his call with Willow, Gray had turned a tin container into two bowls, which he’d filled with sandwich leftovers from the journey down to California, some cinnamon roll bites that’d gone a bit stale by now, and a banana cut in two.
“You’re amazing,” Darius said and sat down. “Remind me to listen to you more often.”
Gray chuckled and extended a bottle of water. “What did Willow say?”
“Well, after I called her earlier today, she started digging into Warren’s mother’s history,” Darius replied. “Turns out, she gave up a kid for adoption forty years ago—and not a baby because she got knocked up too young or anything. It was a five-year-old boy who was already a part of the family.”
“That’s fucking cruel.” Gray couldn’t believe how some people were allowed to bring children into this world. “I assume the lost boy is Buck?”
Darius nodded. “And given the age of the brothers, our guess is they remembered each other well enough and simply reconnected later in life.” He stuck a couple pastry bites into his mouth and chewed. “Warren is three years older than Buck, so his recollection is probably clearer.” He swallowed and took a swig of water. “It gets more interesting. Buck has two outstanding warrants in DC for tax evasion and possession of narcotics. Hardly anything worth going on a manhunt for, but enough to send someone underground.”
Gray shook his head and bit into his sandwich.
“Willow’s looking into the brother we already knew about,” Darius went on. “She doesn’t think he’s involved, though. He works as a paralegal in Chicago and has a wife and three dogs, according to his social media.”
“Okay. So, what’s the plan? I still think we should free Jackie tonight.”
“I’m on the fence,” Darius said. “Part of me believes we should go too. Not only would the resistance be less, we’d also have the house to hide out in while we wait for Warren to show up.” There was a “but” coming… “The problem is the communication between the brothers. Willow’s been going through Warren’s records, and he hasn’t dialed a single number that could belong to Buck. She’s been able to trace everything to other sources. Which means it’s likely that Warren has another phone. Maybe a burner, I don’t know. But it tells us that even though he’s kinda fucking stupid, he’s smart enough to be careful.”
And on the off chance that Warren called Buck before heading out, they couldn’t afford to risk tipping off Warren.
“Would they really have such a system?” Gray wondered. “Do you think they’re that suspicious of everything?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Darius replied pensively. “Extra phones make sense in that Warren could get caught for harboring a fugitive. On the other hand, it’s reason to keep phone communications to a minimum.” He looked like he was about to say something else too, but he closed his mouth and retrieved his phone. In the low light from the screen, his eyebrows went up a fraction. “As if this wasn’t already a dream case for psychology students… We might have an Oedipus complex on our hands.” He lifted his gaze to Gray. “They grew up in that house. Their mother used to own it, and then Warren bought it and shipped her off to a retirement home in Malibu—that he pays for.”
“Oh wow.” Gray remembered a time when getting hypothetical cases to analyze from his professors had been the highlight of his week. He could follow his mother around the inn and discuss the cases for hours. “Is it safe to guess they didn’t have an awesome childhood? Living out here, of all places. The mother loses custody of one child—or gives him up freely, whatever—Warren buying the house and paying for the retirement home, and yet, he doesn’t go out to see her often. And then the fact that he’s a pedophile who buys an underage teenager as his sexual slave.”
“And he’s close enough with one brother to involve him in everything.” Darius theorized further. “Recreating something from your childhood to this degree… Jesus. It could be a hundred reasons, but…”
“None of them is looking great from Jackie’s perspective,” Gray finished. “We have no way of knowing if Warren was ever abused one way or another, possibly by his mother, but that’s usually the case—in my limited experience. I read about this in college.” His stomach revolted, and he couldn’t eat any more. Every minute they sat out here was another minute in captivity for Jackie. “We have to get