Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Who was not there was Roam, Cap’s brother, which I found surprising, until Cap explained his absence.
“He wanted to give you privacy for this.”
There was something so profoundly beautiful about Roam offering that to me, giving me the opportunity to meet Cap’s brother, and the person he was closest to in this world, when I wasn’t mired in this emotional morass, I almost started crying again.
Fortunately, I did not.
This was a lot, but it was also Cap’s family, and they were so comfortable with him, and embracing of all of us, that “a lot” dwindled to nothing the minute Stella put out a bowl of cashews, heralding the feel of a party.
And I was kinda down with it being a party.
Because after years and years, now we knew.
We knew Macy hadn’t been touched that way.
We knew she wasn’t frightened and alone for very long.
And we were going to get her back, so we could put her to peace.
And that might be a whacked thing to want to celebrate.
But I wanted to celebrate it.
I’d stepped away from the rest to have some time to process and was out on the balcony, close to their kickass zero edge pool, staring at Stella and Mace’s view, when Cap came to me.
He slid a hand along the small of my back, curled it in at my hip, kissed my temple then pressed his front to my side.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Give the rest to me,” I demanded.
It took him only a second before he said, “It was the boys he took that put them off. When an offender has an MO like that, it doesn’t tend to deviate. He made no mention of the girls. He also didn’t bury the boys, he discarded them, which was why they were looking for him. This meant they didn’t know there were girls.”
I flinched at his word, “discarded,” but said nothing.
Cap kept going.
“If a perpetrator has a certain predilection, it is very rare there’s more to that story, so they didn’t even consider that he was also taking girls. Also, he got the fuck out of Pennsylvania. Macy’s body was found in a state park in Indiana.”
I turned my head and looked up at him. “So how did this Brody guy know to pinpoint him?”
“Partly, it was how audacious he was with his snatch and grabs, and the fact he left no witnesses but other children. But they didn’t pinpoint him. He was one of several people they looked into. Once Eddie and Hank and the guys got hold of the interrogation tapes and transcripts, it was noted he seemed to have an unhealthy protective streak for girls, which might have to do with him having a daughter. And also the fact he had a sister, who he reported he protected from the abuse he endured from his uncles. This is not shade, but all the kids taken were playing close to home without close adult supervision.”
“Yeah, because kids should be able to play across the street from their best friend’s house without someone snatching them,” I returned.
“I said it was no shade,” he noted softly.
“I’m not mad at you, Cap,” I told him, then went back to the view.
“He also had two sons, he abused both of them,” Cap shared.
“Great,” I muttered sarcastically.
Cap gave me a squeeze with his fingers. “In the end, the cops missed it not only because they were looking for a man who hurt boys, but also because Macy was the only child taken in Pennsylvania. He lived in Wisconsin, was in Philadelphia on business. Why he was in your neighborhood is anyone’s guess, because he refused to share that with Hank and Eddie. Though, he did cast a relatively wide net, taking only one kid from Wisconsin. His first. The rest were from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.”
“You don’t shit where you live.”
“Maybe.”
I said nothing.
I just knew you didn’t shit where you lived, and this asshole didn’t do it because he didn’t want to get caught.
“Wisconsin has no death penalty,” Cap informed me. “But he was serving seven consecutive life sentences, obviously with no chance for parole. He’ll be resentenced for the girls. For Macy. Even so, he already was set to live his life in maximum security.”
“Good. I don’t want him to die. That’s too easy.”
Cap pulled me deeper into his body.
I looked up at him again. “So how long did your band of superheroes work on this before they cracked it?”
“We’re not superheroes, Raye.”
“Yes, you are, Cap.”
He bent to press his forehead to mine, raised away and said, “Mace was concerned about what you were doing with Elsie Fay, that we were entering a new era of Rock Chick shit, because he knew you were it for me. He looked into it, and the minute he discovered your history, he brought in the team.”