Wanting (16 page)

Why would she do
that?

“
Yes. I helped renovate the
building. And I helped pay for it. It’s a good place for people to
crash for a while.”

Ashleigh liked her tone.
She didn’t sound all patronizing or disgusted or mad. Not like some
of the people she’d talked to since running away. She didn’t look
at Ashleigh like she was dirty or trash, either. “I
don’t…”

“
You’ve said that before.
You don’t what? Don’t know what to do? Don’t know how to tell us
what happened? Don’t want to go home? The only way we can help you
is if you tell us what you need help with.”

The door opened and the
other woman entered. The one who’d driven the car earlier. Ashleigh
studied her for a while. She didn’t look like a cop, either. Unless
she did the undercover stuff like Ashleigh had seen on TV. She had
a nose ring and a tattoo that Ashleigh could see. And she wore
black leather. She looked really cool, with skulls and silver
jewelry everywhere. Nothing like a cop.

“
Carrie, Lorcan said you
needed another woman.”

“
Yes. Ashleigh’s going to
help us understand how we can help her.”

“
Gotcha. Ash, I’m Paige.
Special Agent Daviess. And former street rat.” She held out her
hand and Ashleigh shook it for a minute. She didn’t know what else
to do. Then the woman’s words sunk in.

“
You lived on the
streets.”

“
Yes. From the time I was
eleven or twelve. I’m not even really sure how old I was. No big
deal.”

“
And you stayed out there?”
Ashleigh didn’t even want to think about it. She had an eleven year
old cousin. And he was a big baby. This woman had lived on the
streets since she was that little of a kid? Wow. “Why?”

“
Because I had nowhere,
Ashleigh. And had I gone back, I’d probably be dead. The situation
I was in before I ran was just that bad. I met Carrie, here, when I
was fifteen. We stuck together after that. And we got damned lucky.
There were several times when we both barely made it through.” The
woman—Paige—sat on the edge of the table, twisting to look at
Ashleigh. “We don’t want you to be in that position.”

“
Why was it so bad that
you had to run away?”

“
Because some people
thought nothing of touching me and hurting me because they could.
Was that what happened to you?”

“
Kinda…” Ashleigh looked
down at the table, counting the faux-grain in the laminate. How was
she supposed to put it into words?

Chapter 37

*****

Ashleigh sniffled. Carrie
handed her a tissue from the box at her elbow. “Thank
you.”

“
You’re welcome. You need
to keep yourself calm so that you can tell us what we need to know.
We’ve called a child advocate for you. He or she will represent
your best interests, regardless of what your parents want. I would
recommend cooperating with your advocate, if you’re serious about
not wanting to go home.” And it would ensure Ashleigh had an
advocate. Someone to speak for her. Carrie had worked with child
advocates in the past and had always found them to be
invaluable.

“
Is he like my own lawyer?
What will he do?”

“
He would make sure that
your best interests are met throughout whatever happens. And he
could be someone for you to talk to,” Paige said. “And best of
all…he can listen and give you advice.”

“
Would I get to stay with
him? If I didn’t go home?”

Carrie studied her for a
moment. What was the girl afraid of? Carrie had no difficulty
reading the emotion on Ashleigh’s face. Terrified was something
Carrie was long familiar with. “No. You wouldn’t be able to stay
with him or her, but you won’t have to go home. The Missouri law
states that you can go home, or you can go into alternative
placement, or a treatment facility. Your advocate can help you make
that decision.”

“
What if I’m afraid of what
someone will do to me if I go home?”

“
Then you won’t have to go
home until we all are sure you’ll be safe there.” Carrie leaned
forward. “We will not let anyone else hurt you. Period. I can
promise you that. We will protect you from whomever it is
threatening you.”

“
Who frightened you so
badly you ran away, Ashleigh?” Paige slipped an arm around
Ashleigh’s shoulders. “Tell us, and we’ll see to it that he is
punished for what he’s done. He cannot hurt you
anymore.”

“
Even if he’s a
cop?”

Chapter 38

*****

Sebastian listened to the
conversation from the next room, watching Carrie and Paige as they
tag-teamed Ashleigh. They were good together, both confident and
trustworthy. Experienced.

