“This is everything I could find out about Colton Ellix. He has the usual. Poor social skills. Very arrogant despite it. He was accused of stalking a girl when he was in high school, but that was long before they took that sort of thing seriously. He told the principal they’d been secretly dating, and when people found out, she accused him of stalking. The principal laughed it off, chalking it up to teenage hormones.”

“What happened with the girl?”

“That’s just it. She disappeared about a month later. She was never found.”

“So, he’s been doing this awhile.”

“I don’t know,” she said, pointing out another report. “He has never, not once, had another report filed on him. No complaints. Just always kept to himself.”

“That doesn’t mean he hasn’t abducted more girls.”

“True, but look at this.” She lifted out a spreadsheet. I was allergic to spreadsheets, so I opted not to touch it. “I have a detailed account of everywhere he’s lived. The high school incident happened in Kentucky. But his family moved around a lot, mostly in close range to other relatives. I get the feeling they were mooches. Once that relative got sick of them, they moved on to the next, claiming one hardship after another until someone new took them in.”

“So, not a stable home life.”

“Not at all, but I’ve searched and searched. There were absolutely no missing persons cases in any town they lived in. At least, not while he lived there. I even widened the search to a hundred miles. Nada. And that’s taking into account when he left his family. He was only sixteen when he moved in with a friend.”

“Still no missing persons?”

“Not one that wasn’t solved. But here’s the most interesting part,” Cookie said, getting excited. “Look at the girl who went missing when he was in high school.”

She showed me a picture of a girl who could have been Faris’s twin. “Wow.”

“Right? I mean, that can’t be a coincidence.”

I sat back and compared their pictures. Every feature was strikingly similar.

“You know what this means?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding. Then she shook her head. “Well, no, not really.”

“It means he was relatively new to it. He wasn’t seasoned.”

Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she tried to grasp what I was getting at.

“It means that he made mistakes. Probably a lot of them. Sure, he planned this. Thought it through. Went over every detail with a fine-toothed comb, but I promise you, he screwed up.”

“Of course. He had to have. Repeat killers learn how to avoid mistakes as they go, how to cover their tracks better.”

“They eventually screw up. They all do, but this guy had only done this once. And since he didn’t do it again, I would say he probably didn’t mean to kill the girl the first time. Maybe he genuinely thought that if he could just get her alone, he would win her over. When she either cried and scared him or tried to fight him, he killed her.”

“Maybe she threatened him and he panicked.”

“Could be. Either way, I think the first one was an accident.”

“But when the guy he starts doing odd jobs for turns out to have a daughter that looks just like his former crush?”

“Those old feelings come bubbling up and he can’t resist trying to win her again. I’m just wondering which feelings came to the surface.”

“What do you mean?”

“Was it the old feelings of love or was it the feelings of betrayal? I think Faris’s life depends on which emotion held more sway. So what’s your plan?”

“I think you should go get him and drag his ass back here.”

I sat speechless. “Cook,” I said at last, my voice a harsh whisper, “how did you know what I was going to do?”

“No way,” she said, just as shocked as I was. “I have to admit, I was mostly kidding. I mean, go where? He’s already crossed, right? Then—”

This time she sat speechless. “You are not thinking what I’m thinking.”

“Bet I am,” I said with a wink.

“Charley, no.” She stood, scanned the halls to make sure no one was looking, then closed the door with a soft click. She sat in front of me and whispered, “Charley, you can’t be serious. I mean, he’s … there. Look at what we are dealing with here. Hellhounds at our gates. Spies in the closet. Departed trying to push you down mountains. If that’s what’s up here, what do you think will be down there?”

I shifted in my chair. “I didn’t think of that. I haven’t really worked out the particulars, but, you know, it’ll be a surprise. They won’t expect me.”

“That’s for sure. I know you said Reyes went to hell to get that rock on your finger—”

I couldn’t help a glance at the orange diamond on my ring finger, the cut stunning, the color surreal.

“—but he was born and raised there. He knew the layout. How on earth are you going to waltz in, find Mr. Ellix, interrogate him, then pop back out again without you-know-who finding out?”

“Reyes?

“Satan!” she screeched.

“Sorry,” I said, testy thing. “Like I said, I haven’t worked out the particulars.”

“So, we’re in agreement. That’s a crazy idea and we will never have one like that again.”

“Cook, all our ideas are crazy. That’s setting the bar a little high, don’t you think?”

She squared her shoulders. “Yes, but they aren’t all that crazy. You know, batshit.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, patting her knee. “I have insider information.”

“From who?”

“Garrett.”

“You’re going to make him go to hell again, aren’t you? That poor guy.”

“What? No. I’m going to tell him … Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet. It’s a work in progress, but I’ll figure it out. He can tell me what I need to know.”

“This is the worst idea we’ve had yet.”

“No way. Remember the time we tried to train that ferret to steal a file from that corporate guy’s office and this guy died?”

“Oh, yeah. Okay, the second worst. Who would’ve guessed he was that allergic to ferrets?”

“I felt bad about that. And if he hadn’t swindled the life savings from half the residents at Sunny Days Retirement Center, I would’ve felt really bad.”

13

NOPE. CAN’T GO TO HELL.

SATAN STILL HAS A RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST ME.

—BUMPER STICKER

So, Mr. Ellix was pretty new to kidnapping. I could only hope he hadn’t tried his hands at other parts of the gig. I prayed he hadn’t violated her. If so, it would be even harder for Faris to recover. But it seemed like he’d wanted that girl’s approval in high school. Her love. Maybe he was seeking the same from Faris. And raping her would not get her approval or her love.

That was a bridge I’d have to cross when I came to it. Right now, I needed a baby. And a beer.

I strolled into the dining room, carrying my beautiful daughter in my arms. I’d practically had to rip her out of Gemma’s but I’d called dibs in the well, so she had to give in. I couldn’t get enough of her. Of holding her. Of counting her fingers and toes, marveling at how long they were. She’d been swaddled in soft pink and gray and wore a crocheted beanie on her tiny head. Her fists were curled tight and resting on either side of her nose. It was the cutest thing ever. I’d been trying to figure out who she looked more like, but alas, I’d been in denial. Of course she looked like Reyes. Thick black hair. Impossibly long eyelashes. Straight, strong nose with a curve at the tip. Full, perfectly formed mouth. She was going to knock ’em dead. Like, literally. We’d have to teach her to use her powers for good.

Garrett looked up and didn’t know which item to take from me first: Beep or the beer. He decided on Beep, then the beer. Probably a wise decision. As he bounced around with her, cooing about how she was going to save the world, I scanned the piles of copied documents. Many had Garrett’s handwriting on them. Since going to hell, compliments of Mr. Reyes Farrow, he’d been obsessed with the prophecies. With the past, as well, and the future, and how Beep would one day destroy the underworld.