I… I need help. I want to turn my life around.”
“If my daughter has one scratch on her, brother mine, you won’t have a life to turn around.”
Robbie nodded as if he’d expected that response from Zach.
“His name?” she asked.
“Garth Davidson. A really bad dude.”
Oh, Robbie, what have you done? “Does he have a tattoo on his arm, a snake maybe?”
“He has lots of tats. And yeah, one’s a snake curling around his arm. Why?”
“Where’s the house?” she said, ignoring his question. She wrote down the address he gave her, then looked up at him. “You understand that you need to stay here. Don’t go anywhere, and don’t call anyone. If your phone rings, unless it’s Zach, don’t answer.”