How often had they
counseled the runaways at the Bright Star Haven? How often had they
told their stories in just this way?

Why were these stories
burning a hole in his gut? Paige, on the streets at the age of
eleven? And she’d survived? It made him sick to think of what she
had seen and had had to do just to live. And it was three or four
years before she found Carrie and at least had somebody to care
whether she lived or died?

Carrie seemed at peace with
her history, but Paige was far from that point. And he understood
it. He could see it in the way she looked away from Ashleigh when
she spoke. Or was it just the memories resurfacing? He’d keep an
eye on Paige for a while just to be sure. Ashleigh looked down at
the table, and he waited, certain the two women had gotten through
to her.

She was just starting to
talk to Carrie and Paige when someone knocked on the door to the
room he was in. He switched off the intercom connecting the two
conference rooms.

He was glad he did when he
saw who waited in the hall. Sherry and a man he didn’t
recognize.

“
Bastian! Thank God! Is she
ok? Can I see her? Why did she run away?” Sherry threw her arms
around him and hugged him. Sebastian found it difficult to return
the embrace. What had happened between Sherry and her child to send
the kid running so scared?

“
She’s ok, Sher. She’s cold
and dirty. Scared and hungry. But she’s safe.”

“
Thank God! When can I see
her?”

Sebastian studied her. She
looked just as he’d expect a frantic mother to look. The man beside
her was a cooler customer, his eyes inscrutable. Cold. Sebastian
held out his hand, something he normally wouldn’t do. But something
had him wanting to study the man a bit more closely. “Sebastian
Lorcan. Sherry and I go back a decade or so.”

“
Detective Elliot
Courtney.” The man shook Sebastian’s hand but barely met his eyes.
“As I’m sure you understand, Sherry’s anxious to see her daughter.
To get Ashleigh the help she so obviously needs.”

“
Bastian, when can I see
her?”

Sebastian made a split
second judgment call. “You can’t. Not yet. Not until we can find
out why she ran away and what she wants to do now.”

“
What she wants to do?
She’s a child! She doesn’t get to decide!” Sherry wrapped her arms
around her abdomen and paced around the small room. “Has she said
why she did it?”

“
Not yet. And that’s why we
are still talking to her. And at her age, she can decide, at least
temporarily whether to return with her custodial parent, or even
with her father.”

“
Like he’d even care. He’s
not seen her in months. Maybe longer. Doesn’t even bother
calling.”

“
No? We have copies of
weekly emails between the two.”

“
Did he put her up to this?
Why?”

Sebastian wrapped a hand
around her elbow. “Get some coffee, Sher. We’ll get to the bottom
of this, and we’ll do what’s best for Ashleigh. I promise you. And
now she’s safe, and in good hands.”

“
I need to see her. I need
to.” Sherry’s voice broke and Sebastian understood. How was she to
believe what he said was true unless she saw her child for herself?
He wouldn’t. He flipped the switch that illuminated the specialty
glass that separated him from Carrie and Paige. And Ashleigh.
“Here. She’s in excellent hands with Agents Sparks and Daviess. I
can promise you that. They have experience in dealing with
runaways. They can help Ashleigh better than anyone on my team or
in my unit.”

Sebastian watched how
Sherry and Detective Courtney reacted at their first sight of
Ashleigh. Sherry seemed to sink into herself; from relief? Or an
act?

Detective Courtney
exhibited a different response. The man tensed, his hands fisting
at his sides before he deliberately seemed to force himself to
relax. Why? Who was he to Sherry? To Ashleigh? And why did the
sight of the teenager anger him?

Sebastian would have Carrie
dig up everything she could on Detective Courtney at the first
opportunity. Sebastian’s instincts were telling him Courtney wasn’t
what he seemed.

Chapter 39

******

The child advocate arrived
less than twenty minutes after Ashleigh had finished eating. The
advocate—Gabby Bruen, an advocate Carrie had known for a few
months—shook both her and Paige’s hands, then turned to Ashleigh.
They had a quiet conversation for a few moments, and Carrie and
Paige stepped out into the hallway to give them privacy.

