Page 85 of Dance for Me

This particular street consisted of eight large properties, all double-story, with a good expanse of garden. Plenty of trees, bushes, greenery to give it the illusion of rural living.

The big difference between here and Bodie’s apartment was the people. Even now, lights were flicking on behind closed curtains, and people came out of their houses in their robes or, in the case of one or two men, just jeans. Drawn to the blue lights swirling patterns over their windows, sucking them in like moths.

No one had even bothered to twitch a curtain at Bodie’s complex.

It sat like acid in Braun’s stomach. Thick, bitter acid burning through his guts. Surely someone had heard her car window smash. Someone should have heard the fight, heard her cry out, through those pathetically thin walls.

Yet no one had called the cops.

No one had gone to her aid.

They’d left her to die, just as brutally as her father had.

Fear was no excuse. It would only have taken a minute to call the police with an anonymous tip. Maybe if someone had done so, his girl would be facing a future with dance and music in it.

And if you’d gone with her, if you’d stopped her from going by herself, if you’d been faster, it wouldn’t have happened at all, his subconscious mocked.

“That was quick,” Jasper said quietly.

Braun jerked back into the here and now, balancing his thoughts as Atticus strolled back to the truck with his hands in his pockets.

He slid back into the driver’s seat, closed the door, then looked at Braun. “Good news or bad news?”

A chorus of conflicting “Good news!” and “Bad news!” came from the back seat, followed by Jasper’s curt, “Will you shut up before I take a bullwhip to you both.”

The fury in Braun’s veins died. He rubbed his hands over his face, then dropped them in his lap. “Fucker’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. No blood on your hands tonight, boss. 911 call came in from a young woman claiming to have shot her parents. Babbled on about years of abuse. Dispatch has it all recorded, so I’ll see if I can get my hands on the transcript. Uniformed officers responded, found the scene as described, called in homicide.”

“A young woman?”

Atticus nodded. “Disabled, wheelchair-bound. From the description given to Hennessy, the homicide cop, by the first responder, she’s a mess. Depending what they find inside and during the investigation, he thinks it’s going to be a case of self-defense. He’s gonna give me a call when they wrap it up.”

Bodie’s sister. It had to be. Before now, he’d had no love toward any of her family. The way Bodie spoke about them—including her sister—led him to believe she thought they hated her. She’d been right about her parents, but maybe she’d be proved wrong about her sister.

“Alicia,” he muttered. “Her name is Alicia.”

“Well, Alicia did us a goddamn favor.” Jasper said it bluntly. “She killed two psychotic individuals. Now we just need to hunt down the second person, the one riding the other bike, and finish this thing with a big, bloody how so we can move on and figure out what’s the best step forward.”

“Got a theory on that, one you’re not gonna like,” Atticus said thoughtfully, his gaze resting back in the house which was now a centerpiece for the locals. The neighbors were out in force, eager to catch a glimpse of whatever tragedy had struck in their midst. “Can’t see them from here, but there’s two motorbikes stashed by the house. Can’t say for certain but I’m pretty damn positive they’re the ones we passed on the road.”

“Both of them? Here?”

“Oh my God,” Connie whispered. “Atticus, you can’t think...”

“Caught up yet, boss?”

“The mother. You think Bodie’s mother was the second rider?”

The big man nodded slowly. “Might be I’m jaded, but I’d guess so. Which means her mother and father were the ones to beat her.”

“That is some kind of fucked up.” Loki commented. “How did a sweet little thing like Bodie turn out the way she did with monsters like that raising her? No wonder she was so skittish when she came to Avalon.”

Connie sniffled, but no one commented. No one dared. “Because she’s stronger than they were. She wanted no part of that life and she refused to give in to the pressure to become like them. That’s a lot of why they hated her; she was more than they could ever be.”

“What’s going to happen to Alicia?” Braun asked.

“They’ll take her in, either to the local department or the hospital if her condition isn’t good. From Hennessy's opinion, I imagine she’ll be taken straight to the emergency room. They’ll take her statement. I don’t think they’ll see her as a flight risk, so if they don’t charge her, she’ll be discharged.”

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