A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(20)

“What do you want?” Layla shouted.

Elias smiled. “Your father. You’re going to contact him, and you’re going to get him to help us.”

“I don’t know where my father is.”

“Liar,” Elias screamed in Layla’s face, slamming his hand on a metal table beside her, causing her to jump. “You are one of only three people who knows where he is. Your mother made it four, but sadly she died before we could get to her. The other two are the director of the LOA for the east coast of the USA and the agent who put him there. We can’t get to either of those without having some pretty serious trouble heading our way before we’re prepared. So, it’s down to you.

“You see, Layla, we’ve been searching for you since the day your mother died. We were searching for her, but she was smart: changed her last name, got fake IDs, the whole thing. And she taught her daughter to do the same.”

He walked over to the door, and someone beyond Layla’s vision passed him a small purse, which Elias showed to her. “This is yours, yes?”

Layla nodded.

Elias opened it. “Layla Starsmore. That’s what everyone knows you as, yes?”

Layla nodded.

“Fake name, fake credit cards, and fake bank account. I’m sure if we traced this, we’d find a fake rental agreement for your apartment . . . sorry, flat. I’ve been in America too long. Everyone knows you as Layla Starsmore. But your real name is Layla Cassidy. Your mother was Elizabeth Cassidy. Your father is Caleb Cassidy. Otherwise known as the All-American Ripper.”

Layla nodded.

“Caleb is a hero of mine.”

Layla looked up. “What?”

“Your father. He murdered three hundred and eighteen people in a twenty-year period. Do you know why they call him the All-American Ripper?”

“Because he killed people in every state.”

“Yes, but it’s not true. Although I guess the media would never let facts get in the way of a good name. He never killed in Hawaii or Montana. Not once. And he didn’t rip people apart either. He used different methods depending on the situation.”

“He murdered over three hundred people. I’m not sure why anyone would be so happy about that.”

“Three hundred on the outside. Some idiot put him in with the general population when he first arrived in jail. Do you know the number for the eight hours he was there?”

“Nine,” Layla said. She didn’t want to tell the story again, to go into how her father had killed six inmates in three minutes in the prison showers. She’d heard it all before. A guard had been bribed by another prisoner to let him and some of his friends into the shower room while her father was in it. It turned out that the prisoner had been related to one of her father’s victims, and wanted revenge. After killing the six men, her father had left the shower room and killed the guard who’d brought the attackers. Once the killing was over, her father had cleaned himself up and waited for the guards to come and take him back, but two more prisoners turned up first, so he killed them both.

Layla had been given a briefing about it. And another one, six months later, when he’d managed to escape and get into the cells of eight more inmates, killing them all in the space of one hour while the guards assumed he was in his cell. She knew that even mentioning this to Elias would bring him joy. And while she couldn’t physically fight back, she could stop him from feeding off the pain of those memories.

“And you don’t think that’s impressive?” Elias asked when it became apparent that Layla would not respond. “The LOA think he had inside help. Nothing was ever proven. Since then he’s been moved to a secure location, and no one outside of the LOA knows where he is. No one except you, that is.”

Elias clapped his hands together with glee. “I love talking about him. He’s just so inspirational. So many murders, so many ways of killing, he was just so professional for all of those kills. He never let his emotions override his desire to do what needed to be done.”

“The LOA? What are you talking about?”

Elias raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “You’ve never heard of the Law of Avalon? They were the ones who arrested your father.”

“The FBI did that.”

Elias laughed. “The FBI? Is that what they told you? Oh, my child, the FBI doesn’t deal with people like your father. That’s the LOA’s role. It’s just like them to keep something secret, especially when dealing with someone as proficient as your father.”

“You sound like a fanboy. He murdered people.”

“Yes, I guess I am a bit. Dara’s parents were the Zodiac Killers. Everyone always assumed it was one, but he had help.”

“You’re a team of serial killers? That must be horrific in every single way imaginable.”

“Well, we can’t take every serial killer, or even every psychopath; most aren’t exactly team-friendly. But we find the best and work with them.”

“You want my father to help you find new serial-killer friends?” Layla guessed.

“Almost, yes. Do you know what your father is?”

“Broken.”

Elias backhanded her across the face. “I don’t like that word. We’re not broken because we see the world differently.”

After the initial shock of the blow, rage exploded inside of Layla. She wanted to hurt Elias for hitting her, to make him regret everything he’d done. She controlled her breathing and pushed the rage back down. “You murder people. For fun. What would you call it?”