Hush

Maddox continued, “We’ll be over bright and early to take you to the sheriff’s office, if that’s alright. We won’t bother you today about anything, wanna give you some time to readjust. To sleep. But we’ve got one of these guys on the run. And we need to know everything. To make sure this cockroach, when he’s caught, is given the maximum sentence he deserves.”

Shelby stiffened beside Orion. “Are we in trouble . . . for the other guy?”

Orion knew Shelby was thinking about the body in The Cell.

Maddox’s features softened immediately at Shelby’s tone. The broken, scared tone. “No, not one bit,” he said, voice gentle. Calm.

He was good at this, Orion noted.

“We don’t give a fuck about him, if I’m being honest.”

Eric shook his head in agreement.

“We’re glad you did what you did. Now we need to get the other one. And we need to find the others.” Maddox’s eyes met the tiled floor, his bottom lip slipping between his teeth. “And get closure for their families.”

“You know about them?” Orion asked, cocking her head.

“They, uh . . . they had snuff photos. Of a few different girls. More than needs to be talked about right now.” Maddox took a deep breath, and a solemn look crossed Eric’s face. “Unfortunately, tomorrow’s gonna be a long day, so you ladies make sure you get some rest tonight.”

“Why are we staying all the way out in Edwardsville?” Jaclyn asked the question that Orion had been wondering since he said the location of the hotel. Not that she was all that excited to see her parents again. Maybe a little part of her. But she cringed at the thought of her parents soaking up the notoriety.

“What about our families?” Shelby asked, as if reading Orion’s mind. She had spoken often about her parents, longed for them. Neither Orion nor Jaclyn did that. Jaclyn.

Orion wondered if her family would even bother turning up to claim her.

“Due to the circumstances surrounding everything, local media is already outside waiting,” Maddox explained.

Circumstances, Orion thought. Nice euphemisms there. Half cop, half politician.

“It’s only a matter of time before national news gets down here,” he continued. “And all hell breaks loose.” He glanced to his partner. Orion noted that he was taking great pains to avoid her gaze. She wondered if it was because he didn’t trust himself not to lose his police mask, as he had when he walked in. Or maybe she disgusted him now. A memory of where he’d failed.

Maddox looked toward Shelby. “As for family, Ms. O’Reilly, your parents have been notified, of course, and as long as you approve it, they will be meeting you at the hotel. They wanted to be here, but we managed to convince them it was best if they stayed away from the media.”

Tears leaked out of Shelby’s eyes and her hand covered her mouth. A muffled sob escaped.

Maddox turned to Jaclyn. “Ms. Murphy, I’m sorry, we couldn’t locate your mother or your father.”

Jaclyn rolled her eyes, but Orion saw the slight glassiness in them. “No surprise there,” Jaclyn muttered.

“We were, however, able to reach your grandmother. A Mrs. . . .” Maddox trailed off, again looking at Eric.

“Deborah Connor,” Eric finished for him.

Jaclyn straightened her spine and narrowed her eyes, exactly as Orion had expected her to. She’d heard stories of the parents who had abandoned her, the grandmother who had beaten her, and the grandfather who did whatever he damn well pleased.

“Oh no!” Jaclyn snapped. “Fuck that evil bitch. I don’t want to see her. Not today. Not ever. I’ll leave our reunion for when I meet her in fuckin’ hell.”

The corner of Orion’s mouth quirked ever so slightly.

Maddox nodded once, not smiling. “Understood.” Then, as if he were moving through sludge, he turned to look at the space above Orion’s head. His cop mask slipped again. He rubbed the back of his neck. Another nervous tic. “Ri-Orion, I, uh . . .” His brow furrowed as he stumbled over his words.

“Oh, just spit it out,” she snapped. “I think I can handle it. You know, considering what I’ve already been through.”

Another flinch. Another score for Orion. She didn’t know why she wanted to hurt him, but it felt good to see him squirm.

“I’m so sorry, Orion. They’re gone,” Maddox finally said, his eyes avoiding hers at all costs.

Orion could only guess as to whether he had to deliver such information before. He was a cop in a big county with a lot of crime. Surely he’d had dozens of experiences like this. But he sucked at it.

Orion didn’t change her expression, even as a chasm opened inside her, a reaction she hadn’t expected and hated herself for having. “How?” she asked, voice flat, and he finally looked at her then.

“Your, um, dad . . . he got in a bad wreck a few years after . . .”