CHAPTER 39
“You said Toad was dead, right? How?”
Cork had retrieved the first aid kit from his Expedition. They were in the cabin now. The girl sat on the thin cushions of the sofa with her legs propped on a stool. Dross knelt in front of her, tending to the girl’s injured feet.
“Toad?” Dross said.
“Adrian. That’s what we called him.”
“Someone shot him,” Cork said.
“Not you?”
“We think it was Mathias Paavola.”
The girl nodded as if that made sense. “He said he’d kill Toad if he ever hurt any of us again. Where are the others?”
“Others?” Dross said.
“Girls like me. Brandi and Coral.”
“We don’t know. We’re here investigating the death of Fawn Blacksmith.”
“Toad killed her. Probably would’ve killed the rest of us eventually if it hadn’t been for Matt.”
“Mathias Paavola?”
“Matt,” she said with a nod.
“What’s your name?” Dross asked, wrapping sterile gauze around the girl’s right foot.
“Jade. At least that’s what I’m called here.”
“What’s your real name?”
The girl hesitated. “You gonna send me to jail?”
“As I told you, if you were being trafficked, no. You aren’t the criminal here.”
“You’re not lying?”
“I’m not lying.”
“Margot Lachance.”
“Why aren’t you with the other girls?” Cork asked. “Brandi and Coral.”
“We were playing cards when Billy came. Something was wrong. He was acting crazy. I mean, I’ve seen him mad before, but this was something else. He was screaming, waving a rifle around.”
“Matt wasn’t with him?”
“No.”
“When you say Billy, is that Billy Bones?” Cork asked.
“Yeah.”
Dross said, “And did he take the other girls away?”
“Yeah, last night. He just kept hollering. I mean, he was out of control. This was scary like I never seen before. Told us to get our things, that we were leaving. Didn’t say where. Just”—and her voice dropped, imitating Boyle—“get your damn stuff together now!”
“Why didn’t he take you?”
“Like I said, he was out of his mind. I told Brandi and Coral we needed to get away, but they wouldn’t go.”
“Too scared of Billy?” Cork said.
“Probably. And probably still a little in love with him. That’s how we all felt, at least at first. They wouldn’t go, but I hid out in the woods.”
Dross said, “You indicated Adrian Lewis killed Fawn. Tell me about that.”
“Owww!” Margot said and pulled her foot from Dross’s grasp.
Dross was seeing to the girl’s other foot now. “You’ve got a bad cut here.”
“Sorry,” Margot said, and let Dross resume her care.
“Tell us about Fawn,” Cork said.
