Page 48 of The Inquirer

Min Wu, the lawyer who’d come to me with Carmine and Kathie Douglass’s case, had been the one to set all of this in motion. I had no way of knowing what she knew or how much, if she’d sent me down here intentionally to meet up with the Traylors. She could be the connection between New York City and Savannah…

An idea popped into my head, something so crazy that it just might be possible.

Min Wu never told me the name of the law firm where she worked. I hadn’t pressed the issue because it didn’t matter to me where the money came from. I hadn’t been hired to investigate the Douglass’s lawyers so I hadn’t even looked. I hadn’t even doubted that she worked for a law firm.

This was why I was currently sitting in front of my laptop with Min Wu’s name typed in the search bar, trying to get up the nerve to push ‘search.’ This whole case had been the rabbit hole from hell, and my gut said taking this route would only drag me down more, but I needed to know. I was sick and tired of having shit kept from me.

I clicked and waited. Not surprisingly, several women’s information popped up. The third one down had a picture I recognized, and the information underneath it was familiar too.

Min Wu, senior attorney at A. Check & Associates. Rochester, New York.

I slumped back in my chair.

Fuck it all.

A. Check & Associates, the Rochester branch of Check & Sons. That was a name I’d never wanted to hear again, so of course, it made sense that it’d be the final thing linking everything together. My past coming full circle to bite me in the ass.

The world shifted.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Footsteps. Door squeaking.

Someone was here.

“Nyx, the police want to talk to you.”

I forced my eyes open. Well, eye. The other one was too swollen for me to see. Two men stood at the end of my bed.

“Where’s my mom?” The words came out funny, and I coughed. “Thirsty.” A nurse walked over to me and picked up a cup with a straw. After I took a couple sips, I tried again. “Where’s my mom?”

The nurse looked to the two cops. “She’s a minor.”

“We have permission from the mom to talk to her alone.”

The nurse didn’t look happy about it, but she left. I drank some more water and tried not to think about why I hurt so much. Or why my mom wasn’t here. Or how I’d gotten hurt.

“I’m Detective Shade, and this is Detective Russell. Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

For a second, I remembered how Art had said no one would believe me, but then I remembered that it didn’t matter anymore. I was here, and so were cops. I needed to tell them everything.

“I was in my room…”

The world shifted.

I shivered, and it made me hurt worse, but I wasn’t really cold. When the doctor told me I could leave, I thought Mom was finally coming for me, but she didn’t. It was the cops. They said the detectives needed to talk to me again. I told them I just wanted to go home, but they said it’d be better for all of us if I came here first.

The detectives came in and looked just as annoyed as before. They hadn’t said a word, but I didn’t think they believed me. If they did, they would’ve been nicer.

“Feeling better?” Detective Russell asked.

“A little.” I hated how scared my voice sounded. “Is my mom coming here?”

“It’s okay.” Detective Shade sat down across from me. “She said we can talk to you.”

I was still a kid, but I watched enough cop shows to know that I should have a parent or lawyer with me, but my mom wouldn’t come, and I didn’t trust any lawyers. I already told them everything, but I guess I’d have to say it again.

“The night after…he adopted my sister and me, he came into my room…”

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