Page 32 of Honest Neglect

I sat up and went to the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth again just to give myself something to do. I should have been happy about the way tonight had gone—really, we had gotten so much more than we’d imagined we would from Paul, and it would set us on a new path to taking down the McCarthy family once and for all. But all it had served to do was remind me of how bad things were and just how powerful our enemies happened to be.

I knew it was weighing on Warren, too. He had expressed his guilt to me that he hadn’t been able to find me sooner, and no matter what I said to him, he just wasn’t letting it go. I wished I could tell him I didn’t blame him, that I was the one who was sorry for pulling him into this whole mess, but it wouldn’t have meant anything to him. As far as he was concerned, he was the one at fault, even though he had been publicly pilloried for a crime he didn’t commit. I didn’t even dare venture into Oakville because I knew what everyone would be thinking of me, and I couldn’t stand to imagine how they would look at me as a result. Dating a serial killer? I didn’t know what that made me in their eyes, but I didn’t want to find out.

I was about to head back to bed when I heard something. My head snapped up, and I rushed over to the window to see Leroy’s car coming up the driveway. Thank goodness. I scanned the area to make sure there was nobody following him and then tiptoed past my mom’s room to the top of the stairs. Perching out of sight, I watched as Warren came out of the living room and opened the door.

“Leroy, come in,” he greeted the older man. “How did it go? What did you find out?”

“I took Paul up to see the guys before we dropped him off at the hotel,” he explained, getting right to it. “He showed us some pictures of his daughter and left us some more information to work with. It took us a few hours, but we were able to track her down—someone who looks just like her, anyway.”

“So she really is alive?” Warren asked, clearly shocked.

“It looks that way,” Leroy agreed. “She doesn’t have any other social media of her own, but there were pictures of her out with friends. And she works at a local restaurant, judging by some staff pictures they put up recently.”

“Okay, that’s really good,” Warren remarked. I wanted to punch the air. I didn’t know how she’d done it, but it looked like Marcy had actually managed to get away. I wished I could tell her how proud I was of her. I understood better than anyone just how tough it was to leave behind a man like Tony, but she had run from him and used her good sense to put as much space between her and her abuser as she possibly could.

“Yes, she’s across the state now, and it looks like she’s been living there for a few years,” Leroy went on. “I’m going to send my men out there in the morning to meet with her, see what she’s dealing with. And if she’s willing to talk.”

I bit my lip. I didn’t know if I liked that idea. Did we really want to pull her back into it when she had just managed to get out? It didn’t seem fair. But maybe it was for the best. We needed as much help as we could get, and she could be a powerful ally in this fight against Tony.

And besides, she must have wanted to see her family again. I could remember all too well the painful strain of being so far from my mom when I had been on the road. No matter how much fun I’d had, how much I had learned about myself, there was a great big hole in my heart where she should have been, and there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t feel it.

Her father would be so glad to see her. I could only imagine the look on his face when he found out she was alive.

“Have you had a chance to run the pictures you found of her by Paul yet?” Warren asked.

“Not yet, but we’re going to do it first thing in the morning before we send people after her.”

“You think that’s a good idea?” Warren remarked, doubtful. “She already ran once. What’s to say she won’t do the same thing again if she’s faced with being pulled back into this?”

“We’ll find a way to convince her,” Leroy replied. Something in his voice made me shiver slightly. I was glad he was on our side, I could say that much. I didn’t know what kind of stuff he had been wrapped up in when he had been in the military, but it was clear he still kept a lot of it close to his chest.

“Don’t push her too hard,” Warren warned him. “We don’t want to scare her off. Or scare her at all, for that matter. She’s been through enough.”

“We have to be willing to make people uncomfortable if we’re going to do this,” Leroy shot back, a little tersely. “She might not like it, but she can’t just walk away from this. She’s an integral part of all of this coming together. You heard what Frank said.”

“The McCarthys have made a lot of enemies over the years,” Warren replied. “If we can’t get her on our side, then there will be other women who are willing to testify against him.”

“If they don’t end up dead in a ditch first,” Leroy replied. I raised my eyebrows. Damn, that was harsh. I could tell he was passionate about this, but the way he was talking had me with a few more questions than I would have liked.

“You should get to bed,” Warren told him. “Diane has the couch made up for you.”

“I’ll go back up and stay with my men,” Leroy replied. “I’d rather be with them.”

“Your men?” Warren remarked. “You’re not a general anymore, are you?”

Finally, Leroy cracked a smile.

“Good point,” he replied. “I guess I’m just a civilian like all the rest of you. You coming with me?”

Warren hesitated for a moment. Leroy cocked his head to the side.

“You want to stay with the girl, don’t you?”

Warren nodded.

“I can’t go right now,” he murmured. “She needs me. And I...I need her, too.”

“You’re getting soft, Warren,” he remarked, but he seemed to accept the answer. Warren shook his hand and walked him to the door, seeing him out to his car. I went back to sit on the bed and watched the general drive off, wondering just what he was going to do to try and get Marcy to work with us. I got the feeling he wasn’t going to be all that subtle about it. Maybe I should try and make sure Paul went, too, to soften the blow a little.