Page 139 of Little Girl Vanished

“Not particularly.”

“You liar!” he shouted, his voice moving through the shadows behind Ava.

“If I had to choose between who you are or who helped you, I’d go with the latter. So who helped you?’

“Who says I didn’t do this myself?” he demanded, now moving to my left.

“You needed help with the cars,” I said, taking another step toward Ava. The hopeful look in her eye was nearly my undoing, especially when tears began to fall down her cheeks. “I’m not even sure you were the mastermind. Maybe the other person was, and you just took credit.”

“That’s not true!”

“I bet your dad would let you take the credit.”

“He never gave me credit for shit. He blamed me for everything!” he shouted.

Ava’s eyes scrunched shut and she pulled her shoulders up to her ears.

Danny? Danny fit the profile—outbursts of anger, a record of violence, but something about his voice felt off. Now I wasn’t so certain.

“Okay, then,” I said. “Tell me why you did it.”

“Too late,” he said, now behind Ava again, his voice more distant. “We’ve moved on to the game.”

“It’s past Ava’s bedtime, so what do you say we skip the game and you just let me take her home.”

“Here are the rules,” he said, ignoring my suggestion. “For every wrong answer, I take a shot.”

“A shot at what?” I asked, advancing another step toward Ava. We were about ten feet apart now, and she looked terrified. Had he played games with her before? Her gaze dropped to my right, and it was then I saw the blood stains on the floor.

Sweet Jesus. Had he killed Eddie Johnson here in front of her?

“Did you play the same game with Eddie?” I asked. “When he lost, you cut off his thumb.” The thumb had been delivered to my car in the police parking lot. Drew would have had access.

“The answer was easy,” he said, now to my right again. “He should have gotten it correct the first time.”

“What was the question?”

“If he touched her in places he shouldn’t have.”

“Only one body part?”

“He got it right with the next answer. Once he confessed, I had no reason to keep him around.”

“You realize confessions obtained during duress are often false, don’t you? Eddie Johnson never touched her. You, on the other hand…”

“I never touched her like that!” he shouted. “But he did!”

Would Danny have touched her? After a quick glimpse at that photo, I believed he would have. So if he was telling the truth…

Blood rushed from my head.

I’d chosen the wrong brother. He was trying to disguise his voice now to draw out the game, but I was certain it was him.

I tried to keep my voice from shaking. “And you shot Eddie after he confessed.” I decided to take a chance. “Why’d you kill your brother’s girlfriend, Drew?”

He started to laugh maniacally.

Ava’s eyes locked onto mine, terror freezing her face.