Forgotten Luca (The Four 1)

Taz’s blood.

I didn’t even feel an ounce of guilt for what I’d done to that fucker.

“Remy, do you want some coffee?” Ronan asked Remy gently. He was a big guy with an intimidating presence that spoke of confidence. I’d been the recipient of his cool, calm demeanor, but what he was doing now was very different.

It was definitely his bedside manner.

“No thank you, Dr. Grisham,” Remy responded.

“How about some water, then?” Ronan returned. “And please, call me Ronan.”

“Okay, yeah, water would be great.”

Ronan went to the fridge and got the bottle of water. He set it within Remy’s reach but was careful not to get too close to him. A few minutes later he was sitting in the chair kitty-corner from Remy.

“Can you tell me a little bit about Violet, Remy?” Ronan asked as he sipped his coffee.

“Um, okay. Like what?”

“Like how old she is, is she normally pretty healthy, where her mom and dad are,” Ronan suggested.

“She turned two a few weeks ago,” Remy began. “I, um, guess she’s pretty healthy but she’s got some… delays, I guess you’d call them.”

“What kind of delays?” Ronan asked.

“I’m not sure… Jackie—that’s her mom—never took her to the doctor or anything, but I think she doesn’t necessarily do all the things kids her age do. I think she’s probably supposed to talk more than she does… she only knows a few words. When I’d babysit for Jackie, I tried teaching Violet some words by showing her pictures of things, but she couldn’t seem to say any of the words. She can’t walk but she can stand if she holds on to something. Jackie only ever gave her milk in bottles, not those sippy cup things…”

“So you think she might have some developmental and physical delays?” Ronan asked.

Remy nodded. “I once googled what happens when a baby is born addicted to drugs and I read some stuff about them having problems as they get older. Long-term effects, I guess.”

“Violet was born addicted to drugs?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.

“Jackie tried to get clean a few times while she was pregnant, but she couldn’t stop entirely. Violet spent a couple months in the hospital. CPS wanted to take Violet away from Jackie, but a judge gave her back when Jackie took some parenting classes and joined NA. That’s where she and I met.”

“Narcotics Anonymous?” Ronan asked.

Remy nodded. I saw a hint of color stain his cheeks and silently hoped Ronan wouldn’t dwell on the topic.

“So you and Jackie were friends?” Ronan said as he leaned back in his chair.

Remy shrugged. “Drug addicts don’t have friends,” he finally said. “I tried to help Jackie out when she didn’t have money for diapers and stuff like that, but she wouldn’t listen to me when I said she needed to take Violet to the doctor for her shots and stuff. She was afraid they’d take her away again.”

“Where is Jackie now?” I asked. I slowly eased around Remy’s chair so I could sit down in the one next to him. At one point his eyes shot up and he tracked me for a moment, but I wasn’t sure if it was because he was trying to figure out if I was leaving… or staying.

“Gone,” Remy whispered. He automatically cuddled Violet closer to him. “She called me last week, but I didn’t answer because…”

Remy’s eyes momentarily shifted to me before he dropped them. “Because I was busy.”

Yeah, busy dealing with all the shit I’d stirred up for him.

“When I finally got her message, I was too late. I went to her place but…”

Remy shook his head, then repeated, “I was too late.”

“What did you do?” Ronan asked.

“I dialed 911 from her cell phone and left the connection open so they could find her. Violet was nowhere to be found, so I started looking for her. I knew some of the places Jackie hung out when she needed to…”

Remy pulled in a breath. “When she needed to score. But no one had seen her. It took a while to track down this pimp she’d sometimes worked for… and dated.”

“Is that what you were doing all week?” I asked.

Remy pinned me with a hard look. “What did you think I was doing?”

The way he asked the question indicated he knew exactly what I thought he’d been doing. And he was right. I had thought he’d been looking for his next fix.

“Oh wait, we’ve already established what I need,” he added coldly before turning his attention back to Violet.

I flinched as I remembered my own words about offering him anything he needed so he’d never have to get on his knees for money again. Rehab, cash…

Fuck.

“Remy, I didn’t—” I began, but he waved me off.

“Yes, you did,” was all he said. His eyes shifted to Ronan. “Taz, the guy Jackie used to work for, told me Carla—she was Jackie’s friend and sometimes dealer—had taken Violet. We found Violet in this room full of used syringes and stuff… she was holding one when Luc—he” —Remy jerked his chin in my direction—“got to her.” His voice softened considerably when he said, “Do you think she could have poked herself? I didn’t see any blood on her, but I didn’t think to check… she’s already got so much to deal with, Ronan. She can’t… she can’t get sick. So you have to give her something so she doesn’t, okay?”