Runaway Wolfes of Manhattan Three - Helen Hardt Page 0,71

never be in that situation again.”

I smiled, reached forward, and touched her forearm. “Good for you.”

“It’s a lonely life, but I deal.” Then she met Roy’s gaze once more. “I never thanked you.”

“For what?”

“For saving me. I never would have gotten out of there alive.”

“I wish I could have done more,” he said.

“There were others,” she said. “I saw them…”

“What did you see?” Roy asked.

“Several girls were in cages. They must have been sedated.”

Nausea clawed up my throat. I swallowed it down as best I could. “Roy, I don’t think I can hear this.”

“You can go,” he said. “I’ll get the information.”

I breathed in. Out. In again. “No. I’m staying. I want to be here for you, Zee.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry I can’t do more.”

“How many men were hunting you?” Roy asked.

“I don’t know. It seemed like dozens, but I was so scared.”

“You signed a document,” I said. “About six years ago.”

“Yeah. I was broke. I’d just gotten out of rehab, and I needed money to start over. It took every ounce of strength I had to go to your father. I had to show him…” She choked back a sob. “I had to show him the scars. Tell him I could name him and the one other guy. The priest. He… He paid me off. I should have asked for more than I got, but…I just wanted to erase that part of my life.”

“How did you end up here?” I asked.

“I’m a good dancer—I took ballet and jazz all through childhood—and I needed a place where I’d blend in. Where no one would ever think to look. I changed my name from Zinnia Rehnquist to Zara Jones. That way I could still go by my nickname, Zee.”

“Wouldn’t it have made more sense to go by a totally different name?” Roy asked.

“Roy…” I began.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “He’s right, and I considered it, but I needed something that was mine, you know?”

I nodded. I understood more than she knew. Her past might be horrific, but it was still her past. I felt the same about my own, in the same warped way.

“No one gives showgirls a second look,” she said, “unless you’re a big name. I’m not, and I made sure I never would be.”

“But you said you wanted to be a model,” I said.

“Not really. It was my mom’s thing, and I’m too old now. Thing is, even if I wanted it, I couldn’t take that path. Even lesser models have their photos everywhere. I couldn’t risk it.”

I shook my head and turned to Roy. “Our father cost her a lot.”

“He cost us all a lot,” Roy said. “I’m so sorry, Zee.”

“I didn’t come here for your pity,” she said. “But when Mr. Roark told me all of you were suspects in his murder, I knew I had to say something.”

“Yet you say you won’t talk to the police.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. Please don’t ask me to.”

“You understand,” I said, “that if you don’t talk to the police, you can’t actually help us.”

She nodded. “But you have to also understand. I can’t talk to the police because I have a bigger motive than any of you.”

“Actually, you don’t,” Roy said. “We all have huge motives. All that really matters is whether you have an alibi, which you probably do. Our father was killed in New York around one a.m. Pacific Time. You were probably performing.”

She shook her head. “Except I wasn’t. Our show was dark the night of the murder.”

“Fuck.” Roy raked his finger through his long hair.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Where were you that night?” I asked. “Maybe you have an alibi anyway.”

“Home. In bed.”

“Do you have any roommates?”

“Three, but they were all out.”

“Fuck,” Roy said again. “Though flight records would show you hadn’t gone to New York, and if you were performing the day before and after, you couldn’t have gotten to New York any other way. You’re probably safe.”

“We need all information you have,” I said. “Even if you don’t want to talk to the authorities. We understand. Right, Roy?”

Roy didn’t reply.

“Right, Roy?” I said again.

“Yeah. Sure.”

“I owe you everything,” she said to Roy. “I’ll do anything you ask. Anything except talk to the police.”

Roy sighed. “I never asked for anything in return. Saving your life was an accident.”

“Maybe it was,” Zee said, “but you still did it, and I’m forever grateful. I went through a few years of wanting to die, but then I realized that I wouldn’t have fought so hard to live