Page 62 of Once Removed (Blackhawk Security)

Chapter 19

Brody stared at the series of photos, both horrified and heartbroken. As Lainey stood up from her chair, he closed the file and set it on his desk. “We need to call the sheriff. Right now.”

“You look like a truck just ran you over,” Lainey said, reaching for the file.

Brody put his hand on it. He didn’t want Lainey looking at those pictures. “You don’t need to see this, sweetheart.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then cupped his cheek in her palm. “Thank you for trying to protect me,” she said quietly. “But I do need to see them. Ron was my husband. I have to know what he was involved in.”

Brody closed his eyes. She was right. The pictures belonged to her dead husband. She had every right to look at them.

He slid his hand over hers. Picked it up and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I know you do,” he said. “Even though I want to protect you, you have to know what Ron did.” He nodded at the chair she’d been sitting in. “Sit down. Brace yourself.”

Lainey frowned. “Are they that bad?”

“Worse,” Brody said immediately. “Worse than you could ever imagine.”

Holding his gaze, she lowered herself into the chair. Brody stood up and stood behind her. Set the file folder on the desk, then settled his hands on her shoulders.

Her fingers shook as she opened the folder. Frowned as she studied the first picture. “That’s Art Larson,” she said. “And a bunch of kids digging a hole. What’s so awful about that?”

“Look at the next picture.” Brody wanted to stop her. Wanted to save her from the pain, but he let her flip the first picture over as he tightened his hands on her shoulders.

She gasped. Pressed her hand to her mouth, but a tiny, horrified sound escaped. “Art’s shooting those boys,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Brody said. “Now look at the third photo.”

She swallowed, her throat rippling, and he guessed she was trying not to cry. The third photo showed the boys’ bodies, tumbled into the hole they’d dug. Art shoveled dirt on top of them. The last picture showed him yelling at the guy taking the photos.

The file slipped out of her hands onto the floor, and Brody picked up the file folder and set it on his desk. “Ron had to be the one taking the photos,” he said after a long moment. “Or he wouldn’t have had them.”

“And Art must have known Ron had them,” Lainey said, staring at the file with tear-filled eyes. She pressed her palm to her mouth and edged away from the desk, as if the file were a poisonous snake, poised to strike. “Maybe Art set the fire in the mess hall,” she said, her voice faint. “Stabbed Ron.”

“More than likely.”

She swiveled to face him. “But why didn’t he take off? Run far and fast after he killed Ron?”

“My guess?” Brody said, dropping into his desk chair. “He didn’t want to leave those damning photos behind. He wanted to make sure he got rid of them. He must have known Ron had them. That’s why he tried to break into your house. Maybe he killed Ron when Ron refused to hand them over. Or tell him where they were.”

Lainey drew a deep, shuddering breath. “Or maybe Ron tried to blackmail him. Tried to get money from him.”

“That’s possible, too,” Brody agreed. “It would have been a stupid, dangerous thing to do, but Ron wasn’t Mensa material.”

“We need to call the Sheriff,” Lainey said, her hands pressed against her cheeks. “He needs to see these pictures.” She clapped her hand over her mouth. “And Phoebe! We need to protect her. We have to contact DCFS immediately and get emergency guardianship over her. Art’s a murderer. We can’t let him take Phoebe.”

Brody frowned at her. His desk was between them, giving him some distance to study her. “How do you know about emergency guardianships?” Had she gone behind his back and contacted DCFS?

She swiveled in her chair to face him. “I talked to a friend who works for DCFS. After my book club on Tuesday night.” She must have seen the incredulous anger gathering in his expression, because she held up her hand. “And before you lose your temper, I didn’t tell her about Phoebe. I said I was asking for a client who wanted to become the guardian of her friend’s son. I told her my client was asking me about the financial issues involved in becoming a guardian.”

Brody studied Lainey through the haze of disbelief and fury that enveloped him. “You went behind my back after you promised you wouldn’t do that.”

“I did not go behind your back,” Lainey shot back, straightening as she scowled at him. “I was asking about a hypothetical case for a client. Why would Ellie think I was asking for myself?”

“Maybe she heard rumors that Phoebe was staying with you. With us. If so, she’d know you were asking for yourself.”

Lainey tilted her head at him, as if she didn’t understand. “What difference would it make if she suspected? Do you think she’d rat me out? Send DCFS goons out here to pick Phoebe up?”

Brody tightened his hands around the edge of his desk, gripping the wood with tense fingers. Unwelcome memories rose from deep inside, where he’d tried to bury them. “I wouldn’t trust the DCFS with a puppy, let alone a child I know and care about.”

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