Darling Page 18

  “He never touched me when we were dating,” Tinkerbelle said hollowly. “It was like he didn’t know how.”

  “Same,” Ominotago said quickly. She snapped her fingers at the group. “What else?”

  “When did you guys figure out all of this?” Wendy asked.

  Ominotago pointed at herself and Tinkerbelle. “Three months ago for the both of us. Charles had suspicions slightly earlier, but he got confirmation from the police with me and Tink. We told Fyodor and Minsu soon afterward. Curly?”

  Curly looked like he was in agony. “Almost a year,” he said curtly, voice thick. “Alexander … another brother before James … went missing, and I saw Peter washing his hands in the sink. He said Alex had run away, but later I found Alex’s cell phone on the floor in the bathroom behind the toilet, like it had been dropped. Alex wouldn’t have left without it. I told Nibs a month later, and it took him three more months to believe me.”

  Nibs clenched his jaw so hard that it looked like it hurt.

  “I know it’s not your fault,” Curly continued sharply.

  “It’s none of our faults,” Tinkerbelle said.

  “I know.” Nibs hung his head. “I’m still sorry. I’ll always be sorry.”

  “What did Detective Hook want you to do?” Ominotago asked. “He wouldn’t have told you anything important unless he wanted something from you.” Her eyes were glued to the small window on the waiting room door, watching to see if the officers had returned.

  Wendy paused. She wasn’t sure if she was comfortable sharing this information with everyone. It was a bit personal, and she knew it would change everyone’s perception of her immediately upon knowing her direct connection to this situation. Everyone was waiting patiently for her to go on, but Wendy could feel their restlessness.

  “Are you not allowed to say?” Minsu asked. “We would understand if—”

  “It’s not that,” Wendy interrupted. “Peter…,” she started, then stopped.

  Ominotago was beginning to look frustrated, and Tinkerbelle was clearly not far behind.

  Wendy clenched her hands into fists on her thighs and took a deep breath. “You have to promise you won’t yell or make a big deal about this,” she said anxiously.

  “No one will make a big deal,” Fyodor replied softly.

  “For Peter, I’m special. He … knew my mom,” Wendy said. “She was a witness to one of his first killings.” She paused, expecting the others to react in some dramatic way, but they just sat there seriously, waiting for her to continue. “When Peter was still an actual teenager, he and his friends lured my mom and some of her friends out to a cemetery. Then later on, he separated one of his friends from the group and killed him. Detective Hook thinks it was Peter’s first time, and he doesn’t know if Peter really remembers my mom at all. But he thinks that if I tell him who I am, he might be so startled or excited that I could maybe get a confession out of him or something … I don’t know.”

  The room was dead silent. Fyodor shook his head slowly back and forth. Ominotago and Tinkerbelle were staring directly at each other, clearly having a rapid silent conversation.

  “Fuck,” Minsu said, looking properly horrified. “Did you, like … anger a witch?”

  “What?” Wendy said.

  “You have extremely terrible luck,” Minsu said. “This is supernaturally terrible. For you. I mean, for us also, I guess, since we are A) still here, B) in handcuffs, and C) also know and have to deal with serial killer Peter Pan. But, like, you literally could have missed out on being a part of this situation by a couple of days. If you’d moved here last week, or even next week, it would have been too early for this chain of events, or too late.”

  “I know,” Wendy said.

  “What did you say when you found out?” Charles asked. He looked just as scandalized as Minsu. His eyebrows were so knotted in confusion and horror that if it weren’t for the situation, she’d have thought he was exaggerating his expression.

  “He just showed me a picture of Peter from when he was actually sixteen, and it was the scariest thing on earth,” Wendy replied. “And then he showed me a picture of my mom at fourteen and was all: ‘Do you know who this is?’ like some creep getting off on the drama of a big reveal. I was so shocked; I don’t think I said anything. Plus, I thought the picture of my mom was a picture of me for a second, before I—”

  “That’s fucked up,” Minsu interrupted.

  “Yes! Thank you! It is fucked up!” Wendy exclaimed hysterically. “Then he started talking about how Peter wants a mom for the boys or whatever.”

