Falling into You (Falling Stars 3)

He inhaled. “There was a raid several months ago. Two women had managed to get to the police and make statements. They were going to testify against Karl Fitzgerald. But by the time the police showed for the raid after Karl Fitzgerald was in custody, the house was empty.”

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

Nausea swirled and the earth spun. Whipping and whirling so fast I thought I was going to black out. I struggled to remain upright. To process what he was tellin’ me.

My sister. What had she been through?

And the two women—I instantly knew—felt it in the sinking of my spirit. They were the two women Emily and Maggie were talking about. The two who were supposed to testify against the men who had hurt them, the ones who were the smoking gun, the ones all of us were sure had seen their demise when they’d gone missing.

Dizziness spun my head.

So fast I barely could remain standing.

“I have photographic evidence that your sister had been kept in that house.”

My knees rocked again.

He hesitated, his fingers still nailed to the folder, looking at me like he wasn’t sure I could handle what was inside.

I wasn’t sure I could, either.

My shaking hand went to my stomach like I could keep the nausea from crawling out.

“Open it,” I told him, words scraping the brisk morning air while I felt like I was burning up from the inside.

“These pictures are—”

“Open it,” I shouted, cutting him off, unable to take it a second longer.

He gave a wary nod before he flipped it open.

Horrified grief gripped me by the throat, bile racing it, making me choke.

She was there.

Picture after picture.

My beautiful Liliana.

Far too thin.

Bruises littering her body.

The once brilliant life that had shined in her eyes sucked dry.

Each image of her was with vile, disgusting men. Draped across them for show.

Naked.

Paraded.

Used.

I wanted to retch when I realized some of the faces were familiar.

Famous.

Abhorrent.

Depraved.

Like they could just reach out and take whatever they wanted.

I shuffled through them while sickness roiled in my body.

This boiling, seething fury that made me want to go on a rampage for the first time in my life.

Want to slam the folder shut and deny the evidence but unable to stop looking at her.

Made me want to reach into them and lift her up and protect her for all my days.

My big sister who’d always done it for me.

“Lily,” I whimpered, running my fingertips over the evidence of her face.

How?

Why?

I frantically flipped through like it might bring me to the end of where she was.

Then I stumbled.

Blown back.

Stuck on one of the images buried in the middle.

Lily was kneeling. A collar around her neck and wearing nothing else. On her knees in front of a man.

A man.

Richard.

Richard.

Richard.

There was another.

My sister on his lap.

Another of two other women with them.

Revulsion sped through my veins.

That bile erupted, and I barely made it to the railing before I vomited over the side.

“No. No, no, no.” Tears blurred my eyes, and I clutched my stomach as my body bent in half, unable to see through the streams of anguish that flooded free.

I stumbled.

Reeling.

The pieces of my barely mending broken heart shattered permanently.

Pieces scattered from here to eternity.

A hand touched my arm. “I’m very sorry. I wish we had found her under better circumstances, but we are incredibly close, Ms. Marin. A family member of one of the women in some of the other pictures received a call. We have reason to believe there are other women with her.”

“Where?” I demanded.

“We still aren’t sure.”

“Where?” I screeched.

He blinked before he dug into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. “This is the name and number of the man who had his daughter contact him some weeks ago. He was wary to provide me more information. You might be able to get through to him.”

I snatched it and shoved it into my pocket, not sure how my feet were holding me up when I was no longer solid.

Nothing but fragments and decay.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be in touch with more news. Just…please lay low. Stay safe. I heard what happened to you.”

The implication hung in the air.

He didn’t even need to give it.

I knew. I knew.

My mouth trembled with the grief I could no longer contain. “Just find her and bring her home to us.”

“I will. I promise you that. If you get through to Mr. Baronson, please, let me know. I’m inclined to believe that is our one missing link.”

Nodding, I hugged my arms over my chest to keep my bleeding heart from tumbling out.

He jogged back for his car. I watched him until he disappeared, my eyes on the billowing dust of his tires as he bounced down the long drive, until he took a left at the main road.

While I tried to ignore the overpowering presence that swallowed me from behind.