Justice Delayed (Memphis Cold Case #1)(46)

Chloe’s blue eyes narrowed. “What’s with you and this feeling stuff?”

“Nothing. I just want to know how you feel—your health, about going into hiding.”

The girl lifted her shoulders in a quick shrug. “At least I’ll get to go to school again.” She snorted. “None of my old friends back in Oh—I mean, people I know wouldn’t believe I just said that.”

Sounded like she was about to say Ohio. “Is it possible some parts of your old life wherever you’re from weren’t that bad?” She couldn’t imagine what Chloe’s life had been like to make her run away from home.

“It was bad enough that disappearing into that program actually looks good. Besides, I can’t go home.”

Evidently, she’d had a hard life. Her heart broke for Chloe. Chloe. It was a beautiful name, one that wasn’t stuck on a baby girl at the last minute. Her mother had put time into finding just the right one. “What happened to your mom?”

The girl startled. “How did you know something happened to her?”

“She took pains to find a pretty name for you. Stands to reason if she were alive, you would never have run away.”

Chloe’s chin quivered, and she blinked her eyes rapidly. “She died last year from cancer, and my stepdad married the next month. When he . . .” She glanced toward the cup of water on her tray. “I’d give anything for a soda.”

Pieces of Chloe’s puzzle fell into place. Even though the teenager spoke with the cadence of the street, Andi never felt the street was her natural language. At one time, she’d probably had a normal life. Someone, her mom more than likely, had taught her compassion or Chloe wouldn’t have wanted to warn other girls about the dangers of running away from home. “Is your dad still living?”

“Who knows. He checked out when I was three—I hardly remember him. Then Mom married—” She took a shuddering breath and wrapped her arms across her chest. “Oh, that hurts so bad.”

“Do I need to get a nurse?”

Chloe shook her head. “I’ll be okay.”

And she probably would. The teenager was a survivor, and that, Andi understood. While her own life hadn’t been easy with her sister’s murder and then heart surgery four days later, she couldn’t imagine being in the teenager’s place. “Do you still want to send a message to those teenagers out there thinking about running away?”

The steady beep of the heart monitor jumped to over a hundred.

“We’ll do it in shadows and alter your voice. No one will ever find out it’s you.”

The teenager’s face went from gray to white, and her heart rate jumped again. “But he might,” she whispered.

“Who is he? Is he your—”

“No! That’s Jason. I’ll tell you anything you want to know about him, just like I will the marshals, but the other man . . . I don’t know what his name is . . .” She raked her hand through her hair. “He’s like a ghost. No one knows what he looks like, but I’ve heard some of the other girls talk about him. He knows everything, and even Jason is afraid of him.”

Andi checked the monitor again, surprised a nurse hadn’t come rushing in. “I won’t ask you about him. Just tell me about Jason.”

“I think I want to rest now.”

“May I come visit again?” She didn’t want to push Chloe too hard until she was recovered.

“Maybe next week.”

Andi nodded and took a card from her purse. She’d come back Sunday. “Call me if you feel like talking before then. And I promise if you agree to the interview, no one will know who you are. Between the marshals and me, you’ll be safe.”

“Like I was last night?”

Andi stiffened. The girl’s words burned in her chest. She should have contacted Will or Brad when Chloe first called her. If she had, the teenager would not be lying here in the ICU. And Treece wouldn’t be recovering from an injury. Once again, she’d been reckless not only with her life but two others, as well.

“I’ve been thinking about it since I’ve been in here,” Chloe said softly. “I think maybe I shouldn’t talk to you.”

“I don’t blame you for being afraid, and if you don’t want to talk to me, I’m okay with that. I would like to come see you again to see how you’re doing.”

Chloe held Andi’s gaze and finally nodded. “That’d be okay.”

At the door, she paused and looked back. “I’ll see if they’ll let you have a soda.”

“Thanks.”

Andi pulled the sliding door back.

“I will tell you this . . .” Chloe said. “Wednesday night was going to be my last night with Jason. I heard him arguing with someone on the phone about me being shipped out. I was scared. I’d heard about some of the other girls they’d shipped out . . .”

Andi walked back to the bed. “I don’t understand something. We tried to get you to leave with us. Why did you refuse to get in the car?”

Chloe chewed her thumbnail. “You don’t know what it’s like. My mind was so messed up with the drugs Jason gave me, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was scared—I saw what happened when another girl ran away from him, and he found her . . .” Tears spilled down the teen’s cheeks.