The Tower

The fingers of Jade's left hand dripped blood as they lifted from the mouth. He held them up before his face as the blood made its way under his cuff. The last three fingers on his hand had been submerged in the woman's mouth, and the line of the gory sheath ended neatly before his thumb and index finger.

With this ring, I thee wed.

He wiped his hand on his jeans. More agents scurried in.

Jade paced around the family room, walking laps around the woman's body and the forensics team working on her. He would have killed for a cup of ice right now.

The mother and older boy both had had their tongues cut out. The boy was past puberty, so Allander would have found him intimidating. He would have felt that any sexually potent male posed a threat. But Alex was young, like the children from the first house. Why had Allander told him he was going to kill him? Why would he want to kill a prepubescent child now, but not earlier?

"The boy," he asked one of the other agents in the house. "What was he like?"

"See for yourself," she replied. "He's out back."

"He's still here?" Jade said in disbelief. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

The agent shrugged, her eyebrows drawing together in a frown.

Jade stormed through the sliding glass doors that opened to the backyard. Rather than ending at a fence, the backyard sloped off into a grove of trees and the hills beyond. Jade felt as if he had just stepped into a forest; the lawn and a toolshed were the only indications that a home was nearby. He spotted a small huddle of adults on the far corner of the lawn by the toolshed. He assumed Alex was in the middle.

A woman turned and saw him coming, and she straightened up, blocking Alex with her body. She had bags under her eyes that Jade noticed even before he crossed the lawn. Brown curly hair, streaked with an occasional glimmer of white, fell randomly over her face. She did not look like she was familiar with a brush.

"Oh no, Mr. Marlow," she said. "I was warned about you. You absolutely cannot talk to him now."

Jade was almost impressed with himself. He was practically famous.

"Look, Ms."-he pulled the tag clipped to the front of her cheap suit so he could read it-"Perkins of the Emergency Children's Advocate State Agency." He stopped and whistled. "That's a lot of capitals."

"They told me you were charming," she said flatly. "You can't talk to him. I'm sorry." She waved some piece of paper at him. "He has his rights."

"Then why's he still here?" Jade asked, standing on his tiptoes to peek at the kid. Alex was sitting Indian style on the edge of the lawn with his arms crossed, refusing to be moved.

"Well… he doesn't want to go. We're talking things through."

"I need to speak with him."

"That's certainly possible, Mr. Marlow, just not now. We're trying to move him somewhere more neutral. After he settles down, if he's ready, you can speak to him then."

Jade groaned. "You'll dilute him. That does me no good."

"I'm sorry. Those are his rights."

What was it about this kid that made Allander want to kill him? Jade stared at the woman's determined face and considered busting past her. If he could just get the kid alone for a few seconds, he might see what Allander had seen.

"Then how come you're letting the agents interview the little girl in the house?" he asked.

"A little girl?" she asked dryly. "Inside?" She looked fairly hesitant, but she was worried despite herself.

Jade nodded.

"This better not be a game, Mr. Marlow." She walked vigorously across the lawn toward the house.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Jade walked through the group of adults gathered around Alex, hooked a hand under his arm, and hauled him toward the toolshed. It was only about five steps away, and the social workers and EMTs were so shocked they didn't even respond until he tossed Alex into the small room and swung the door shut behind them. Alex fell to his bottom and skidded toward the far wall.

Jade grabbed a hoe and slid it through the metal door handles. He turned back to Alex. Several hands thudded the door outside, rattling the hoe fiercely. It wouldn't hold very long.

"Open up immediately!"

"You open this fucking door, now!"

Jade stepped toward him and Alex bounced to his feet, backing against the far wall. His back struck a protruding shelf, and his arms went to it, groping for something to grab hold of. His right hand found an ax handle that had been leaned against the wall. Jade smiled as he saw his little fingers tighten around the wood. That's my boy, he thought. That's my boy.

"Okay," Jade said, holding his hands out to his sides passively. "That's it. It's okay." Alex slowly lowered the ax handle, and Jade stepped forward and rested his hands on the boy's head. "It's okay."