Page 98 of When Darkness Calls

His face pales. “I think I’m going to—” and he vomits beside him. “I don’t know.”

“Well according to what the police found, the plates of the van are registered to you.”

Marcus shakes his head vehemently. “No. No. I don’t have a van. I have an old Ford. Please, believe me. It was my grandpa’s last gift to me before he died.”

Nick steps forward, the crowbar lying on the table behind us as we crouch before Marcus.

“Okay. So how did your plates end up inside that van?”

“They were stolen. I swear to God. I made the report this morning.”

My brows furrow and I lean toward Keeg’s ear.

“When did he tell you all this?” I whisper.

Keegan pulls out his phone, showing me the time stamp on the messages.

6:42 am

A

I just caught a glimpse of the forensics on that van. A license plate was found in the back of the cab along with the girl’s belongings. Her name is Janey Owens, 20. Plate’s registered to Marcus Greene. Yellow house on the corner of Pine Ave and 21st.

Shit.

“The plates were registered to him, but he didn’t say shit about the vehicle the plate’s belonged to,” I murmur to Keegan, who looks at me confused.

“Think someone planted them?”

“Or they stole them to throw the cops off?”

We turn to Marcus speaking with Nick. He has his whole therapist thing going on, trying to pull as much info from him as we can.

“Do you know anyone named Janey?” I ask him, observing every possible tell he might have.

But there’s nothing. No twitch on his eye or mouth to indicate recognition, no spasms in his hands or feet. No dilation of his pupils.

“No, I’ve never heard of them before in my life.” Sincerity is laced with each word.

“Okay, Marcus. Thank you for helping us. He is going to ask you a few questions about the meeting places you met with Jerry’s supplier, and then we’ll take you home.”

“Thank you,” he mumbles over and over, eyes cast upward.

“And listen. If you need a better job, or a place to work that will work with your schedule, look up SecureZone. They’re hiring.”

He thanked me again, as I walked to the table Keegan scurried off to. He’s fixing up a syringe with some sedatives for us to move Marcus.

“Think it was a good idea to tell him to hit Cay up for a job?”

“I’d rather Cade get pissed at me then see this guy fuck up majorly and lose his sister. It’s…hard.” I swallow thickly, and Keegan looks at me before nodding.

“Well,” he starts, closing the kit he keeps here. “At least we know where we’re going next. Better get ready, Grays. You’ve got a big fight soon.”

twenty-nine

Dani

Each day since my last encounter with Shadow, I’ve been floating on cloud nine. Sadly, I have been unable to escape the horrific cliche, and really, I don’t know if I want to.