My uncle gazed around the room. I knew he was thinking. I had seen him do this over the years. “Perhaps,” he said out loud. “You said ‘they’—the so-called uncles and the girl’s father—dispersed from their properties?” I nodded. “Why?”
“They had to move when their business went elsewhere. That’s all I know. One day they were all there; the next, they were gone, leaving Ellis behind for Mrs. Jenkins to care for. Mrs. Jenkins claimed Ellis couldn’t be moved, needing to be close to her doctors. For her mental breakdown.”
“How many of these uncles were there?”
I blew out a breath. “Five, six maybe? I was young when I knew them. They talked to me, quite a lot, even asked me to stay for dinner and such. But you know how mama is about family dinners. She never let me miss one, so I never got to see Mr. Earnshaw and Ellis’s uncles much beyond those passing comments.”
My uncle looked over my shoulder at one of his Rangers. “We need to find out who all the associates of Earnshaw were and where they live.” He glanced to me, then back to his deputy. “We also need a missing person’s notice put out for Ellis Earnshaw.”
“You do think they’re connected,” I said. I looked at Uncle Lester sprawled on the chair, bathed in his own blood. I thought of Mrs. Jenkins, also murdered brutally . . . then I thought of Ellis. If they had her . . . if they hurt her . . .
My fists clenched.
“The Sick Fux,” my uncle said as he stared at the scruffy pink-lipstick scrawl. “It implies more than one person, maybe a group?”
“A group responsible for several dead bodies and a kidnapping,” I added.
My uncle shook his head. “They’ve only tagged this one murder as theirs. Maybe they are connected to the Earnshaw case, but right now we don’t know.”
“So what’s next?” I followed my uncle from the room, breathing in the fresh air as soon as we walked outside.
“We try to get camera footage—security, mainly. Hope they haven’t destroyed it. Then we work out who these people are.”
I nodded. “You think they’ll strike again?”
My uncle pulled a smoke from his pocket and lit it up. He stared across the fields surrounding the quiet property. “We’ll see.” He tipped his head to the sky. “I want to speak to all of these ‘uncles’ and Earnshaw himself. Could be an isolated incident. Might be linked. But regardless, we need to tell Earnshaw his daughter is missing.”
Ellis, I thought as I stared out across the fields too. I’m gonna find you, I promise. And we’ll get you better. Get you better help.
Resolve settled in my gut, and I fixed my hat in place. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her again.
Not after that walking demon Heathan ripped out her heart and vaporized it.
It was my second chance to save her. To bring back to life the sweetest girl I’d ever known.
I promise.
Chapter 10
The Cheshire Cat
Dolly
I lowered the kohl liner and sat back in my seat. Staring at the reflection in the vanity’s mirror, I smiled in satisfaction. Now I looked just like him.
The sound of the bathroom door opening prompted me to turn and face Rabbit. He walked out of the door, head down. My stomach squeezed. My Rabbit had been acting strange all morning. We had traveled to another place. And the whole way, Rabbit had been quiet. In our motel room, I danced and I sang, but he didn’t smile like he usually did. Instead, he sat on the end of the bed, sharpening the blade that lived in his cane. He took the gun apart and cleaned the pieces.
I tried to think of ways to make him happy. This was the only thing I thought could work. I had played with my new makeup every single day. I wore blue on my eyes, pink on my cheeks and lots of mascara on my lashes. I stuck fake ones on top so I looked extra doll-like. Rabbit liked me as a doll. He especially liked my big pink lips. He stared at them often. He licked his lips when he did.
It made me wet between my legs. It made me want to touch myself, like I had in the bath . . . and on the bed with Rabbit. But Rabbit had kept his distance from me after that night. He hadn’t stroked my cheek. He hadn’t held me as I slept. He had slept on the floor beside the bed, if he slept at all. Most nights he just sat against the wall, staring into space. His nose would flare, his hands would fist, and my heart would break. I didn’t know what I’d done to upset him. I didn’t want to displease him. I only ever wanted to make him happy. He was the most important thing in my life.