Page 6 of Honest Neglect

They had come in to read me my charges the day before, and I was still reeling from what they were trying to pin on me. Serial killer? That was what they’d said to me. That I had been picking off women all over the country for years now, and this place was just my latest hunting ground. I couldn’t believe for a moment that anyone would actually buy into that, but how could I know for sure? In a small town like this, rumors spread fast, and I had pretty much kept myself to myself over the years. I had never expected anything like this to be thrown at me. How could I? It was just too crazy to make sense of.

When I saw Diane coming through the small door at the end of the corridor, I wanted to give her a hug. She looked exhausted, as though she hadn’t slept in days, and I was sure she was still in a lot of pain from her operation.

“Oh, Warren,” she mumbled as she drew in closer to the bars, and then her face creased up as she burst into tears.

“It’s okay,” I told her, even though I knew it wasn’t.

She shook her head, catching her breath. “No, it’s not okay,” she replied. “I haven’t seen Lily for a couple of days. I haven’t heard anything from her. I tried calling her phone and it just went straight to voicemail.”

“Did you try talking to the police about it?” I asked, but I figured it would have been a futile gesture anyway. They would have covered for anything the McCarthys asked them to, and that included ignoring it when the people who weren’t on his side went missing.

“They just told me that she’s an adult and I can’t report her missing yet,” she replied. “But I know Lily would never do anything like this, Warren. She’s not that kind of person. She never has been.”

“I know, I know,” I soothed her. I hated seeing her like this, and I knew Lily would have, too. But where was she? What had they done with her? I didn’t even want to think of all the possibilities. It had crossed my mind late last night that she might have been one of the victims they were trying to charge me for. The thought of her dead was too horrible to consider, and I brushed it off as soon as I got the chance.

“What are we going to do?” Diane asked. “Silver’s gone, too. I haven’t seen her since...”

She trailed off again and broke down into further tears. That night where everything had just fallen apart. Nothing would be the same again after that. I wasn’t stupid enough not to be able to see it clearly.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” I admitted. “But you have to trust me. I’m doing everything I can to make sure I get out of here.”

Her face paled as she looked up at me again, sniffing.

“I heard what they had you in here for,” she murmured. “Everyone in town is talking about it.”

“Please tell me you don’t believe them.”

Her face hardened, and she shook her head.

“No,” she replied at once. “No, of course I don’t. I know better than to trust anything that comes out of this place.”

“Keep your voice down,” I warned her. “You don’t want to become a target too.”

“I think I already am one,” she replied. “How long before they come after me?”

“Just keep yourself safe, okay?” I asked her. “I know it’s what Lily would want. Don’t go doing anything dangerous that could land you in trouble.”

“Trust me, I have no intention of that,” she replied. “It’s just me up in that house now, you know. Feels so empty without the rest of you there.”

The thought of her sitting in that house all alone? It just wasn’t right. But it was exactly what the McCarthys wanted from us. They wanted us separate so they could find an easier way to take us down.

“I’m going to be out soon,” I promised her.

“How are they treating you in here?” she asked me, frowning, as though the thought had just crossed her mind. “I hope you’re doing alright.”

“It’s fine, honestly,” I replied. “And it won’t be long till I’m back with you. I want to help out in any way I can.”

“You’ve already done so much, Warren.”

“And I’m not going to be done until the McCarthys are finished,” I replied. I meant it. Until I saw that evil family taken apart at the seams, I wasn’t going to be able to rest. I had seen what they could do, how deep their rotten roots in this place lay, and I knew I couldn’t make the life here I wanted with Lily unless I got rid of them.

Diane and I talked for a little longer. She told me that the animal shelter Silver had been held at was burned down, and I prayed it was just gossip and not actually the truth. I wasn’t sure Lily would ever recover from losing her dog like that, let alone Diane.

It didn’t take long, though, for Diane to start getting tired, and I insisted she get a ride home. I didn’t want her wearing herself out over me, not if we could avoid it. She squeezed my hand through the bars and left, and I sat back on the small stone bench once more, back in the silence of my head again.

I dozed off for a while, but I woke a little later when Frank approached the bars of my cell. I sprang to my feet at once, hoping to hear the jingle of keys in his hand, but he shook his head.

“I’m not here to let you out, I’m afraid. I just wanted to update you on everything that’s been going on.”