“Can you stay for a few minutes? Dale wants to talk to you.”
“Sure.” Ruby killed the engine. “Is he all right?”
“I think so. He just says he remembers a few things, and he wants to tell all of us together, including you because you’re a detective.”
“Was,” Ruby said. “But of course. I’m happy to help.”
My heart beat double time as we walked into the house. Dale was sitting in the family room with Jade.
“Where’s Donny?” I asked.
“He actually had a playdate with a boy in his class,” Jade said. “He was really excited.”
Dale, at ten, was too old for playdates. Only three years separated the brothers, but at their current ages, it might as well have been a lifetime, especially considering what Dale had gone through to spare Donny. Dale wasn’t smiling—he still rarely smiled—but he did look at ease. Not stiff and tense, the way he had for so long…before he’d found the polished rock where he’d seen the stalker standing.
“Hey, Dale,” Ruby said.
“Hi.”
“What do you want to talk about?” she asked. “Do you want us all here?”
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
“What’s on your mind, then?”
He opened his mouth but then closed it.
“Whenever you’re ready, son,” Talon said.
“Sometimes things come back to me,” he said. “I don’t understand why I don’t remember everything. Melanie says I was probably drugged a lot of the time.”
Talon nodded. “You probably were. We’re all glad it didn’t do any permanent damage.”
“Yeah. Me too,” Dale said. “I mean, I kind of don’t want to remember some of it, but Melanie says it’s part of getting better.”
“It is,” Talon said.
“Anyway…” He sighed. “There was a guy where we were. He didn’t do anything to us. He just…”
“Just what?” Talon asked.
“Um…he stood in the room and watched.”
My throat felt raw and saliva pooled in my mouth. I held back a gag.
“Watched…what?” Talon asked slowly.
“Whatever. Whatever the other guys decided…to do to us…that day.”
“He didn’t do any of that?” Ruby said.
“No. He just watched. I only just remembered this today. This morning. I woke up, and I remembered.”
“What did this guy look like?” Ruby asked.
“I don’t know. He wore a mask like all the others. But he also wore a gray hoodie and jeans. Or dark pants. I don’t know. The hood was always up.”
“So you think…” Ruby began.