  “He does,” Ominotago said suddenly, her eyes sliding away from Tinkerbelle’s to Wendy. “He hasn’t always … but he does now. Peter is like a kid in many ways. He needs to be praised and validated constantly. He’s impulsive and self-centered. His concept of ‘rules’ and when to stick to them is … a bit like a third grader’s. He’s sensitive like one, too. It’s not an act for him—he’s not pretending to be like this. It genuinely just is him all the way through.”

  Ominotago waited for a moment before continuing. “And … he’s cruel, not mean. There is a difference. He’s cruel in the way kids are cruel before they can really understand that their actions affect others. Peter does things not to hurt other people, but more because they serve his own needs. He picks boys like Curly and Nibs because they’re easy. He kills them because not doing so would make his own life difficult. He started looking for a mother figure because in some way, he realized he needed one to continue having what he wants.”

  “And what he wants is to keep killing people,” Wendy said.

  But Ominotago shook her head sharply. “No. What he wants is a family. A timeless, perfect home, where no one can tell him what to do. Where there is no bedtime, and you don’t have to eat your vegetables if you don’t want to. Where there is no homework and no rules, except for the rules he makes. Where there is no school and no work, and you survive by being clever and having fun. Killing people is just the means. Preserving this situation is the ends.

  “But if he had you,” Ominotago continued, tilting her head in consideration, “if he had someone who understood that and understood him, who he thought would stay by his side and help him continue this endless illusion, someone innocent-looking, but as smart and cruel as he is … then maybe, just maybe he could have a few more years of being a boy wonder at the center of the family that he always wished he had.”

  To Wendy’s surprise, Fyodor shifted in his seat and raised an eyebrow at Ominotago. She quieted and allowed him to pick up the narrative.

  “Tinkerbelle did not work, she wasn’t a mother, she is a daughter in all ways that matter to him,” Fyodor said. “Too vulnerable, da? Ominotago is smarter than him and could never be cruel in the way he wants. With her, he would have to push in a way that a man does, not a boy. Unsuitable to Peter’s tastes, these actions.”

  “But Peter doesn’t know you,” Tinkerbelle interjected softy. “He hasn’t decided if you fit. Detective Hook is a bastard, but he’s good at his job. We know his profile on Peter; he’s been working on it for years. He might just be right.”

  “What do you mean?” Wendy asked warily.

  Ominotago bit her lip and thought hard, her brown eyes shifting left to right. “If you…,” she began hesitantly, “were able to get Peter to talk about James … If you were able to get him to brag about James or even tell you what happened, maybe that would be enough to take him in. He needs validation. He’s been holding his viciousness in for a long time, and you’re—”

  The door to the room swung open and Detective Hook swaggered inside, flanked by two officers. “It’s not a bad idea,” he said, rubbing at his mustache. “Of course, it’s a shame to hear about your friend James. Really a shame. You have my condolences.”

  “We already knew you were listening to us,” Ominotago snapped.

  Detective Hook grinned down at Ominotago smarmily, clearly enjoying upsetting her. He waved a hand at the officer
to his right, who immediately began uncuffing Charles. He made his way through the group until everyone was freed.

  “Did you enjoy your time in confinement?” Detective Hook asked, rubbing his hands together. “Next time we’ll stick to the schedule, won’t we?”

  “I hope there will not be a next time,” Fyodor said. “What do you want from us?”

  Detective Hook smiled brightly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “From you? Nothing. In fact, you, Charles, Minsu, and Ominotago are free to go. You’ve served your purpose tonight. Genevieve, Trevor, and Brian, come with me.” He turned sharply on a heel and walked out into the hallway.

  Wendy followed them all out of the room, pausing by the door as Tinkerbelle stopped in front of Ominotago. Tinkerbelle gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and hugged her tightly.

  To Wendy’s surprise, Ominotago hugged her. “You’ve got this, Wendy,” she said quietly. “It was an honor to meet you.” Ominotago kissed Wendy on the cheek and squeezed her shoulder hard, then followed the officer.

  Charles stuck out a hand for Wendy to shake, but she pulled him into a hug anyway.

