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“Once who found out?”
Sherry’s mood shifted. A slight tremor coursed through her body, and she looked away from the window like the sun was too much for her to bear. Cassie desperately wanted to force the woman to look at her, to tell her what she knew, but she tamped down on the urge. She barely allowed herself to breathe while she waited to hear what came next.
“Hank. He could be the sweetest man or he could be the Devil himself.”
Cassie pulled up another picture on her phone. She held it out for Sherry. “Is this him?”
Sherry looked at the phone, then looked down at her lap. She couldn’t stand the sight of him. “Yes.”
Henry “Hank” Fitzpatrick had been the man convicted of kidnapping and killing one child. He had been tied to many more disappearances, including Sarah’s, but there hadn’t been enough evidence. A shiver went down Cassie’s spine. They had always suspected he had a partner.
Was she talking to that very person right now?
“Tell me more about Hank.”
“I don’t want to.” It came out like a whisper. “I don’t want to.”
Cassie scooted her chair a little closer. “Did he hurt you?”
The woman nodded.
Cassie knew this woman had been involved in Sebastian’s death. And Sarah’s. And countless others. She may have been as bad or worse than Henry, but right now, she was just a little old woman at the end of her days. Cassie felt anger and empathy warring inside her.
“He can’t hurt you anymore.” She waited until Sherry looked at her. “He’s in jail right now. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Can you tell me about him? How did you meet?”
“He was a friend of a friend.”
“Was this before or after Ethan died?”
“After.” She wiped another tear away. “He used to be the only thing that kept me going. He worked at an adoption agency years ago and said he knew all kinds of people who had lost their kids. People who had adopted a child and felt whole again. He said he would help me.”
“Were you involved with each other?”
She nodded again. “Not at first. But he was so sweet. And he promised me. He promised me—”
When she broke off and a sob escaped her mouth, Cassie pulled a tissue from a nearby table and handed it to her. She waited until the woman blew her nose to look around. If any of the orderlies saw her crying, would they make Cassie leave?
“He promised to help you adopt a child? That must’ve given you a lot of hope.”
“I filled out all the paperwork. He helped me. But they denied me.”
“Do you know why?”
“They didn’t think I could handle having another child.” A spark of anger flashed across her face, but she didn’t have enough energy to carry it through. “They said it wouldn’t have grown up in a good environment. But they didn’t understand. They didn’t know I’d do anything for another son.”
“Is that when you saw Sebastian? The little boy in the park.”
“He looked just like Ethan. Just like him.” Her eyes misted over. “And when Henry found out, he was furious at first. But only at first.”
“Why only at first?”
“He told me he was mad that the agency had rejected my application. That it wasn’t right. That they turned away hundreds of people every year who deserved to have kids. He wanted to help people like that. People like me.”
“What did he do with Sebastian?”
