Page 63 of Sinful Reality

“Search her trash can.” Minka stalks closer to me. “Pull samples and send them off to the lab. That’s how you get the DNA we need for comparison. Get those, and the case is closed anyway.”

“Present this to a judge, and you’ll get your no-knock warrant within the hour,” I snarl. “If you don’t, I’ll make a call and get it for you in half that time.”

“If you breach while Lachlan is there,” Minka adds, “he might lose his mind. All the noise and shouting and strangers in his home would be frightening. The fact his mother won’t be there to soothe him would make it worse. If you startle him and he gets angry, that could place Janiesa in more danger than she’s already in.”

“So convince Momma Bear to bring her homicidal, mentally unstable man-child to the station and hope she doesn’t think that’s suspicious?”

“She’s already coming!” I bite out. “Call her back and suggest she bring him along so he’s not home alone. It’s not that fucking difficult, Gilbert.”

“Archer…” Pointedly, Minka settles back on her heels and presents her hand, palm side up. Her eyes flicker across mine and soften when I place the phone in her palm; then she swallows in silence, the lump of nerves visibly rolling along her throat. Finally, she draws a long breath, her chest expanding, before she exhales again and brings the phone closer. “Get the warrant, Pax. This is enough for a judge, and you know it. A child is in imminent danger: that’ll get a signature on paper. Gloria is all about protecting him.” She closes her eyes. Thinking, maybe. Planning. “Whatever happened to Serena, if she is, in fact, dead, then Gloria never punished him for it. She never called the cops, and if no one else even noticed the girl was missing, it seems she never mourned the loss, either. She cares for these little girls for a year at a time. Not very well,” she adds with a sigh. “Ultimately, they’re a gift to her son, a new toy for him to play with. And when the year is up, and they’re no longer the right age, she kills them, strips them, puts them in a plastic bag, and puts them back where she found them. That implies a detachment bordering on psychotic.”

“She dissociates from Serena’s existence,” I murmur. “But lives for Lachlan.”

“Because he’s special. He’s always been special; his mental capacity means he’ll forever be her little boy. Most parents buy their kid a Spider-Man action figure to play with. Or a Barbie Doll. But Lachlan wants Serena, and maybe his mental state deteriorates every January without her. Maybe he remembers what he did and grows violent or unstable.”

“Replace the child that was lost,” I finish. “Soothe the boy who can’t regulate.”

“Then dispose of the child when she’s no longer useful,” Cato sneers. “Gross.”

“Can you keep us updated today?” Minka brings her free hand up and pinches the bridge of her nose. “I just wanna… I want to know if we’ve finally figured this out.”

“Fly over,” Paxton offers smoothly, “and I’ll postpone Gloria’s meeting until you can be here.”

Minka’s eyes swing my way, glittering with exhaustion. But they shimmer with the hunt, too. Not the same as Gloria when she searches for a new plaything for her son. But with a vehemence that demands this case be solved and a monster put behind bars.

She wants so badly to go there. To be the woman she was before we ever met. Her chest lifts and falls, her lungs searching for oxygen, and her lips drop open. But she shakes her head long before I can remind her of the promise she already made.

Before I’m forced to beg her to stay here.

With me.

“No.” She licks her lips and turns to sit on the edge of the couch. “It would take too long to get there, and leaving Janiesa in that house for a single minute longer than necessary is selfish and cruel. This isn’t my case anymore, Pax.”

“It was always yours.” His voice drops to a smooth baritone. It becomes what I suppose he intends as a comforting hug.

Mywife.

Mine!

“I wouldn’t be at this point if I hadn’t brought you in, Min. I want to see you finish it out.”

“I just want to see it finished,” she sighs. “My location is irrelevant. But if you could send updates, I’d appreciate?—”

“I’ll set you up for observation, then.” He sits back in what I guess is a war room, but on his side of the country. His chair squeaks, and his voice echoes throughout an otherwise empty room. “I’ll talk to my lieutenant and get this set up. See what he wants to do.”

Breach the fucking house, you dumb shit.

“I’ll be in contact in a little while.”

“Yeah.” She sets her elbow on her knee and massages her temple with her fingers. “Thanks.”

“And Min?”

Slowly, she glances up and meets my eyes, the soft brown depths of hers like liquid chocolate. But she breathes out a tired, “Yeah?”

“Thanks for taking my calls when this all began. I knew you had a new life over there now, though I had no clue you’d even moved until David told me.”

She coughs out an almost silent laugh. “I like my privacy, and the only reason David knew I’d left was because we shared an office. I’m done with that now.”

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