  Minsu wrapped himself on the outside of Charles and Wendy’s hug. “You’re the real deal, Wendy. Even if you are named after a sandwich restaurant,” he said tenderly into the side of Charles’s neck.

  Charles smacked him on the back of the head.

  “Fine. Sorry.” Minsu laughed. “It was NICE to MEET you, TOO. You can add me on social media or whatever; I have them all.” He followed Ominotago down the hall.

  Charles rolled his eyes fondly and went after him. “Good luck,” he called over his shoulder as he walked away. “You can add me, too.”

  Fyodor had been hanging behind on purpose. Curly, Nibs, and Tinkerbelle all watched gleefully as he sauntered up to Wendy, arms tucked behind his back.

  “It was really nice to meet you,” Wendy offered. She could feel her cheeks getting hot again.

  Fyodor nodded. He gestured to her face. “Another to match, da?” he asked softly. The tips of his ears were bright pink.

  Wendy was confused. “What?”

  “HE WANTS TO KISS YOUR CHEEK,” Minsu shouted horribly from fifty feet down the hallway.

  “Oh my God,” Wendy said as embarrassment burned up her entire body. “Oh my God, oh my God.”

  “Just do it,” Curly said in anguish, also red with second-hand embarrassment. “Detective Hook is gonna come back.”

  Wendy turned to Tinkerbelle in mild panic, but she was just grinning unhelpfully and watching them like it was some kind of show.

  Fyodor raised an eyebrow, as if to ask for permission, then cupped the side of her jaw.

  “I SAID FOLLOW ME. DO YOU IDIOTS WANT TO BE PUT BACK IN CUFFS?” Detective Hook shouted from the interrogation room down the hall.

  Fyodor wasn’t the type of person to bend to threats. He gentled his grip to a caress and leaned down slowly, making sure not to crowd Wendy, waiting cautiously for any signs that she didn’t want this.

  “Yes,” Wendy said finally, though it felt bad to have to force the word out of her throat while Curly, Nibs, and Tinkerbelle, were all watching.

  As soon as he had permission, Fyodor nuzzled the side of Wendy’s forehead with his own, and pressed not one, but three quick kisses to the cheek that Ominotago had left bare. He pulled back just an inch and gazed at Wendy, eyelids low and cheeks rosy. “You call me, da?” he said breathlessly.

  “Yes,” Tinkerbelle said, grabbing Wendy’s hand and dragging her limp body toward the interrogation room. “She will absolutely call you, Fyodor.”

  Detective Hook was just as irate as he’d sounded from the hallway. He was standing behind his desk, pacing back and forth, but stopped to look up as Tinkerbelle and Wendy entered the room.

  “We’re wasting time,” he snapped. “The longer Peter has to regroup after these attacks, the better he is at avoiding them. You should know that, Genevieve. You’re not like Wendy—you have no excuse.”

  Tinkerbelle raised her chin at Detective Hook and folded her arms. “I am like Wendy, that’s the entire point. Me and Ominotago are just like Wendy because if we weren’t, she wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t have picked her.”

  “That’s not the point!” Detective Hook shoved his index finger in Tinkerbelle’s face, but she didn’t flinch; she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

  “You know what I’m talking about,” Hook said. “You’ve been doing this longer than she has. If Ominotago would have worked for this, I would have gone with her—she’s clearly the smartest of you lot—but she visibly hates Peter too much for it to work. You’re all just generations of the same trap for him, and both of you are going to be expired to him soon.”

  “God, you’re such a dick,” Tinkerbelle spat. “I notice you’re not wearing your wedding ring anymore. Big surprise on that front.”

  “Tinkerbelle, no,” Wendy gasped, thinking of all the ways Detective Hook could make them regret that.

  “Tinkerbelle, YES,” she replied aggressively, putting her fists on her hips.

  Detective Hook rubbed his temple and, to Wendy’s surprise, seemed to calm down. He pulled his desk chair out and settled into it. Then he tipped his head back and combed his hand through his hair, even though the gel made it stick up crazily when he’d finished. “I have daughters, you know. About your age,” he said. “And I know they only lash out for the gut like you just did when they’re scared. And you have every reason to be.

