Page 100 of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

She stopped and considered him, unsure how to word the question. On one hand, she didn’t want to hear his answer; on the other hand, she had to know. “Have you snuck out of Willowbrook before? I mean, before you came to my house?”

“Of course. Why?”

“What for?”

“I had my reasons. Why do you want to know? What difference does it make?”

“You said I could call you Cropsey. Did you . . . other than Alan, did you kill anyone else? Outside of Willowbrook, I mean?”

He dropped his gaze to the floor, then looked at her with pain-filled eyes. “Do you know how many people have shitty lives out here? How many kids have parents who beat and abuse them, or don’t make enough money to feed them? How many have parents who are alcoholics or drug addicts?”

“Oh my God.” Terror rose to a fever pitch in her mind. And she’d given him her friends’ addresses! “Please tell me you . . . you didn’t hurt Heather and Dawn, did you?”

He shook his head. “I thought about it, but they weren’t worth my time.”

Relief swirled through her, along with the growing cyclone of panic and fear.

“Remember after the first time I saw you in the hall, you didn’t see me the next day?” he said. “I freaked out because I thought you were Rosemary’s ghost. I didn’t tell Dr. Baldwin why I was so upset, but he had to sedate me for a while.”

She said nothing. If he was looking for sympathy, he was asking the wrong person. Then she thought of something else.

“So youwantedme to see Rosemary’s body in the tunnels. But why?”

“Because . . .”

She waited.

“Because I thought you deserved to know she was dead instead of wondering what had happened to her. I can tell you’re a good person. And not knowing what happened to someone you love is worse than knowing.”

“If I’m a good person, then why are you doing this to me?” Her voice broke. “I don’t deserve to be locked up again.”

“I’m sorry. But I don’t know what else to do. I can’t tell them the truth.” He moved toward her, reaching for her with one hand, his eyes sad.

She forced herself to stand stock-still, as if ready to accept a comforting gesture, then skirted around him at the last second, raced to the door, and tried the handle. It was locked. She spun around to face him, her back pressed against the cold steel.

He let out a humorless laugh. “Did you really think I’d be stupid enough to leave it unlocked?”

“Please, just let me go. I’ll never survive in this place. I have to get out of here.” Then she forced a smile, hoping to convince him they could still be friends. It felt like a twitch. “I’m . . . I’m not going far. You’ve still got keys. You can sneak out and come visit me whenever you want.”

He moved closer, staring at her with a pained expression. “You’re lying,” he said. “You’re afraid of me, I can see it in your eyes. And you’re smart to be afraid, because I can’t let you or anyone else come between me and what I was put here to do. If you tell them, they’ll make sure I can never help anyone else. And I can’t let that happen.”

“I won’t tell,” she said. “I promise.”

“Of course you will. You think I’m a monster. And you want to make me pay for killing your sister. You’re a good person, remember? You want to see justice served. But you need to understand that this is bigger than you and me.”

She shook her head furiously back and forth. “No. I just want to go home. That’s all, I promise.”

He took a step back and reached into his pocket. “I almost forgot. I brought you something.” He held out his closed fists as if playing a guessing game. “Pick one.”

“I don’t want to,” she said.

“Come on. Didn’t your parents teach you it’s rude to turn down a gift?” He tried to hide his irritation, but anger edged his voice.

“The only gift I want is to be free.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. As he had said, freedom could mean different things.

“I’ll set you free, I promise, but first you have to pick one.”

She shook her head again.

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