He shook his head, had that exasperated look on his face, then went back to reading.
Heaven motioned toward me, waving her hand in a circle as though encompassing my face. “This whole thing … the sweet, innocent look you’ve got going … it’s a façade.”
I winked at her. I could be naughty when I wanted.
“So what do you think Isaac and Dante are doing?”
I noticed the woman working on Heaven’s feet look up, waiting for a response.
“Hopefully really dirty things.”
Heaven laughed again. “Yeah. You keep that up. I can see punishment in your very near future.”
I sighed, relaxed. “A girl can only hope.”
IAN
While the girls were finishing up inside, I stepped outside to return a call to my boss.
“Hey, Ransom. Checking in. What’s up?”
“So, I did some digging on that guy Isaac was telling me about.”
“Why aren’t you calling Isaac?”
“I did. He’s not answering. Figured I’d try you. Got your fucking voicemail and was about to tell you both to go to hell.”
I laughed. Irritating the man was so much fun. Considering he was an instigating bastard, it made it doubly so.
“Anyway. This guy Roger Cherlish… His real name’s Vernon Hathaway.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I know. Thirty-four years old, though his current ID shows him to be twenty-eight. Dumb ass does not look twenty-eight. Born and raised in Chicago, belonged to a plethora of fetish clubs over the years under numerous aliases. Most of which he was kicked out of. The guy’s got a long list of priors, some of them violent crimes.”
“Rape?”
“More than one, actually. And while I’m following you on that, it’s not the worst of it. Attempted murder is on that list.”
“How’s he walking free?”
“Daddy’s got a lot of money. And by a lot, I mean he makes Trent Ramsey look like a gutter rat. Appears dear old Dad spares no expense to bail his little boy out of hot spots. Called a friend of mine, had him chat up a few people who know him…” Ransom exhaled. “It gets worse.”
“How?”
“When you follow the breadcrumbs, he hasn’t been after Dante for three years.”
“What do you mean? Dante said that’s when he met him.”
“And it probably was, but Vernon actually met Dante a long damn time ago. Back before Dante was sprung from that hellhole his father kept him caged in.”
I relaxed my grip when I realized I was about to crush my cell phone. “Please don’t tell me this is going where I think it’s going?”
“It is.” Ransom’s usually playful tone disappeared completely. “He tried to buy Dante from Dante’s father when Dante was ten years old. A partial payment actually exchanged hands. I’m thinking Daddy Dearest backed out at the last minute, likely what prompted the attempted murder a couple of years after that. Right about the time Dante was moved into the system.”
“Holy fuck.”
“Not the worst of it,” Ransom warned.
“Fuck, Bishop. I don’t know if I can handle any more of this shit.”
“Vernon Hathaway has been a person of interest in two ongoing investigations. Both underage boys, still missing.”
“Okay, yeah. That’s bad. And I hope they fry this fucker, but if he’s into kids, what’s his fascination with Dante now?”
“Got me. Unless it’s an ego thing. He wanted Dante, couldn’t have him. Found an opportunity and intends to get what he believes should rightfully belong to him.”
I growled.
“I’ve got a call in to a detective buddy of mine with Chicago PD. I’m gonna get his take on this. Once I hear back, I’ll give you a shout.”
“All right. Thanks, man.”
“Take care of him. He can’t go home, Ian. It won’t be safe until this guy’s locked up or dead.”
At the moment, dead sounded like the best option.
When I got home, I pinned Isaac down in the basement, relayed the information Ransom had shared.
“We have to tell Dante,” my brother stated.
“I agree.” There was no way around it. He deserved to know what was going on.
“And the girls?” Isaac asked.
“I want to say that’s up to Dante, but since this guy’s attacked Everly and put Heaven’s ex in the hospital, I think they deserve to know.”
“I still think it’s up to him. We don’t know how much he’s shared. It’s his story to tell.”
“Agreed.” I nodded toward the door. “Let’s sit him down.”
Isaac got to his feet. “All right. But I need a drink.”
“You and me both, brother.”
While Isaac drowned his frustrations in two fingers of scotch, I found Dante sitting at the small desk in the guest room.
He glanced at me over his shoulder. “What’s up?”
“Let’s sit outside.”
Wary blue eyes scanned my face. I’d been told I would make a mean poker player, and I only hoped the mask remained in place.
“I put in a call to my boss, asked for his help in identifying this Cherlish guy. Took a little doing, but he found him. Or rather he found Vernon Hathaway.”
