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“What did the other guy do?” Aubree asks.
“Lots of the same shit. But the buddy only hurt grown women, he wasn’t into the underage thing.”
I roll my eyes. “Makes him a stand-up guy, I suppose. Parole means they have to be on their best behavior, right? So if you prove Fentone’s alibi is bullshit, they both go away?”
Franklin nods again. “Fentone goes down for murder. The other guy, for lying to a detective during an investigation. They’re not the same crimes, but both will be punished.”
“Good,” I spit out. “If the buddy is willing to lie so his friend can rape and kill a little girl, then he doesn’t deserve freedom anyway.” I lift my chin and gesture toward the door. It’s the closest I can manage as far as pleasantries go today. “I’ll be on standby to process the lab’s findings just as soon as they come back. You’ll hear from me immediately after. In the meantime, I suggest you bust that shitty alibi wide open.”
“On my to-do list,” he grins. “Thanks, Doc. I hope to hear from you soon.”
“Yep.”
As he walks away and lets himself out my door, I sit back in my chair and move the mouse to power up my screen. Instead of the reports I was analyzing for another M.E. on staff, I move to Google and type in Laramie Fentone’s name and date of birth.
Not exactly a police-level search, but it’s a good start, since each of his convictions are public record.
“Um…” Twisting her fingers together, anxiety ekes from Aubree’s pores. “Do you want to talk about the—”
“About Archer?” I cut in. “And Tim? And Felix, who just happens to be the bane of my existence?”
I click on a newspaper article about the little girl who was missing for ten days. She was just a baby, stolen from her home and brutalized in all the worst ways.
“No, I absolutely do not want to talk about them. Felix is a gnat I’m not allowed to swat. Tim knows better, so his lack of judgment is disappointing. And Archer’s going to apologize tonight when we get home. When it’s just the two of us, and his brothers aren’t in his ear, harping on about family loyalty.”
“You don’t think they should be loyal?” she challenges. “You disregard the power of family?”
“I disregardthatfamily!” I spin in my seat and pin my associate with a glare. “Archer left them, Aubree! Sixteen years ago, he ran. He was hurt, damn near dead. He was a kid! And still, he was the bravest of them all. Tim left second—not quite as brave, but definitely smarter than the remaining three.
“In all this time, there hasn’t been any contact. NoI miss yous. No one reached out to check on that sixteen-year-old boy they hurt. No one cared until they needed something. Now Archer’s supposed to throw his life away and go back to help them in the name ofloyalty?” I shake my head and turn back to my computer screen. “You can’t seriously be okay with what Felix is doing.”
“Well… no.” She swallows. Then, sitting back to put space between us, she brings a hand up to tuck pink-streaked hair behind her ear. “I’m not okay with it. But we know how Tim and Archer are with each other. We know how protective they are.”
“So what?”
“So it doesn’t take a genius to figure that protection would extend to the other brothers.”
“Those other brothers dumped him and left him to die! Maybe they didn’t physically hurt him, but they didn’t stop it from happening either.”
“Like Tim,” she exhales.
Stunned breathless, I turn to her. “What?”
“Tim was there when that woman was killed, Minka. He didn’t hurt Archer, but he didn’t stop it. He didn’t even leave the same day Archer did; he stayed behind a little longer. And then there’s Cato. He had nothing to do with any of this.”
A savage growl tears along my throat. “What’s your damn point?”
“Felix and Micah did everything the same as Tim in those early days. They stood back, powerless, and let Archer get hurt. And Cato,” she laughs, though the sound lacks any humor, “he wasn’t even two years old yet. He’sstilla child. They wereallchildren when Archer left. Tim eventually followed, and though his welcome wasn’t smooth in the beginning, Archer quickly accepted his brother back.”
“Aubree…”
“Now Felix has followed. And Micah needs help. And Cato is still only seventeen years old, which means he needs protection too.”
“Aubree!”
“I’m just saying,” she argues. “It’s not a stretch to consider that Archer’s loyalty binds him to that family.”
“To a family that would have him dead?”
