He’ll definitely cancel the entire evening if we don’t find Quinn. I’ll cancel it myself. I’ll raze this entire island to the ocean floor to find her.
I leave the group and take the elevator to the top floor. King answers almost as soon as I knock, and the two men look as frazzled as I feel.
“I want all the files,” I say. “Right now. I want Quinn’s, and I want Desmond’s first of all. After that, I want the files on her mother and father. Not the redacted shit you gave me, either.”
“Redacted files?” King looks at Jim. “We didn’t redact anything from Grantham Carter’s file. And what’s going on? This isn’t about Kenny, I take it.”
“I went after Desmond, but he escaped. Now Quinn is missing.”
“We told you?—”
“Fuck what you told me!” I shout, cutting Jim off. “Fuck the mission, fuck your stupid rules, and fuck you, too! Give me the files so that I have the information I need to save the woman I love or I will take up my ax again and chop off every appendage until you do what I require.”
King strolls to the side table and pours whiskey into a short glass, then passes it to me. “I know you don’t drink on the job, but cooler heads often prevail.”
I accept the drink and knock it back in one swallow. It won’t cool my head, but it will dampen my anxious mind. “There. I’ve had your drink. Now give me the files.”
Jim and King share another look before Jim says, “We can’t do that. We don’t have much information on her mother, and the file I gave you on Carter was complete. Nothing was redacted, I assure you.”
“What do you mean you don’t have any info on her mother?” I ask. “You have a file a mile thick on Bennett’s, Ezra’s, and Frankie’s mothers. You know more about that Daddy Carter asshole than any swinging dick in the bureau.”
“Watch it,” King says.
“Aye, Iamwatching it, and this is what I see. You either don’t have information on Quinn’s mother because Quinn isn’t who you say she is,oryou do have information and you are once again holding out on the big idiot. Is that about right?”
Jim sighs and rubs his eyes. “No one thinks you’re an idiot, Aven. Please, sit down and let us explain.”
“No, I’m not giving you time to think up more lies. I want the truth. Why don’t you have a file for Quinn’s ma?”
“Because she was Desmond’s first victim.” King’s voice cuts through the air with finality. He leaves no room for doubt or question.
I shake my head and look at the ground. “So, she’s dead, then. She didn’t abandon the lass at all.”
“It’s true,” King says, his voice somber. “Quinn’s mother lived a nomadic life. There was no stability for the young girl, but there was no lack of love, either. It was that love that pushed her to make a terrible decision. She abandoned the girl, in a sense, but not in the sense she’s been made to believe.”
“Her mother answered an ad in the local paper,” Jim says. “It simply mentioned an odd request and a little once-in-a-lifetime wish fulfillment. She had a wish and hope, so she called him.”Jim looks at his shoes, and not even King makes a sound as he continues. “We can’t be sure of the agreement, but Quinn found her way into the Parker’s hands not by way of the state, but via private adoption.”
King sighs. “Her mother was never found officially because she was never missing officially. She ran in darker circles, mind you. Not the sort to run to the police. The only one who ever missed her aloud was her little girl, but even that was silenced. The girl’s therapist was instructed to tell the girl her mother abandoned her. Eventually...she believed it.”
The whiskey glass shatters against the wall the moment it leaves my hand. I glare at them. “I won’t keep it from her. It’s her business, and she’s going to know it by morning.”
“Let’s not be hasty,” King says, hands raised in a placating gesture. “At least wait until after the fireworks. We think this will push Desmond to act.”
“Do you even hear yourself, man? Why do you insist on carrying on with these insipid rules? Quinn is likely in danger because you’ve kept my hands tied.” I shake my head to fight back tears of rage. “No, not anymore. As soon as I find him, he’s dead. Quinn isn’t your bait anymore.”
King flops onto the couch with a sigh and covers his eyes with his hand. “The girl is probably fine. Jim, go check the footage. I need to speak with Aven.”
Jim nods and hurries off, and King motions for me to sit. When I fold my arms over my chest and continue standing, he pushes on anyway.
“Is Quinn your first love, Aven?”
I hadn’t considered it, but yes, she might be. The lass I fancied in my teens certainly doesn’t count, considering I ended up slitting her throat. Even if Quinn cheated on me like that cunt did, I can’t imagine killing her. I’d rather live in a world of hurt than live in a world where she doesn’t exist.
“Aye, she is.”
King nods. “Desmond took my first love from me. Twenty years ago at this very theme park, in fact.”
The blurry picture comes into focus. “You were in love with Quinn’s mother,” I say.
