I froze as Corry hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry. My fingers twisted helplessly in my lap. I wanted to touch her but didn’t know how she’d take it.
“Jay said we were doing good,” she sobbed, “and in the park, I just shut my eyes and stayed still, and he did these things and...” Her voice broke off. “It was so horrible. But the guy in the parking lot, he was even worse. He was crying and...and begging. And I knew something wasn’t right, so I ran away.” She rolled across the bed, pulling a tissue off her nightstand and blowing her nose. She took a moment to collect herself and then held up a red cell phone with a beat-up Hello Kitty sticker on it. For some reason, the sticker broke my heart. “And like I told Mr. Carling, Jay sent me this text today, and he wants to do it again. When I said no, he...He tried to blackmail me. That’s why I called Mr. Carling.”
“How did you find him?” I asked, trying to follow the story.
She blushed under her tears. “My parents block a lot of websites, but I can still read the LA Times online. I saw the article on the parking lot guy, Ronnie? And it said he had a mother, and I looked her up. I called her and said I worked with Ronnie and I wanted to set up a memorial. She read me the contacts on his cell phone.”
“That was very smart,” I said. “Back up a second—you said Jay tried to blackmail you. Blackmail you with what?”
“He has a recording that Mr. Herberts made,” she said simply. “A DVD.”
Aside from Hugo the vampire, I’d never really hurt anyone in my life. But if that teacher weren’t already dead, I would have seen to it myself.
When I was sure I was calm, I said, “Look, I need to stop this Jay, and for reasons that are long and complicated, I don’t have much time. In fact, I have almost no time. You know how you felt when I came into the room?”
She nodded.
“Well, I’m something different, too—the same thing you are. We’re called nulls. And we need to have a very long talk, soon, about what it all means. But right now, I need to find Jay. Can you help me?”
She looked uncertain, and I tried to imagine what she’d been through recently. First the pedophile teacher, and then a man who swooped in and promised to fix everything only to turn out to be just as depraved. No wonder the girl wasn’t buzzing with eagerness. I looked around the half-packed room. This was a girl who had lost her inner compass. I took a deep breath. “Corry, what happened to you was wrong. Twice. People have been through a lot less than that and barely survived, so the fact that you’re even walking and talking is amazing. And I swear to you that I will help you in every way I can. Do you think you can believe me?”
She hesitated, then nodded, and I prayed that I would have the strength to be everything this girl needed. “Good. Now tell me, what has Jay got planned for tonight?”
She told me about the meeting time and the bus stop while I scribbled down directions on a Hello Kitty pad of paper, which had probably come with the sticker set. When I was sure I knew where I was going, I shoved the Hello Kitty page in my pocket and stood up.
“Okay, Corry, this is really important. I need you to get your family out of here tonight. All night. Right now. Tell them anything you need to—you’re in trouble, you saw a ghost, there’s asbestos, anything. It doesn’t matter. Just get them out of here, and go somewhere safe. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going.” She opened her mouth, but I shook my head. “No, not even me, just in case. I just want you to promise me you’ll go. Promise?”
She nodded, eyes big and scared.
“Okay.” I scribbled on the pad again. “This is my number. You call me if anything goes wrong, okay? And in a couple of days, when my current crisis is over, you and I can have that talk.”
Ten minutes later, I was driving toward the Coffee Bean closest to Jesse’s precinct. He was sitting in the very back of the shop, blushing furiously while a blonde barista with comically large breasts stood by the table, flirting.
“Sweetheart!” he cried, as I walked up. He stood and kissed my cheek, giving me a begging look that clearly said, Please, please, please, play along.
I tried not to roll my eyes. The guy was just too handsome for his own good. “Hi, babe. Sorry I’m late. Oh, hey!” I said to the waitress. “I didn’t know they had table service here. I’d like a chai tea latte, please. Skim.” I shrugged out of my hoodie and sat down like I owned the place.
The blonde’s mouth snapped shut long enough for her to glare at me. She turned and stomped back behind the counter, large breasts wobbling with indignation.
“I’ll give her this,” I said thoughtfully. “How impressive is it that she can balance upright?”
“Thank you,” Jesse muttered under his breath.
“You owe me. There’s going to be spit in my tea.” He smiled, and I went on. “Listen, I found something.”
“Me, too. But you go first.”
Without further preamble I said, “I found the second null.”
“Really? Excellent!” He said excitedly. “Let’s go arrest him—or her.”
My jaw dropped. “Wait, for what?”
“Accessory to murder, of course.” He sounded pleased. “Finally, the real world can be useful here. The lab picked up tons of fingerprints and DNA at the park scene. A lot of it is probably because it’s a public space, but hopefully some of it is the null’s. We can use the evidence as leverage to get us to the actual killer.”