night Gahiji had tried to take Roxy down. The attack
had been too strange, too personal. This was just one
more bit of evidence to be weighed.
“It wasn’t Gahiji that killed your mother. But I killed
the one who did.”
“Not good enough.” Her eyes narrowed, her lips
drew back from her teeth. “I wanted it to beme.”
“I know.” He did. It was the exact way he felt about
Lokan’s killers. “But it was me, and that’s the best I can
offer. What happened after your mother left?”
“Foster care,” she bit out.
They were words that had little meaning in his existence. But he noticed there was an almost defensive
note in her voice.
She mistook his silence and plunged on, “It’s not always what you hear it is.”
He knew nothing of foster care, had heard nothing.
It was not part of his reality, but he didn’t say that, just
nodded and listened.
314
SINS OF THE HEART
“Yeah, in the beginning I made the rounds of a few
dumps. Wasn’t good, but wasn’t terrible. No one beat
me. No one did…other things to me. There were just
apathetic adults, and way too many kids in way too
small a place. The apartments in Rogers Park aren’t
exactly spacious. Not enough clothes or food. Blah.
Blah. Blah.” She shrugged, made a soft sound of dismissal. “I was a cliché…. Never alone, and completely,
utterly alone—you know?”
Her gaze locked on his, tiger bright, and he felt like
she was looking for something specific, something
inside him. What? What did she see when she looked at
