shoot.'
'This seemed like a simple assault.'
'It is,' Jeffrey said. 'I mean, it was.'
'Wanna speak English with me here?'
Jeffrey looked back into the room. Lena still had her hand on Mark's back, comforting him.
'Honestly, Buddy, I've got no idea what's going on.'
'Start from the beginning.'
Jeffrey tucked his hands into his pockets. 'The baby we found at the skating rink,' he said, and Buddy nodded. 'We think Mark is the father.'
Buddy kept nodding. 'Makes sense.'
'We think his sister might be the mother.'
'One that's been taken?'
Jeffrey nodded. His gut clenched as he thought about Lacey Patterson and what might be happening to her.
Buddy said, 'I thought Weaver was the mother.'
'No,' Jeffrey said. 'Sara did the autopsy. Jenny wasn't the mother.' He left out what else Sara had found.
'I still haven't heard from Dottie Weaver,' Buddy told him. 'The mayor's sweating like a whore in church.'
'She'll probably wait until the funeral's over,' Jeffrey said, wondering when the funeral would be held. He doubted seriously that Sara would be invited, and she had not mentioned anything about it.
'I need to get your deposition in the next day or so, regardless,' Buddy ordered. 'We need to get it down on paper while it's fresh in your mind.'
'I don't think it'll ever not be fresh in my mind, Buddy,' Jeffrey said, thinking that he would carry Jenny Weaver's death around with him for the rest of his life.
'What else is going on here?' Buddy asked. 'Don't hold back on me.'
Jeffrey tucked his hands into his pockets. 'Mark has this tattoo on his hand.'
'The heart thing?' Buddy asked.
'Yeah,' Jeffrey confirmed. 'It's a symbol for something.'
'Kiddy porn,' Buddy supplied, much to Jeffrey's shock.
'How do you know that?'
'I've got another client who has the same tattoo,' Buddy said. 'Some guy a couple of weeks ago over in Augusta. I took the case as a favor to a friend.'
'What was the case?'
Buddy glanced around, obviously debating whether or not to answer the question.
Jeffrey pointed out, 'I've been more than forthcoming here, Buddy.'
Buddy agreed. 'Yeah, okay,' he said. 'He got nailed for coke. Not a lot, but enough to push distribution. He had some information to make the charge go away.'
'I've heard this already,' Jeffrey said. 'He's a distributor, right? For the porn?'
Buddy nodded.
'And he turned state's evidence to keep his ass out of jail.'
'Bingo,' Buddy said. 'How'd you hear about it?'
'The usual way,' Jeffrey said, not wanting to give any more information.
'What usual way?' Buddy asked.
Jeffrey tried to divert him. 'Where's your leg?' he said, indicating the empty space below Buddy's right knee.
'Shit,' Buddy sighed. 'My girlfriend took it. Won't give it back.'
'What'd you do?'
'That's a cop for you,' Buddy said, leaning on his crutch. 'Always blame the victim.'
Jeffrey laughed. 'You want me to talk to her?'
Buddy furrowed his eyebrows. 'I'll handle it,' he said. 'You gonna answer my question about how you know?'
'Nope,' Jeffrey said. He looked back into the room. Mark had his head on the table, and Lena sat beside him, holding his hand.
Jeffrey opened the door. ' Lena,' he said, indicating she should come out into the hall.
Lena opened her mouth, probably to ask him to let her stay, but seemed to think better of it. She stood, not looking at Mark, not touching him, and walked out of the room.
'What did he say?' Jeffrey asked her.
'Nothing,' Lena answered. 'He wants to go to the hospital and see his mother.'
'Go home,' Jeffrey told her, and without waiting for her to acknowledge him, he stepped back into the room with Buddy right behind him.
'Mark,' Jeffrey began, sitting in the chair Lena had vacated. 'We know about the tattoo.'
Mark kept his head down. The table shook as he cried.
'We know what it means.'
Buddy leaned against the table on the other side of Mark. 'Son, it's in your best interest to tell us what's going on here.'
Jeffrey said, 'Mark, do you have any idea who might have taken your sister?' When there was no answer, he tried, 'Mark, we think some bad people have got her. Some people who might hurt her. You need to help us here.'
Still, he did not answer.
'Mark,' Jeffrey tried again. 'Dr. Linton said Lacey seemed sick when she saw her.'
Mark sat up, wiping his eyes with his hands. He stared straight ahead at the wall, his body rocking back and forth.
Jeffrey asked, 'Was Lacey pregnant? Was that the baby in the skating rink?'
Mark kept rocking back and forth, almost like he was being hypnotized by the wall.
Jeffrey asked, 'Were you the father of that baby, Mark?'
Mark continued to stare. Jeffrey waved his hand in front of the boy's eyes, but Mark did not move.
'Mark?' Jeffrey asked, then louder, 'Mark?'
Mark did not flinch.
'Mark?' Jeffrey repeated, snapping his fingers.
Buddy put his hand on Mark's shoulder, but the boy did not acknowledge him. Buddy said, 'I think we should get him a doctor.'
'Sara can-'
