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Some kids were lucky and were placed in great homes. And there were a lot of great homes.
Unfortunately, we hadn’t been so lucky. It got to the point that I stopped unpacking what meager possessions I owned, knowing it was only a matter of time until I became too much for my new family.
Thankfully, Henry and I found each other.
“Enlisted in the army after high school, but was given a psychological discharge after a year. After that, he worked a bunch of menial jobs. Janitor. Fast food. Mail room. Golf course maintenance. As you can see, he hasn’t held the same job for more than a few months.”
I nodded, processing the bullet points of what was contained within these pages.
“What’s his connection to Imogene?”
“On paper, there isn’t one. There’s no evidence he’s ever visited Atlanta or California, until recently. His last known address is in New Mexico. There were charges on his credit card in Albuquerque just a few days ago, so he hasn’t been in town long.”
“But...,” I prodded, sensing he’d found something.
“I had one of my guys go to his apartment before the local police got there.” He turned his laptop toward me.
I stood, a heat washing over my face as my eyes fell on a shrine to Imogene’s father, the wall plastered with newspaper clippings regaling his heinous crimes. But the most prominent headline was Imogene’s abduction when she was fourteen, as well as a closeup photo of the necklace she once wore.
The necklace she’d been sent three times over the past several days.
“Any ties to the guy who attacked her in the alley? Glen Roy?” I asked, not wanting my emotions to get the better of me. Not now. Not when I was on the brink of putting a bullet in this guy’s head.
“I couldn’t find anything connecting them. It could have just been a coincidence that she chased Astor into an alley, and Roy happened to be there and attacked her, causing Astor to flee.”
“You know how I feel about coincidences.”
Henry nodded. “That there’s no such thing.”
“Exactly.”
My mind whirled as I stared into the distance, processing everything Henry just shared. Hell, processing everything that happened tonight. From watching Imogene follow some guy out of the club, to running out to the alley, to killing the asshole who’d attacked her, to unexpectedly seeing Liam at the hospital.
That was what unsettled me the most. He was the last person I expected to see there. I wasn’t the only one, either. According to Imogene, he was supposed to be in New York.
“Liam,” I ground out.
“What does he have to do with this?”
“He was at the hospital.”
“He was?” Henry’s gaze widened as he ran a hang through his dark hair.
I nodded gravely.
“Shit. How did that go?”
“I managed not to kill him. At least not yet. But Imogene mentioned he was supposed to be in New York.”
“And because he was at the hospital when he should have been on the opposite side of the country…” Henry began, narrowing his green eyes on me.
“It’s suspicious. Or perhaps a bit too convenient for my liking. He claimed he had some last-minute business come up in Los Angeles, but I don’t know...”
“You think the reason he wasn’t in New York might be chained up down the hall right now?”
I could hear the skepticism in his voice. It was why I was glad to have him on my side. Henry was rational, clear-headed. He didn’t let his emotions or feelings cloud his judgment.
He was often the voice of reason I needed.
