Karen Rose - Count to Ten

"And never heard from Andrew?" Mia asked, kindly now.

"No. Although barely a day goes by that I don't think about him or one of the others."

"Andrew always saves the pets," Reed commented. "Do you know why?"

"Yes. We had a dog." His smile was sad. "Sweet old mutt. After Tyler was done with Andrew, Andrew would hide in the barn. A few times I found him, curled up against that old mutt. But he never cried. He just petted that old dog till it was a wonder he still had any coat. The day of the fire that old dog was in Shane's room. He died, too."

"He never told the sheriff any of the times he was caught running?" Spinnelli asked.

Tim's smile turned sardonic. "You mean Sheriff Young, my uncle?"

Spinnelli looked grim. "I see."

"I'm curious, Tim," Mia said. "You said you lied and gave Andrew an alibi that day, but didn't his teachers or some of the other kids notice he was missing?"

"Funny thing about that," Tim drawled, his tone self-mocking. "See, Tyler was a bully at school, too. All the kids knew it. The teachers did, too. Andrew's teacher at the end of that school day would have been Miss Parker. She was young and pretty and terrified of Tyler. Nobody 'missed' Andrew that day." He sighed. "Maybe if we had, none of this would have happened."

"I don't think you can know what would have happened, Tim," Reed said quietly.

"Perhaps not. I've spent the years since I left home time trying to make up for what I did. And what 1 didn't do. Now I have to face my part in this. I can't be free until I've made some kind of restitution. Legally and morally. I'll do whatever you need me to do."

Sunday, December 3, 8:35 p.m.

Mitchell thought she was smart. I am smarter . He approached Penny Hill's car, then reached in the backseat for her briefcase. He was glad now he'd left it behind. If he'd buried it in the backyard, Mitchell would have it by now.

Bitch cop, thought she could fool him. He'd found Milicent Craven's home address with ease. He'd called DCFS, was transferred to her voicemail. It was luck that he'd called again when the operator had been busy with another call.

Well, not luck. That was instinct. He'd known it sounded too good to be true. When the operator was busy, calls were sent to the automated line. Please enter the first few letters of the person's last name . So he had. Three times. And all three times got the same answer. No names match the letters you have entered. Please try again .

So Milicent Craven was suspicious. Probably a fraud. But in the event he was wrong, he'd look at Penny Hill's belongings. She'd had a retirement party the night he'd killed her. There were presents and cards. If Milicent Craven existed, maybe she had signed one them. Maybe she'd be listed in Hill's Day-Timer. He needed to know.

He sat on the seat and started sorting through the contents of her briefcase. It was stuffed full of papers and files, but one labeled folder stood out. shane kates.

After a moment his heart started beating again. He opened the folder and stared at the photo inside. He hadn't looked at his brother's face in nine years. He'd been such a beautiful little boy. Too beautiful. Too much of a temptation for perverts like his aunt's boyfriend or Tyler Young. They'd killed him. Every last one of them had killed Shane.

And they were all dead. Penny Hill was no innocent. She had Shane's file. She'd known where he was all along. All those months of hell in the Young's house.

Mitchell had lied. There was no Milicent Craven. She'd lied to lure him into the open. She was as conniving as the rest of the women. She should suffer for that.

She should die for that, just like Penny and Brooke and Laura and his aunt.

They'd be watching Milicent Craven's house. The minute he went in. he would have been dead. So he wouldn't go in. And he'd master their game. His original plan would stand.

He'd draw Mitchell to him. And then he'd kill her. He'd see her burn.

First he'd get a good night's sleep. She'd wait for him outside Craven's house all night long. She'll be tired tomorrow and I'll be fresh as a spring daisy .

Monday, December 4, 12:45 a.m.

"Wake up, Reed." Mia poked him in the darkness of the car. They were staked out, watching for Kates. Anita Brubaker was inside the house, armed to the teeth while their unmarked cars watched from all directions. If Kates approached, they'd know.

"I'm not asleep," Reed muttered, turning from the window. "Wish I were, but I'm not."

"Poor baby. You worked hard this afternoon, cleaning your house."

He narrowed his eyes. "You said you'd come help."

"I did… just later." As they were calling it quits for the day. "I went to see Jeremy."

His eyes softened. "You're getting attached to the kid."

Her chin lifted. "Is that so wrong?"

"No. Not if you don't plan to walk away. He'll have enough people walk away in the years ahead. The kid's got a long row to hoe."

Her gaze swept the area and seeing nothing, returned to Reed. "I wish I could take him home with me. But he's not a cat. I can't take him. I don't even have a home."

"So you gave him to Dana. It's the next best choice. You did good, Mia." He resettled himself in the seat, grimacing. "Where did Spinnelli get this car? Yugoslavia?"

She chuckled. "We couldn't use yours. Kates's seen it."

"And five minutes in your car would put me in traction."

"Hey, it's a classic. I can't help that you're too big."

"I don't get it, Mia. You wait to buy a coat until you get paid, and it's a nice coat by the way, much better than the old one, but you have enough cash for a sports car?"

"Most of my money goes to Kelsey's lawyer. Every time we get close to parole, his billable hours go up, so I've been cash strapped this month. Besides, the car wasn't that expensive. David got me a deal on a fixer-upper. I'd broken up with Guy and wanted something to lift my spirits, so I splurged. David fixed it up, keeps the engine happy."

He frowned. "Mia." He hesitated. "About Hunter."

"Friends. Just friends. Always have been, never will be more."

He looked unconvinced and she sighed. "Look, I've told you all my secrets, but I won't tell you his. It would have been easier if we had wanted each other, but we didn't."

"You were with him last night."

She lifted a shoulder. "I guess I wanted to be with someone else who couldn't have who they wanted." She smiled. "But things change."

He smiled back. "Yes, they do."

"I never asked, did Beth win the slam poetry competition last night?"

"First in her age group."

"Did you hear her poem?"

He shook his head. "We haven't made up quite that much."

"You should ask her to… slam it for you, or whatever the right word is. It was good."

He frowned and looked out the window at shadows. "Christine was a poet."

She thought about the poetry book she'd found. This is my heart . "Really?"

"We met in college. I was taking a lit class and poetry was like ancient Greek to me. She saw me scowling, told me if I bought her a cup of coffee, she'd explain it all."

"And she did."

"She did. Then she read me her poems and it was like… listening to a ballet. She brought beauty into my life. I'd made myself disciplined through the army, gave myself a career with my degree. Made myself into a son the Sollidays were proud of. But I couldn't make beauty. Christine did that for me."

Mia swallowed hard. "I can't do that for you, Reed. I don't have that gift."

"Not for ribbons and bows, no. But last night I realized you make me happy." He turned his head. Met her eyes. "And what's more beautiful than that?"

Moved, she had no words to give him back. "Reed."

His lips quirked up as he settled back into the seat. "Plus you've got really nice breasts. So when I'm feeling lonely for ribbons and bows, I'll just look at those."