  “But I’m tired. It’s late, and this is important. I know my verbal filter goes when things are on the line, but I promise you, we’ll have men at your back. Wherever Peter takes you, we’ll be tracking and following at a block’s radius. If your safety is at risk, we’ll hear it on the wires and move in, even if it means we lose him again.”

  He sighed and looked up at the ceiling like he was looking at God. “Lord knows you won’t be the last girls on earth Peter can find who’re like you three.” His gaze shifted back to Wendy. “But time is lives, and who knows when he’ll find you.”

  Wendy could tell he was shifting responsibility to guilt her into accepting this assignment, and she wouldn’t have it. “That’s not our fault, and it’s not our problem. Protecting children from killers is your job, not ours.”

  Detective Hook let that land, then took a folder off the stack and opened it. He slid the cooperation agreement inside across the desk. “Are you going to do this, or are you going to keep wasting my time?”

  “The others got to have things in exchange for accepting,” Wendy said as she pulled the paper close to look it over. “I have requests, too.”

  “Fine. What do you want?”

  “Preferential treatment for the boys left in Peter’s home. They need to be adopted or fostered. I don’t know how any of that works, but you need to make it easy for them.”

  Detective Hook breathed out hard, like Wendy was asking him to move mountains, but then he snatched the paper back from her and turned to his computer to add a last-minute addendum to the contract. “Don’t know how it works, indeed,” he muttered. “You don’t know how anything works, if that’s what you’re asking for. Could have asked for money; I know I would.”

  “I don’t want money,” Wendy said, loud and angry. “I want them to be safe. Can you promise me that you’ll make an effort and not just throw them away, hide them, or toss them somewhere just to get them off your hands? They’re people, and this is affecting them! It’s not a joke for them, or a glory moment. These are their lives.”

  Wendy could feel Tinkerbelle looking at her.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Detective Hook said. “Whatever you want, just make sure you do a good job. Grab that copy from the printer to your left and make sure your signature is clear.”

  Tinkerbelle grabbed Wendy’s arm before she could move to the printer. “Me too,” she said hoarsely.

  Detective Hook looked up from his computer with irritation. “What?” He put his reading glasses on like he needed them to hear h
er better.

  “Put me on the list for that, too,” Tinkerbelle said. Quieter, but more insistent.

  “But I already printed it out,” Detective Hook griped, taking his reading glasses back off.

  “PUT HER ON THE LIST,” Wendy shouted.

  Detective Hook startled, jerking back in his chair at the force of Wendy’s rage. He turned back to the computer, wordlessly typed Tinkerbelle’s legal name into the document, and hit print.

  Wendy marched across the room, snatched the paper out of the printer, and brought it to Detective Hook’s desk. She took a pen out of his “World’s Okayest Dad” novelty mug and signed the contract.

  “Head to the next office and get fitted with your surveillance equipment,” Detective Hook said, chastened.

  Wendy turned on her heel and headed for the door, with Tinkerbelle close behind.

  “If it’s any consolation…,” Detective Hook said to Wendy’s back. Wendy stopped to listen, not moving even when Tinkerbelle bumped into her back. “You’re better than he is. Remember that. He’s smart but he’s alone, and he always will be.”

  Wendy didn’t reply. She just pulled the door open and left.

  CHAPTER 16

  Curly and Nibs were waiting for them in the front lobby, Curly bouncing his leg anxiously. He jumped up immediately when they rounded the corner. “He texted me. He wants to meet us in Edgewater.”

  “Do you have any more money for the bus?” Tinkerbelle asked.

  Nibs shrugged. “They gave us a couple of fare cards.”

  “Oooh, I wonder if it will work after tonight,” Tinkerbelle said, eyes brightening.

  “They wouldn’t give us a fare card we could use indefinitely,” Curly said. “I’m pretty sure it will stop working as soon as the sun comes up. Or it only has enough for, like, two rides on it.”

  “It’s better than nothing,” Tinkerbelle said. She threw an arm over Wendy’s shoulders and they all went outside to catch the number twenty-two Clark Bus.