Page 55 of Deliverance

“They assigned us numbers when they brought us in.” Her voice was steady, but her hands shook. “Mine was 827301. I carved it because—” She stopped and swallowed. “I didn’t know if anyone would ever find it. I just wanted someone to know—if someone found it, I just wanted them to know I was there.”

“Someone found it,” I said. “We found it. You did good, Ginny.”

She nodded, swallowing and taking a deep breath as she straightened in her seat.

“How did you find out that was your number?” I asked.

“I heard the man—I think his name was Keller—tell the man he came in with one night,” Ginny said.

“Director Keller came in with another man?” Dominic asked, crouching down next to my chair.

Ginny’s eyes darted to mine, and I smiled and nodded at her. She bit her lip but continued. “I pretended to be asleep like the other girls, but they were really loud. Keller brought this man in, and they were inspecting us.” Her voice broke, and she swallowed. “Keller told the man my number. The man called us his little birdies. That’s why I carved that symbol next to my number. It’s a bird.”

I stared at the photo again. I could see the bird in the symbol now, a squiggle that looked like a bird flying in the distance. Like something a kid would have finger painted in the sky.

“His?” I questioned, focusing on the phrase the man called them. “Like the man was in charge?”

Ginny nodded. “I think so. Keller deferred to him about everything. Whatever the man said, Keller agreed with. He never said his name, though.”

“Did you see his face?” Dominic asked.

Ginny nodded. “It was dark, but I saw it when the door opened and they walked out. He looked back at all of us.” She shuddered. “I’ll never forget his face.”

I leaned forward slightly, so I had her full attention. “If I showed you some pictures, do you think you could tell me if the man is in any of them?”

Ginny hesitated. She looked at Mercer, who leaned against the wall. My blood boiled. Had he told her not to say anything? Was he in on it with Kingfisher?

“Whatever you’re worried about,” I said, “we can protect you. I will protect you.”

“I tried to bring it up before, but the agent didn’t want to hear it.”

I shot Mercer a scathing glare, and he straightened from the wall. His approach was gentle, which eased some of the anger inside me but not enough.

“Which agent?” he asked, stopping several feet away.

Ginny hesitated, and he crouched down to mirror Dominic’s nonthreatening pose. “You aren’t in trouble, Ginny,” he said gently. “But I need to know who it is. They shouldn’t have done that, and if they missed something, I need to know so I can fix it.”

“It wasn’t an SID agent,” she said. “I don’t remember his name, but it was a few days after.”

Mercer nodded like he knew exactly who it was. “I’ll take care of it, Ginny. Thank you for telling me. If you’re up for it, I would like you to take a look at those photos. We want to make sure we catch the right guy.”

Okay, maybe Mercer could live. But I was going to have Liam pull a deep dive on him again. And I would threaten him a little. Lightly.

Ginny nodded. I pulled the photos out of my bag. I laid six photos out in front of her. Nathaniel Drake’s photo was third, sandwiched between Victor Hale’s and Patrick Callahan’s photos. Ginny leaned forward, her eyes moving across the photos carefully. I watched her face as she hesitated on Nathaniel Drake’s.

“It was dark,” she said. “And I was trying not to be seen.”

“I know,” I said. “Take your time.”

A long moment passed, then she tapped the third photo. Nathaniel Drake’s smiling face stared up at us.

“That’s him,” she said quietly. “That’s the man who was there.”

I breathed out slowly. Fuck, this was the confirmation we needed. An eyewitness who could identify Kingfisher as Nathaniel Drake was enough to bring him down. And it made Ginny the most targeted person in this city.

“Thank you, Ginny,” I said. “You have been super helpful.”

I stood and motioned for Dominic and Mercer to exit the room. We stepped out into the hallway, and the door clicked shut behind us.