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“Hey, it’s okay. She’s fine, I promise.”
The door opens, and Atlas walks in.
“Turns out my kid’s gay.”
“Well, that was lucky for you.”
“Yeah. You find out anything more?”
He looks from me to Lewis before continuing. “A partial print was found at Kelly’s apartment.”
Shit, I forgot about her in all this.
“And?”
He licks his lips. “It’s a match to Derek Rivers.”
“Starling’s father? I thought he was dead.”
“Apparently, he got better. I guess it was one way to stop the loan sharks from coming after him.”
“And if he’s back, you know he’s going to come for Starling. Fuck.”
I move to stand, but Abbot grabs my hand.
“Landon.”
“Landon? What about Landon?” I ask Abbot, but he’s fading fast.
“Would Starling go to him? If she couldn’t be with Abbot, would she go to her other stepbrother?”
“I don’t know. She never mentions him, but he’s the only other person she has. She wasn’t there when I spoke to him earlier, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t on her way.”
I pull my hand free from Abbot’s with ease. He’s asleep again.
“Shit, Pete. Look.”
I turn to look where Atlas is pointing and see the burn marks on his wrists. “That’s not from a car accident. That’s from being tied up.” I curse as Atlas steps closer.
“Not that. This.” He slides the edge of his hospital gown sleeve up over his bicep, where there’s a number 15 carved into his skin.
I look at Atlas and snarl. “We need to get to Landon’s now. Have Kenzo give me everything he’s got so far and tell him to find Starling.” I turn to Lewis. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”
“I won’t leave his side, I swear. I’ll keep him safe.”
I nod and leave the room, bumping into Atlas, who’s waiting for me in the hall. He puts Kenzo on speaker. “I’m almost there, I was gonna deliver all this in person. Brace yourselves. I got more than I expected. I followed a lead, and things started unraveling. I don’t have it all yet, but?—”
“Kenzo!” I snap as we make it out to the parking lot and climb into the car, this time with Atlas behind the wheel.
“Right. First of all, I tracked Starling’s movements from the hospital. She went back to the house while you were at the school, blowing your alibi apart, by the way. I’m working on a new one. Anyway, she packed a bag, then took the BMW and headed your way. You don’t have tracking on that car because it’s older, but I’ve caught her on a dozen cameras so far.”
“Do you know if she’s here yet?”
“No, but I’ll keep looking. Atlas told you about Derek?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t find him. He’s probably using a fake name. I did some digging into the twins. They did go to the community center here. Know who else goes there—or used to? Starling. That’s one hell of a coincidence.”