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Little Ray of Pitch Black

Page 38

by Lani Lynn Vale

Milo’s jaw went tighter. “Out there with her.”

Sure enough, they were. Hanging right next to the mama cat.

“Know who might have done this?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t be able to answer that,” he admitted. “I have a lot of kids here that…”

That were troubled as fuck.

I knew that better than most.

Milo took in the difficult cases—for instance, Leo.

The cases where, sometimes, the next step for the boys was either jail or death. When their parents couldn’t deal with them anymore. When they’d exhausted all options.

That’s where Milo came in.

“What are you wanting me to do?” I asked. I mean, other than taking a report, there wasn’t much available to him. “Your cameras?”

“Not on that particular spot,” he grumbled. “Whoever did this knows that. This is my private sanctuary. The place where I go to unwind. The only way to access it is to come through my house.”

Fuckin’ a.

“You got cameras on your front door to know who came through?” I asked.

“Too many to fuckin’ count. Nearly all of them,” he admitted. “Last night, we had a family-style dinner. They were all there. A few even stayed on the floor in my living room.”

Son of a bitch.

“So what you’re saying is that you don’t have anything to go on.” I sighed. “How many kids do you have here?”

“Twelve,” he answered. “Five men that help. One man that cooks. Two men that clean up around the property. And we also had the boys that aged out last night.”

“Except for Leo,” I found myself saying.

I wasn’t exactly sure what information I wanted out of him, or if I should even be sticking my nose in Jessamy’s business. But something was telling me to look into it anyway.

Milo crossed his arms over his chest. “How much do you know about Leo Darling?”

I frowned. “Other than his name, his parents died, and he has a pain-in-the-ass sister…”

Milo leaned his backside against his counter, his gaze once again going to the desecrated animals.

“If Leo was still here, and had been here last night, I might’ve pinned this entire thing on him and not even contacted you.”

My brows rose. “What are you saying?”

Milo sighed. “Kid’s got a couple of screws loose. I was not sad that he aged out.”

I blinked.

“It’s not even that he is a bad kid,” he said. “Not outwardly, anyway. He appears to be this nice, caring young man that will help grandmas across the street. But, between you and me? He’s fucked up. Knew that within weeks of him being here. He puts on a solid act, but if I had to guess, the kid’s a psychopath. And his fixation is his sister.”

My stomach tightened. “Is he dangerous?”

Milo’s eyes once again strayed to the poor animals.

“He could be,” Milo said. “But I kept a close eye on him for four years. He never steps out of line. He’s always careful about what he’s doing, where he’s at, and how he says things. Outwardly, he’s a good kid. But I know what it’s like to stare into a psychopath’s eyes. And that’s the vibe I get when I look into Leo’s.”