“Anyway, I wanted to go up to Luke’s ranch and look around. I asked Joe and Ryan to go with me. We would get on Luke’s bus instead of our own after school. Jonah said no. He had stuff to do at home, but maybe he’d go with us some other time.” I drew in a deep breath. “But I was dead set on going that afternoon, and Ryan decided he would go with me.”

I’ll go with you, Tal. He’d put his hand in mine. I’d kept telling him he was too old for that, that boys didn’t hold hands. God, the kid had followed me everywhere.

“So you and Ryan went, alone, to Luke’s ranch.”

I nodded, my vision blurring… If only I could go back…back…go back, not go to the Walkers’ that day…

Again I clenched my fingers into the armchair… My heart beating rapidly… My stomach churning… My bowels clenching…

I heaved…and blackness curtained around me.

 

The boy had been walking with his little brother for about an hour. Their tummies were full. Mrs. Walker had given them oatmeal cookies and watermelon when they showed up at her door. “Y’all can look around if you want to,” she’d said. Her eyes were recessed and sad. “Just come back before dark. Do your mom and dad know you’re here?”

The boy had nodded. It was a lie, but their older brother would tell their parents when he got home.

“This is where they found the mask,” the boy said, more to himself than to his brother. The boy looked around. Nothing was visible. Even the Walkers’ house had faded from view this far out. The cattle must not have grazed in this area, because the grass was tall. It brushed his knees.

In the distance stood a little shack.

“Let’s go check out that building,” the boy said to his brother.

His little brother nodded, and they traipsed forward.

The wood was gray and splintered, old. The boy reached out to touch the knotty surface, when—

“Talon! Auuuughh!”

He turned at his brother’s blood-chilling scream, his heart drumming. Two figures had emerged from the structure, dressed all in black, their faces obscured by ski masks. Two large hands held his brother by the shoulders.

Fear and rage rose in the boy. “You leave my brother alone!”

The other pair of hands lunged toward him, but before they could grab him, the boy ran into the man holding his brother, kicking at his shins. “Let go! Let go! Let go!”

The boy was no match for the grown man, and the other had grabbed the back of the boy’s shirt. Still, the boy kicked, determined to free his brother. Brittle fragments of fear inched up his spine, but still he kicked, even as the other man dragged him away. He lodged one last punt with his steel-toed boot to the man’s crotch. His brother fell from the man’s grip onto his knees in the dirt.

“Run!” the boy yelled “Run back to the house! Get Dad! Run, run, run!”

The little boy stood, dazed, immobile.

“Damn it, I said run!”

The other man still held his crotch but got to his feet. The first one shoved the boy down onto the ground. He could no longer see his brother.

Please be running. Please get help, he pleaded silently to his brother.

The boy kicked and screamed, but two grown men were too much for him. They hauled him into the small building.

And lying on a bed by one wall, unconscious, was the boy he’d been looking for.

Luke.

Chapter Thirty

Jade

I checked my watch as I stood outside the courtroom with Talon’s attorney, Peter O’Keefe. Colin hadn’t shown up yet, for which I was grateful, but neither had Talon.

“Have you been in touch with your client?” I asked O’Keefe.

He nodded. “Yes. We’ve been exchanging e-mails, and I texted him half an hour ago as a reminder.”

Just then, Talon emerged at the head of the stairs and walked toward us. I breathed an audible sigh of relief.

“Cutting it a little close, aren’t you?” O’Keefe said.

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

He looked like hell. Though he was wearing a navy-blue suit, it was wrinkled and untidy. His blue-and-black striped tie was crooked, and his hair was a tousled mess. A tousled sexy mess, actually, but this was a courtroom. His eyelids were droopy and his eyes caved-in, like he hadn’t slept in weeks. And even though I knew he didn’t sleep, he didn’t look normal to me.

I simply nodded. I needed to act impartial during these proceedings for Talon’s sake.

I looked at my watch again. We were first on the docket. We should get in there.

I was still on edge. Would Colin show up and wreak havoc? I wouldn’t put it past him.

I sat on the prosecution side, and Talon and his attorney sat on the other side. Within a minute, the bailiff entered.

“All rise. Municipal Court of the city of Snow Creek is now in session. The Honorable Alayna Gonzales presiding.”

The judge walked in, sat down at her bench, and took a seat.

“You may be seated,” the bailiff said. “First case on the docket is People versus Talon Steel.”

I moved to the prosecution’s table while Talon and O’Keefe moved to the defense. I remained standing. “Jade Roberts for the city, your honor.”

“Peter O’Keefe for the defense.”

“Mr. Steel,” Judge Gonzalez said, “I understand you wish to enter a plea bargain in this case.”

“Yes,” Talon said.

O’Keefe nudged him.

“Your honor.”

I cleared my throat. “Your honor, the city is willing to accept a plea bargain for reckless endangerment along with a five-hundred-dollar fine and reasonable restitution paid to the alleged victim in this case.” Who still hadn’t shown up, thank God.

“And this is agreeable to you, Mr. Steel?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Since the defendant has no prior arrests on record, I see no reason not to approve this plea bargain. Counselors, I’ll leave you two to work out the details. This case is dismissed.” She pounded her gavel on the wooden surface.

My heart was beating a mile a minute.

Colin hadn’t shown up, thank God.

I didn’t have any other cases today, so I was done here. I had to go back to the office and work a full day though. And first thing on my agenda was finding copies of all the news articles that Marj and I had looked at the day before.