CHAPTER SIX: THE SECOND ADDRESS
Priya asked Daniel whether he had somewhere safe to stay while the damaged kitchen was secured.
He said his older sister, Marissa, lived ten minutes away.
Marissa arrived with plywood, gloves, a cordless drill, and the temperament of a woman who hated seeing her brother taken advantage of.
She surveyed the kitchen and then looked at Carol.
“You threw furniture through his window?”
Carol nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you’ve been entering his house?”
“I helped feed the birds.”
“Then you need to understand that Daniel doesn’t owe you forgiveness because you finally got scared.”
Carol looked away.
Daniel was grateful Marissa had said it before he could.
While Marissa secured the window, a call came in from Priya.
The license number Lewis had provided belonged to a different organization in another part of the state.
The county was referring the information to the appropriate wildlife enforcement investigators.
Priya said she could not share everything about an active investigation, but she had one question for Carol.
Daniel held out the phone.
Carol listened and went pale.
“There’s another place,” she admitted.
Marissa stopped drilling.
“What other place?” Daniel asked.
Carol pressed her fingers against her mouth.
“Lewis rents an old photography studio near the fairgrounds.”
“Why didn’t you mention it?”
“Because he told me he was keeping empty cages there.”
Priya asked Carol for the address over the phone.
Carol gave the location and described the rear entrance.
A few minutes later, Priya told them to stay home rather than follow investigators.
Daniel watched Carol sit on the porch step with her hands folded between her knees.
“Why did you smash the window today?” he asked.
She looked at the boarded opening.
“Lewis said he would move everything tonight.”
“You could have called animal services.”
“I did,” she said.
“They told me to report the animals and give them the address.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Carol took a long breath.
“Because Lewis said he’d make sure I was blamed for every bird he brought here.”
“You did help him.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t explain breaking my window.”
“I thought I could reach the panel before you got home, move the birds to my porch, and claim I had found them abandoned.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You were going to put twenty-three animals in boxes and pretend nobody had ever seen them.”
“I thought there were only nine when I made the plan,” Carol said.
Her voice cracked.
“He kept adding more.”
Marissa came onto the porch and folded her arms.
“You weren’t trying to rescue them without anyone knowing.”
Carol looked at her.
“You were trying to erase your part in it.”
Carol did not disagree.
Daniel noticed that the answer hurt her because it was accurate.
A county vehicle passed toward the fairgrounds with its lights off.
Carol followed it with her eyes.
“I should have called them months ago,” she said.
Daniel sat on the opposite end of the porch.
“Yes,” he replied.
