can’t blame yourself for any of this. You had to meet with your investors and discuss the plans to rebuild Crimson Swan. Janet and I both understand that. I’m sure the police tried to reach you.”
Stephen pulled away, swiping angrily at his tears. “That’s the problem.” He flung himself onto the small couch beneath the window. “There was no meeting. I lied.”
“You lied?” Emily frowned and perched on the edge beside him. “Why? Where were you?”
“At the library, in the archives.” He sighed and avoided looking at her. “After Damian told us Alex was kidnapped and what happened to Varik and they suspected this Dollmaker guy of being the one who grabbed Alex, I felt so helpless, like I should be doing something—anything—to find Alex but I didn’t know what.”
“Stephen—”
“She didn’t give up on me when those Midnighters kidnapped me and burned Crimson Swan. She knew what to do and didn’t let anyone stand in her way. I’m not an Enforcer. If I tried to shoot a gun I’d probably blow off my foot.”
“Alex knew what to do because she’s been trained to do it.” Emily draped her arm over his back and gave him a sideways hug. “No one expects you to go charging after her like a white knight on horseback.”
“I know, but I couldn’t just sit around waiting. That’s why I lied about the meeting, and why I went to the archives and started looking into this Dollmaker.” He reached inside his jacket and produced a stack of folded papers from an inner pocket. “Mom, what I found scares the hell out of me.”
Emily took the pages from him, unfolded them, and began reading the fuzzy printed images of old newspaper articles. The oldest dated back to the early 1900s in Chicago with the most recent from Louisville, dated 1968.
Each article detailed the gruesome murder of at least one young girl, but most often several. There seemed to be no pattern to the victims in age, ethnicity, or occupation. The only commonality Emily could see between any of them was the horrible manner in which they died—partially skinned and their throats slit.
“This is the psycho that the Enforcers suspect took Alex,” Stephen whispered. “And that’s not all.” He handed her another page. “Look in the background of the photo.”
She studied the grainy black-and-white photo. Stone-faced men carried what could only be a body wrapped in sheets down the front walk of a Colonial-style home. Holding the paper at an angle to increase the amount of light, she searched the equally grim bystanders who stood outside of the police barricade. One face stood out and she whispered, “Bernard.”
“That photo was taken in Louisville in 1968, just a few months before he was killed. What was he doing at a crime scene in the middle of the day?”
Emily folded the paper, hiding the photo. “I don’t know. Perhaps it was near the university and he stopped on his way to work.”
Stephen shook his head and took back the paper, unfolding it. “The article listed the address. This house is close to the river, nowhere near the campus. So why was he there?”
“I said I don’t know, but I’m sure he had a reason.”
“I thought he might be in the area because of the affair, so I looked up Siobhan, which wasn’t easy considering I only knew her first name.”
Fear sliced through Emily, leaving her cold and robbing her of her voice.
“The only reference I found to a Siobhan in Louisville, Kentucky, around the time that Dad was having the affair was a listing on the FBPI’s Most Wanted list.” He produced another page and read from it. “Siobhan Kelly, brown hair, blue eyes, age 184. Location unknown. Wanted for the murder of three Enforcers in January 1963. Considered armed and dangerous. Approach with extreme caution.”
Emily looked away when he turned his focus to her.
“Is this the same woman Dad was sleeping with?”
She glanced at the small image provided along with the description. It was badly rendered and appeared to have been taken from an old snapshot, but the dark-haired smiling woman was undeniably Siobhan Kelly. Emily nodded. “Yes, that’s her.”
Stephen leapt to his feet, muttering curses, and paced in front of her. “How could Dad get involved with someone like this?” After the fifth circuit, he stopped. “What if she’s the one who killed him?”
“Siobhan didn’t kill your father—or anyone else, for that matter.”
“They never caught the person responsible for Dad’s murder. How can you be so certain it