Found

CHAPTER 33

Dylan started walking faster.

“Wait,” I called to him. “What happened?”

“We rescued a little girl once. I won’t tell you the horrors she had to endure. Her mother had done things to her that would boggle the imagination. But the little girl still thought that woman was her mother. She didn’t know any better. She thought that she loved this evil woman. That’s what happens. You get attached to your abuser, especially when you’re a young child who doesn’t know any better.”

Spoon had said something like this. Something about Stockholm syndrome. I remembered how defiant Luther had been on the tape.

“And that was the case with Luther?”

“Yes.”

“So what happened?”

“Your father made a mistake that night.”

“What kind of mistake?”

“Someone had seen him.”

Again I thought about what we had seen when we watched the video in Spoon’s room. There had been a sudden interruption. “They followed him back to the house,” I said.

“Yes.”

“That’s when you all started panicking. I saw it on the tape.”

Dylan nodded.

“So who was it?”

“The state police.”

“Did they search the house?”

“Yes.”

“But they didn’t find the boys.”

“No. They were in the secret room. We had the false wall covering the door. Luther was calling for help.”

“But the police couldn’t hear him.”

Dylan looked pained again. “Exactly.”

“So what happened?” I asked.

“You noticed the smaller boy on the tape. The one Luther had his arm around?”

“Yes.”

“His name was Ricky.”

Was. He said “was.”

“He wasn’t Luther’s biological or even adopted brother. But in most ways, Ricky meant more to Luther than that. Those two had gone through hell and back together. Luther had always protected him.”

“What happened to him?”

Dylan took a breath and let it go. “He died.”

I felt my throat clench. “How?”

“You have to understand. The police were watching us. They even brought Lizzy Sobek to the police station to ask her questions. We have a powerful lawyer on the Abeona team. She came and helped us get through it. But that was the thing about that room. We didn’t have wires. We didn’t have a sound system. We wanted to make sure that there was no way anyone could get in or out of that room. Like I said, it was soundproof. All of those precautions had saved many children over the years. But it also meant that if something went wrong, it might be a while before we knew about it.”

“So what happened?”

“Ricky was a sickly child. He often suffered seizures. When your father rescued them, it had been chaos. He had to rush. Luther told him that they needed to go back and get the boy’s medicine. But your father didn’t have a chance. That wasn’t his fault, of course. Normally we would have taken care of it right away. We would have gotten our hands on the medications. That was part of our protocol. We always ask about that when they arrive.”

“But not that night,” I said.

“No. That night, when the police came, we didn’t have time. Ricky had a seizure. A really bad one.”

“And he died?” I asked.

“Yes.” Dylan Shaykes looked into my eyes. “Can you imagine it? Watching the only person you ever loved die on the floor in front of you. Pounding on the big metal door. Screaming for help.”

“And no one could hear,” I said.

Dylan nodded. “We sealed up the room after that. No one has been in it since.”

We walked some more.

“Luther never forgave, did he?”

“He pretended he did. But that was just to get placed. As soon as he was out, he ran away. I don’t know where he’s been. He blamed all of us, but your father most of all. He swore that he would get revenge.”

“What did he do to my father?”

“I don’t know.”

“I saw him there. Eight months ago. He was dressed as a paramedic. He took my father away.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“Bat Lady thinks my father’s alive.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

Dylan looked at me and I saw the answer before he said it. “No.”

I swallowed. “You think…?”

“That Luther killed your father. Yes. I saw him, Mickey. I saw his rage. So, no, I don’t think he spared him. I think he took him away and killed him.”

“Is that why he burned down the house? For revenge?”

“I assume so.”

“And he’s still out there.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re still not safe.”

“None of us are, Mickey. None of us are safe.”