The Summer Children (The Collector #3)(46)

Cass has only been on Dru’s team about a year and a half, and I give it another few months or one more bad case before she goes to Vic and asks to be moved to a different team. She approaches life and investigations more like we do.

Oh, God, Cass on our team.

Poor Eddison.

Mason, Emilia, and Sarah are all in the hospital for treatment, but they allowed Ashley and Sammy to stay with their sister rather than move them to a group home or foster family. We stop in with the Carter and Wong trio first. Sammy is fast asleep in Sarah’s lap, a stuffed tiger fisted in his hands. The teddy bears the killer gave the children have all been taken into evidence, but they gave them different plushies for comfort. I don’t see Ashley in the room.

Sarah flinches at first, when the door opens, but she smiles when she recognizes me. “Agent Ramirez.”

“You can call me Mercedes, Sarah. How are you doing?”

“We’re . . .” She hesitates, running her fingers through her brother’s dark hair. He squirms at the touch, then relaxes into it, drooling a little onto the tiger’s bright fabric. “We’re okay,” she finishes. “Okay for now.”

“Can I introduce you to someone?”

She looks curiously at Cass and nods. She’s met an endless succession of new people in the past nine days (God, has it really only been nine days?) so getting asked for permission must be a switch.

“This is Agent Cassondra Kearney—”

“Cass,” my friend interjects, with a cheery wave.

“—and she’s on the FBI team that’s officially partnered with the Manassas Police to find the woman who killed your mother and stepfather. She’s also an old friend of mine, and someone I trust.”

Cass blushes a little. We’ve been friends for ten years, and there’s a lot that’s implied by that level of friendship, but I don’t think I’ve ever stated it so explicitly. I’m not sure there’s ever been a reason to.

Sarah gives her a shy smile, but it quickly drops into a frown. “So . . . you’re not on our case anymore?”

“Technically, I never was. I can’t be.”

“Because it’s your house?”

“Right in one. Cass is part of a team, and I think you’re going to meet a couple other members of the team this afternoon, but I wanted to check on you. After this, I might not be allowed.”

Sarah looks between me and Cass. “Those are strange rules.”

“They are,” I agree, “but they’re meant to protect you. Speaking of which, where’s Ashley?”

“A volunteer took her down to the cafeteria. They’re getting ice cream. I think they’re just getting her out of the room.” Her lip wobbles a bit, but she takes a sharp breath and squares her shoulders. “She really liked Samuel. He gave her things she wanted.”

“She’s angry.”

“Really angry. She keeps saying it’s my fault.” Her eyes are bright as she looks down at her brother. “Mercedes . . .”

“I’m right here, Sarah.” I sit next to her on the bed, one hand on her shoulder.

“Nancy doesn’t think we’re going to find a place for all three of us. I don’t . . . I don’t want them to split us up, but Ashley is so angry . . .”

I change the hand to a sideways hug, rocking her gently. “Sounds like Nancy is keeping you in the loop.”

She nods against my shoulder. “She says it’ll help me. Maybe I don’t get a say in what’s going on, but I at least know about it.”

“Have you talked to your grandparents?”

“Once. They’re . . . they’re really . . .”

“Racist?”

“Yeah.”

Settling into a chair near the bed, Cass’s eyebrows climb toward her hairline, but she doesn’t say anything.

“And like I said, Ashley really liked Samuel. If she had to listen to our grandparents bad-mouthing him, I think she’d run away. And, well, Sammy.” She sniffs back tears, and it breaks my heart to see her working so hard to look strong. I already know she’s strong; I know what she’s survived. “What did you do?”

Cass shifts in her chair. She knows I’ve got a personal reason for being in CAC, it’s the kind of thing that gets around, but I’ve never told her what that personal thing is.

“I was the only one taken away,” I tell Sarah softly, “and my extended family was never really an option. It’s different for you.”

“The doctors said I’m clean,” Sarah says abruptly. “That’s like health-class stuff, right? Like diseases?”

“Diseases, and making sure you weren’t pregnant.”

“What if I had been? Pregnant, I mean.”

“It would depend a lot on how far along you were, if it was posing risks to your health, who got custody of you. There’s not really one straight path there. Did they say how you’re healing?”

“I have an infection, but they said it’s a really common one. An, um . . . a youtee?”

“UTI. It means urinary tract infection, and yes, it’s really common for women for all sorts of reasons. Fortunately those don’t have long-lasting effects and they’re pretty easy to treat.”