I was cursing the distance between us when a light—probably on a timer—clicked on at the end of the dock. The man turned around and I finally got a good look at his face.
It was Otto Kraus.
I gave the others a rundown of what I’d seen as soon as I got back to the boat and Ida Belle headed for Sinful. It was already dark, so we couldn’t traverse the channels at her usual warp speed, but given her knowledge of the area, she still managed to get us safely there at a decent clip. Conversation in an airboat, even at less than full speed, wasn’t really possible, but somehow, I knew that even if we had the ability to talk, the silence would have been deafening.
All the implications of what I’d seen that evening, combined with the girl, the trip wire, the dead guy, and the Brethren, painted a dark picture. The gloom was still ever-present when we climbed out of the boat at my house and made our way into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator to get us some cold drinks and froze.
Someone had been here. The items in my refrigerator were fewer and not where I’d left them.
I spun around, pulling my gun at the same time. The three of them stared at me and their eyes widened as I put my finger over my lips. Ida Belle nodded, cluing in on what was happening, and motioned to Blanchet to cover the laundry room while I headed down the hall. Gertie fell in behind Blanchet and Ida Belle behind me as I crept toward the living room. I peered around the opening and saw a soda can on my coffee table, along with a napkin with crumbs on it.
I slipped around the corner, indicating the coffee table to Ida Belle as I headed to my office. I paused at the doorway, listening for any sounds inside, and heard a faint rustle, but nothing else. I peered around and Merlin gave me a one-eye-open stare from his perch on the back of the couch on the far wall. I stuck my pistol back in my waistband and headed over to the couch and peered behind.
And there was the girl. Fast asleep.
Relief flooded through me as I considered the best way to wake her without startling the life out of her when her eyes fluttered. She sat up, obviously scared, and I crouched down by the side of the couch, hoping that would be more reassuring.
“My name is Fortune Redding. We’ve been out looking for you. Are you all right?”
The girl relaxed a little and nodded.
“Do you want to come out? Are you still hungry?”
She nodded again, so I rose and backed away from the couch. Ida Belle had disappeared, and I figured had gone to warn Blanchet and Gertie to put their weapons away. When the girl emerged from behind the couch, I gave her a good once-over. She was rumpled and a little dirty, and the bruises she’d had in the hospital were still visible and starting to yellow, but she didn’t appear to have collected any new injuries.
“My friends are here with me,” I said as we walked. “They’re good people. You’re safe with them.”
I stepped into the kitchen, pleased to see that someone had grabbed an extra chair from the dining room and Gertie was putting iced tea and a plate of cookies on the table.
“Do you want something more substantial to eat, dear?” Gertie asked.
The girl shook her head as she slipped onto a chair. “I had a sandwich. I’m sorry I took your food, but I was hungry.”
“You’re welcome to anything you want,” I said. “We’ve all been really worried about you.”
She gave me a hesitant look. “You’re the lady who saved me, right?”
“A local fisherman pulled you out of the bayou, but I’m the one who gave you CPR. Do you know what that is?”
She nodded. “We all know CPR. They start teaching us basic medical stuff when we’re around five.”
Which made perfect sense if the Brethren wanted to ensure minimal contact with the outside, and then it hit me—her memory had returned.
“You remember where you’re from?”
She looked panicked for a moment, and I wondered why. Then realization dawned.
“You never lost your memory, did you?”
She cast a nervous glance around the table, then shook her head. “My mom said if we got separated to pretend I didn’t remember. She said no one could take me without proof, so I’d be safe until she could find me.”
“What is your name?”
“Mariela. My mom is Lara.”
I glanced at the others. We’d all known this was likely the case, but it was still a jolt to hear her say it. Blanchet stared at her, clutching the table, and I knew he was itching to throw a million questions out but was holding back because we couldn’t afford to overwhelm her.
“Where is your mother?” I asked.
Tears sprang into her eyes. “I don’t know. She said she was going to talk to the police and get help for everyone. She was supposed to come back for me, but it got dark and she still hadn’t come back. Then I heard a boat and thought it was her, but two of the bad men were coming.”
“The Brethren, you mean? You lived with them, right?”
She shrugged. “I’ve never heard that name, but I live in the swamp with other people. The moms and kids are nice, but the men are mean. They hurt the women. They think we don’t know because they lock all the kids up together in one big room at night, but we can hear them screaming. My mom said we had to get away before I was grown, so I wouldn’t have to live the way she and the other women do.”
My jaw flexed and I clenched my fists under the table. I could tell the others were struggling to control their anger as much as I was.
“So when the men came to the camp, you ran?”
She nodded. “There was this secret door in the floor in the bathroom. I went down that and got out before the men came in.”
“Did the bad men use the key hidden at the sink?”
“No. The door only locked from the outside, so my mom locked it when she left and slid the key under the door to me. I put it back when I ran ’cause it didn’t belong to me.”
I glanced at the others. That meant the Brethren had their own key. I wondered just how many keys to Nickel’s camp were floating around the parish.
“Mom wasn’t supposed to be gone long. Only an hour maybe.”
“And when the bad men went upstairs, you ran.”
“It was dark and I lost my shoe, but I was afraid to stop and get it. The moon was out sometimes but then it disappeared for a long time, and I fell into the water. I hit my head on something and I don’t remember anything after that. Not until I woke up in the hospital.”
“What happened today at June’s?”
“I was in my room, and I heard Ms. Nelson yell, then I heard a gun. I tried the window but couldn’t get it open, so I grabbed a lamp from the nightstand and stood on the chair next to the door. When he came into the room, I hit him in the head as hard as I could and ran out the back door and into the trees. There was a FedEx truck on the next street, and I climbed inside and hid behind some packages.”
“That was very smart.”
“I got lucky because he was going to Sinful. When he stopped to deliver a big box, he found me and started to call the cops. But I didn’t want the cops. I wanted you. So I told him if he did that, I’d tell the cops he kidnapped me. He said he had a baby and a new bass boat and couldn’t afford to lose either one and told me to scram.”