He shook his head, wondering if the little bastard really was in the basement. Or hiding out with one of his loser friends, like Jack “Ass” Martin, as he was known, or Freddie Lansing. But he could hear stomping on the basement stairs and loud complaints that were obviously coming from Eric. Sara was keeping her voice down.

Eric slammed open the door and hurled himself through. Eli guessed he was half-drunk. Or half-stoned.

“Yeah?” he shouted in a belligerent tone. “What the hell do you want?”

“Eric!” Sara said.

“Oh, I think you know.” Eli turned to Sara. “Is Hayley up in her room?”

She nodded.

“Good. Okay, everybody, sit.”

Sara and Eli did; Eric refused and remained standing.

“Fine,” Eli said. “First things first. Give me your cell phone.”

“No way! You have no right to—”

“Oh, yes, I do. In fact, I can arrest you and I’m about two seconds away from doing it.”

That was when Sara started to cry. “What’s wrong?” she asked again between sobs.

Eli turned to face her. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Sara. But your son appears to be guilty of a serious crime. He’s the one who’s been releasing animals—with the assistance of his so-called friends.”

“Damn it!” Sara shrieked, and that was heavy-duty swearing for her. “Give him your phone, damn it! Now!” Tears were rushing down her cheeks.

Frowning, Eric reached into his back pocket and handed over his cell.

“Your password?”

He recited the numbers and Eli quickly got in and found the photos—which were exactly as Lindsey had described. Hard to believe he hadn’t deleted them. Clichéd though it was, maybe he wanted to get caught?

“Ready to make a confession?” Eli asked.

“Yeah. I did it. Don’t blame my friends. It was all me.”

“I doubt that, and these pictures are evidence to the contrary. But I do believe that you’re the ringleader here. Why, Eric?”

“Yes, why?” his mother sobbed.

“I guess I’m just an asshole, like everybody says.” There was no hiding the tears that had begun to seep out.

“You realize charges will probably be filed, and that means you’ll end up in court. I’d say there’s a good chance of jail. At the very least, you’ll have to compensate the people whose lives you’ve affected. Some of those animals died, you jerk!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for that to happen!”

“Then what was the point?”

“I just wanted to… I don’t know.” He paused. “I hated seeing them trapped. Behind those fences and stuff…”

Was this bullshit? A rationalization of sorts? A convenient lie? And even if it was something Eric actually believed, Eli doubted any of his accomplices had that kind of motive.