“I should have told you. Maybe it would have helped.”
“No—no, sweetheart. You were a kid. You were living in hell and doing your best. You did just fine.”
“He was a monster,” I said. “I wanted him dead every single day.”
“I bet you did.”
“And then—and then someone killed him.”
“Yes, they did,” he said, and I knew—because I knew his voice, just like he knew me. My father had held my secret, too.
“Sloane?”
“Yes, Daddy?”
“It’s like I always say—justice wins out.”
“Did it, Daddy?”
“You bet it did, sweetheart.”
When I hung up, I realized I was crying, but I was smiling, too. And for the first time in a long time, I let the weight of my secret drop away.
I wanted Tyler, but he was off at meetings, and so I did the next best thing. I got dressed, got in my car, and headed to Destiny.
I would be early, but I didn’t care. I could mingle with the customers, maybe see if there were any more who knew Amy.
I frowned, realizing I hadn’t asked my dad about the run on her license. Then again, it hadn’t been that long, and I knew he’d call if and when he got something.
I did, however, want to give Candy an update to let her know I had even more confirmation that Amy had skipped to Vegas. I put the phone on speaker and dialed her number as I maneuvered onto the highway to head toward Destiny.
“I was going to call you today,” she said, right off the bat. “Guess who called me last night?”
“Amy,” I said.
“Yes! She sounded terrible, but she said she’s doing great—she did meet a guy, so we were right about that. She’d lost her phone. I almost just deleted the voicemail—I figured it was a wrong number—and she said not to worry about her.”
“How did she sound bad?”
“Just tired,” Candy said. “I tried to call back on the number, but it said it wasn’t working. Not sure what’s up with that. I wanted to tell her to chill. And to lay off the guy if he was wiping her out so much. Anyway, it’s good news, huh?”
“The best.”
“She said she’d be here for the baby. Well, she said next month, but I’m sure she meant next week. If not, I’ll chew her ass out for being late.”
“I bet you will.”
I hung up, smiling at the relief in Candy’s voice. I thought of Sapphire, and her frustration at not knowing what had happened to Emily, and her impression that the police weren’t doing enough.
I could hardly help on the investigation, but maybe I could help gather some facts. I scrolled through my contacts and put a call in to Detective Louis Carson, one of the Chicago homicide detectives I’d called to ask about Tyler and the guys when I’d first rolled into town.
“Hey Watson,” he said. “You still in our fair city?”
“I am,” I said. “And I have a favor.” I told him about Emily and about wanting to help Sapphire and asked him if there was anything more I could pass on to her.
“I know a bit about that case,” he said. “I can give you some info, but you need to keep it to yourself. Chief wanted a tight wrap on this case, and he hasn’t yet authorized release of the details. Should be soon, though, and you can tell your girl.”
“I’ll keep quiet until you say,” I promised, then listened as he told me about how she’d been found in an abandoned warehouse—that was public knowledge—and that she’d been the victim of torture.
“Not sexual, as far as we can tell. But starved and beaten. Some sick fuck did a number on her.”
“Shit.”
“I know. We’re hoping we don’t have a serial killer on our hands.”
“Anything useful from forensics?”