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“Fine.” Genny gestured for me to go ahead.
I turned on Madison. The amusedly confused mask on her face was getting better by the second.
“Here’s how it’s going to go,” I began. “I’m going to tell you what I know. You’ll deny being a psychotic, evil bitch. Then I’ll show you our proof. After that, you get to explain just how you got to be this way. Prep that sympathy defense for the jury.”
She laughed. “Oh my gosh, Kenzie. You’re just as crazy and desperate for attention as Lyla said. I do not have time for this, but whatever.” She shrugged. “I’m kinda interested in how I’m a psychotic, evil bitch and what proof you have of that beside the voices in your head?”
My lips stretched to match her smile. “You used to work with a man named Luca Adams, also known as Digger. He supplied you with kidnapped children, and you put them up for adoption through a fake agency called the Sunshine Adoption.”
“Hmm, no,” she said, scratching her puppy behind the ear. “Never heard of the place.”
I went on like she hadn’t spoken. “Luca was able to supply you with children and babies, because he owned a string of cheap housing with his pick of women and single mothers to prey on. He tricked or forced them into prostitution, then handed their kids to you.
“I don’t know how you hooked up with Luca. He was handsome and charming, so maybe he seduced you like all the others. But instead of putting you through hell, he realized you were soulmates. You were both dead inside.
“With your sweet act, pretty face, and clean background check greeting couples at the door, you had no problem making over a million dollars off of those poor women and their misery.”
Madison just looked at me like this was boring and she was waiting for me to skip to the end.
“The Brotherhood didn’t approach Luca.” I leveled between her eyes. “They approached you. The Brotherhood recruits enemies of the Merchants who can be useful to them. You were in the building where their clothes were packed up and shipped. That put you in the perfect position to slip a little something inside. Tell me, did you come up with the idea for the trackers, or does a brother get the credit?”
“I really have no idea what you’re talking about. But can you hurry this up? Poppy needs to make.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter who thought of it. You did your duty for the cause by tampering with all the clothes going out to the Johnsons. As for Luca, you made the case to the Brotherhood that another psychopath would be good for the organization. Who knows, maybe they liked how easily he made women... disappear.”
Madison put her dog down, letting him run off to sniff the grass. “You’re spinning a scary story, Kenzie, but it has nothing to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you, Madison,” I forced through gritted teeth. “See, you were always different. Back when we started the internship and you became a part of Lyla’s bitch crew, you didn’t always blindly follow along with what she said and did. You weren’t a nice person, but every now and then you openly contradicted her—earning yourself a glare or a kick under the table.
“I used to think ‘she’s an asshole, but at least she’s an asshole that thinks for herself.’ I thought the same thing the day Lyla got me fired and you approached me as I was leaving.” I flashed back to that day. Me carrying a box of my things and about to shove them into a cab when Madison’s call made me stop. “You said I was done in fashion. No one in our world would hire me, and even if I deserve what I get, my kid doesn’t. You dropped a business card for Allison Raines on my things, told me she helps women in trouble, and said to call the number.
“Allison was a sweet old voice on the other end of the phone that helped me get the job at the diner. And when I lost that job and my apartment, I called her again, and she sent me to Luca’s apartment building. Allison was you, wasn’t it?” I rasped. “It’s not a coincidence that you gave a pregnant woman a card that led her right into the hands of that monster. You knew he would take me, and hand Laurel right to you.”
“Nope,” Madison popped, rolling her eyes. “I was just trying to help you. This is what I get for feeling sorry for you.”
I grinned mirthlessly. “That’s good, Madison. We’re already through parts one and two. Now it’s time for me to show you proof.” I fished out my phone. “You say you know nothing about the Sunshine Adoption Agency. You had nothing to do with Luca Adams and the children he kidnapped. And you’re just an innocent designer that knows nothing about double lives and fake identities.”
