“Can I go to bed now?” Danny asked, stifling a yawn.
“First you have to talk to the detectives,” I said, taking his hand in mine. “Then you can go to bed. Ok?”
“Can I have a snack before I sleep?” I hesitated because I knew it wasn’t good to eat before sleeping. However, who knew how long it’d been since he’d been fed?
“Sure, baby.” I took Danny out to the living room, but neither Martinez nor Daily were there. I had a hunch they were looking around for clues to Kayla’s kidnapping. “Detective Martinez?” I called out. “Detective Daily? We’re ready for you.” A minute later, the two of them came hurrying into the living room.
“Danny, we’re going to have to ask you some hard questions about what happened,” Martinez said, motioning for Danny to sit on the couch. Danny pulled me down with him, which didn’t please Daily.
“So you can help find my mommy?” Danny asked, clutching my hand. Daily shot me an annoyed look, but I met her eyes defiantly. I wasn’t going to sugarcoat the truth to a boy who’d gone through so much. Sure, I hadn’t told him everything, but he had a right to know the basics.
“Perhaps Ms. Hsu can wait in the kitchen,” Daily said through gritted teeth. So much for our budding friendship.
“I want Auntie with me!” Danny said, his voice shrill.
“I’ll tell you what,” I said, trying to calm the rising storm. “Why don’t I go into the kitchen and make tea and find some food? You can have ten minutes alone with Danny, but then I come back. What do you say?” The question was ostensibly directed at Daily, but it was more for Danny than the cops.
“Can I have some cookies?” Danny asked in a small voice, squeezing my hand hard.
“Sure. Milk and cookies,” I said, hoping there was unspoiled milk in the fridge.
“I’ll take coffee,” Martinez said, pulling out his notebook.
“You alive?” I asked, poking Matt in the stomach. He was sprawled out on my bed and appeared to be dead to the world after a rousing round of sex. “Hey, do I need to call 9-1-1? You did say you wanted to die in the saddle.”
“Hi, honey, I’m home,” I called out, throwing my purse on the ground. All I wanted was something to eat, perhaps a roll in a hay, and a hot shower. I went into the living room where Matt was staring at the television. Though he had it on the Sox game, he wasn’t really watching. “You hungry? I’m going to order a pizza. You want in?” No answer. “Hey, Matt, what’s wrong?” No sooner did the words leave my lips then I knew. “Oh, Matt. It’s not Shawn, is it? He’s not…worse, is he?”
“I’ll see Danny room now,” I said, abruptly standing up. Kayla got up as well, dashing her eyes with her arm. I followed her down a hallway until we reached the very last door.
It had started three months ago when her coke supplier—who had also been a bouncer at her club—decided to move to Florida. He was sick of the Minnesota winters and figured he could do a booming business in the tropics. Kayla didn’t know why he thought that, but she begged him not to go. He was the only supplier she knew of, and she didn’t want to break in another one. Nor did she want to go outside the club as it had been convenient with her supplier at her workplace. Her supplier wouldn’t listen, but he gave her the name of another guy who said he’d come to her place of work if she gave him a freebie. Kayla wasn’t in any position to argue, so she agreed reluctantly. She was smart enough to realize that dealing with a supplier she didn’t know could be dicey business, but she needed the junk.
“Scarlett, thanks so much for doing this.” Kayla’s eyes were reddened as she greeted me, but that might be because of whatever she was on.