The advocate opened the
door and waved them back in. “We’re ready, I think.”

Carrie took her seat across
from Ashleigh again. The girl’s eyes were finally dry, and her gaze
direct. “Go on, Ashleigh, we’re listening.”

Carrie waited for the girl
to start speaking again.

“
Yes...but I don’t know
how.”

“
Just start at the
beginning, Ash. And if you need to take a break, take a break.”
Paige sat in the chair beside Ashleigh. “We’re here for you. No one
else.”

“
I stayed home from
school.” Ashleigh put her head down on her folded hands, but spoke
loud enough for Carrie and Paige to hear. “I was cramping and we
were swimming in gym class. I didn’t want to swim, so I waited
until my mom left and I stayed in my room.”

Carrie and Paige waited,
not wanting to rush the girl. Carrie looked at the window where she
knew Sebastian watched. Could he hear the conversation?

“
I heard the front door
open and I thought my mom was home. She’d been on my case about
missing so much school lately. I opened my bedroom door to see what
kind of a mood she was in. If she was grouchy, I was gonna go out
my window and hang out in the garage.” She raised her head and
wiped the tears from her eyes. “But it wasn’t my mom.”

“
Ashleigh, who was it?”
Carrie asked when Ashleigh blew her nose and Paige wrapped an arm
around the girl.

“
It was my mom’s boyfriend,
Elliot. He was there with another man.” Ashleigh pulled in a deep
breath and straightened in her chair. “They were talking about
something and I listened.”

“
Go on. What was it they
were talking about?”

A long moment passed and
Carrie started to doubt Ashleigh would continue.
“Ashleigh?”

“
There’s a body in my mom’s
basement wall.” Ashleigh looked directly at Carrie as she said it.
“It’s a boy. I think he was younger than me and he looked foreign.
Kind of like my friend Leandro. He’s from Brazil. Elliot put the
dead kid in the basement when he built the wall of the room he’s
using as an office.”

Carrie felt her eyes widen,
then forced herself to not let her surprise show. That had not been
a reason for her running that they’d considered. “A body in the
wall of your mom’s house? And someone named Elliot put it
there?”

“
Yes. Elliot’s a cop. Some
kind of detective. He showed this other guy the body. I followed
them downstairs. I don’t think the other guy saw me, though. But
Elliot did. After his friend left he came into my bedroom and
dragged me to the basement. He told me that I would end up just
like that kid if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. Then he said the
people he worked for would kill my mom, my dad, and my best
friend.” Ashleigh’s voice was firm, resolute. Truthful.

“
What happened next,
Ashleigh?” Paige asked.

“
He started telling my mom
lies about me. I heard him. Telling her that the school called and
he’d taken care of it. Told her that I was caught at a party when I
wasn’t. All kinds of things. And my mom believed him.”

“
What did you do next?”
Carrie asked.

“
I started watching him
real close,” Ashleigh whispered. “And I tried to find out who that
kid was. I went to the internet café near our house and looked up
missing kids. I found him. His name is Marco Galeano, and he was
thirteen.”

Carrie recognized the name
from a list the National Center for Children had sent to all the
Missouri youth shelters. Marco Galeano had disappeared from his
middle school in Kansas City more than two months ago. Suspected
endangered kidnapping. “What did you do next?”

“
I waited until Mom and
Elliot were gone and I went into his office. I know I shouldn’t
have, but I needed to find out why he’d hurt that kid. Only, Elliot
knew I’d been in there. So he waited until Mom left me alone with
him and he took me to the basement and told me I’d be next if I
didn’t tell him what I’d done. I lied to him and swore I’d not been
in the basement. He didn’t believe me and he hit me. He fell on me,
hitting me harder and harder. I kicked him in the penis and I
grabbed my bag and ran. I kept running and running until I got to
the river. I stayed there for a few hours, but I kept seeing cops
everywhere. I hitched a ride with these three girls who were on
their way to a college ball game. They took me to East St. Louis. I
just kept following the interstate until I got to my dad. People
gave me rides. I told them I was going home.”