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“His name wasn’t Palicki. That’s not what I knew him as. He was Danny Preston. He was getting services from Bennett’s Place.”

Preston. Danny Preston. Daniel Palicki.

“You never verified his name?” Roy asked.

Lock shook his head, his eyes going red from shock. “Why would I? He was a fourteen-year-old kid. He didn’t have a driver’s license or a work permit. He was living on the street when I found him. I tried to save him. I… I couldn’t. He was so angry with me. He blamed me for not being able to stay clean.”

“Eli said he vandalized the house,” I said. “That’s why he was kicked out of the program. Roy, this was before the Bennett’s Place complex was built. Preston… Palicki was living in Lock’s house for months. That’s why Lock’s number is still in Palicki’s phone. Call Washtenaw County. Have someone tell Palicki that Lock and I would like to speak to him.”

I looked back at Lock. The horror in his expression melted into understanding. For his part, Roy looked even more confused.

I felt sick to my stomach as I realized the truth. “Roy,” I said. “I’m pretty sure Daniel Palicki had one last victim.”

“What? Who?” Roy said.

I gripped Lock’s hand. “Corrine Egan.”

FORTY-FIVE

Thirty-six hours later, I walked into another interrogation room in another police station. It looked like every other one I’d ever been in. Small room. Cement walls. Uncomfortable metal chairs. A beat-up metal table with loops welded on top for wrist shackles to be threaded through.

Roy Dennison, Mark Gilchrist, Detective Renee McCallister, and Leslie Fields, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor, sat in the observation room on the other side of the wall. I wore my armor. My black suit, crisp white blouse, spiked heels. I was ready to pick up my sword and wage a battle I’d won hundreds of times against a hardened criminal who thought he was smarter than me. Daniel Palicki would be no different except for one thing.

Lock sat at my side. The swelling on his face went down but left behind an ugly purple bruise that spread from his forehead all the way down to his chin. He held my hand in a vice-like grip.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

He shook his head. “How can you ever be?”

I didn’t get a chance to answer. A deputy brought Palicki in. I don’t know what I expected. I’d seen his mugshot so many times. I’d become familiar with the photo of him as a scruffy, lost teenager. I’d seen him in that lineup. But this seemed like a fourth version of him.

When he saw Lock, Palicki straightened his posture and smiled. The lights gleamed off his bald head. His beard grew long and scruffy. He filled out the orange jumpsuit they issued him. I tried to see the lost boy Lock knew all those years ago. I could only see a monster in front of me. When the police told Palicki that Lock wanted to see him, he immediately agreed. He thought he was still in control. He would soon find out how wrong he was.

Palicki shuffled forward, his legs still in chains. The deputy secured his wrists to the loops in the table. He would stand against the wall, ready to subdue Palicki if he somehow managed to make a threatening move.

Palicki’s smile never faltered as he made himself as comfortable as he could. He stared straight at Lock, never acknowledging me with his eyes.

“Hello, Preston,” Lock said. There was compassion in his voice still. I knew Lock was trying to reconcile the man sitting in front of him with the young boy he tried to save.

“Why is she here?” Palicki asked. His voice didn’t match the bravado of his swagger. He sounded scared. “I said I’d talk to you, Lock.”

“She’s here because I want her to be,” Lock answered. “It’s not up for debate.”

Palicki shrugged. “So he got you to marry him, huh?” Finally, he looked at me with an air of scorn, then lewdness. He licked his lips. Beside me, I felt Lock go rigid. I placed a gentle hand on his arm.

I was used to this little game. Guys like Palicki thought they could reduce me. Intimidate me by sexually objectifying me.

“He did,” I answered, leaning forward, closing the distance between us. I was not afraid of this man. He had no power over me. But he still might have power over Lock.

“That’s enough,” Lock said, his voice booming like thunder. “You wanted to see me? Well, here I am. What do you have to say? You killed those women.”

The smugness left Palicki’s face. His eyes widened as he looked at both of us. “No. I didn’t kill anyone. Isn’t that why you’re here? Isn’t that what you told them?”

“I know there’s a human being inside you, Preston,” Lock said. “Give some peace to those girls’ families. That’s why you wanted me here, isn’t it? I’ll listen to anything you have to say. You wanna blame me for your lot in life? Fine. You’re right. I screwed up. I made too many promises to you. I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t a trained social worker. I thought you just needed someone to be kind to you. To believe in you. I was misguided. I’m sorry you didn’t get the love you should have had from the people who should have given it to you. You are going to prison for the rest of your life. You will face the consequences of what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?” he asked. “I didn’t do anything. I thought you were here to help me.”

“Did you want Fiona because Lock did?” I said. “You wanted to destroy something of his. The same with Corrine Egan. Is that it? Well, Lock’s still here, Daniel. He’s still living in that big house you could never afford. Having the life you can only dream about.”