Lily reached for her half-empty water bottle and brought it to her full lips. Tilting her head back, she drank deeply. Every swallow emphasized the slender lines of her vulnerable neck, the smoothness of her supple skin. Jesus, was she really going to be hit with yet another nightmare by way of a murder investigation? How much did one woman have to endure in a lifetime?
She apparently noticed his sudden worry, because as she lowered the bottle, she said,” I’m fine. I'll get through this, just like I've gotten through everything else." Her voice lowered. "As long as I know I have people I can count on."
"You know you do."
"Okay. So maybe it's best that I just go in, give myself up. Now that I know the unsub's looking for me, that he's killed other people and left evidence that can be used to track him down, there's really not much point in me hiding anymore, is there?"
The very idea stunned him. "There's more reason than ever for you to stay here. You think I'm going to let you go back, watch Anspaugh make a big production out of bringing you in, then leave you exposed and unprotected for a psychopath to target?"
"What do you suggest, that I just stay here? Continue to let other people fight my battles?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Brandon did.
"No, Lily. I don't think you're going to be able to stay here. I don't think you'll even consider it."
Wyatt and Lily jerked their attention toward the doorway, in which Brandon stood. He was tucking his phone into his pocket, staring at Lily's pretty face, his frown deep, his expression troubled.
"What is it?" Wyatt asked, slowly rising.
Lily rose as well.
"It's Jesse Tyrone Boyd," Brandon said, drawing out each syllable of the hated name, which Wyatt immediately recognized. His sympathy rang in his tone and shone in the sadness of his eyes. "His conviction has been overturned and he's been released from prison."
Chapter 10
The last time Lily had been in Washington, D.C., had been on a brutally cold day in January when everything was dead and lifeless, and every resident burrowed inside except when forced out by necessity. Late summer in the nation's capital was an entirely different experience. People were out and about, jogging, pushing baby strollers, playing softball on the lawn at the National Mall. Tourists laden with cameras and shopping bags lined up to board their buses, SUVs jockeyed for the limited parking spaces, pigeons hovered over every park bench, and everything felt entirely, totally alive.
Including her.
She wasn't afraid. Even knowing someone was after her, she felt no fear at being back here on her old turf. D.C. had been home for most of her adult life, and wasn't far from Annapolis, where she had been born and had spent her entire childhood. Despite all the challenges that lay ahead, she felt good here. Connected. Her heart racing, she experienced no sense of foreboding, merely determination. Lily was ready to meet all challenges.
Starting with getting that son of a bitch who had killed her nephew back behind bars where he belonged.
They didn't know a lot of details yet, just what they'd read on a news Web site out of D.C. Convicted Child Killer Released-New Evidence and Death of Star Witness Key to Case.
Lily shook her head, still stunned at the whole crazy sequence of events. Some high-priced lawyer had gotten Boyd an appeals hearing. The article said there was some problem with the original prosecution, and some complete stranger had appeared out of the woodwork with an alibi. Those things, combined with Lily's supposed death, had prompted the court to let the man go and the DA had not commented on whether he intended to refile charges in the case.
As Wyatt had explained, he probably wouldn't without a witness.
She had come close to getting sick when Brandon had told them. The very thought of that degenerate being back on the street was enough to make her ill. It also made her wonder if she really could commit some of the violent acts Wyatt had described.
"You're sure we shouldn't just go straight to the DA's office?" she asked him as he drove across the Key Bridge. They had landed at Reagan and driven into the city to drop Brandon off at his place. Now they were headed to Wyatt's town house in Alexandria. With no home of her own to go back to, they'd all just assumed she'd be with Wyatt.
Brandon, she noticed, hadn't even suggested otherwise. In the hours since they'd sat in the kitchen of the beach house this afternoon, he seemed to have begun to drop the overprotective, lovesick act and started acting like the high-energy friend he'd always been to her. Because he'd noticed how she looked at Wyatt? Had he seen the depth of feelings in her eyes, heard the shuddery sighs she couldn't contain whenever their arms brushed or he touched her, however slightly?
She honestly didn't know how he could have missed those things. Nor did she think Wyatt had.
"No. We need to plan this, Lily. Figure out the right time for you to come forward. And it's not going to be until after I find a way to make sure Anspaugh, Crandall, and the others take your safety seriously. If they think you're a serial killer, that's not going to be the primary interest."
Being thought of as a serial killer. Who ever considered that happening in their lifetime? "You'll keep me safe," she murmured.
He didn't even sound worried as he replied, "I'll be on suspension and they won't let me anywhere near you."
Lily turned to glance out the window, not wanting him to see the sudden misery she felt. She'd cost this man so much. How on earth could he still want to keep taking care of her? Knowing he would not want to have that conversation now any more than he'd wanted to have it any other time she brought it up, she let it go. For now.
"They'll figure out that I'm innocent, Wyatt." And I'll fight with everything I've got to make sure you don't get the blame.
"Of course they will. But in the meantime, if you come forward, you're a sitting duck. If they don't arrest you, you'll be exposed and vulnerable. And if they do, well, you can't tell me you think Lovesprettyboys is just going to wait for you to talk about whatever you remember. The man is murderous and desperate. We know he has money and reach. It's not such a stretch to think of his finding a way to get to you, no matter where the bureau decides to lock you up. We have to think this through."
"Okay, you're seriously depressing me," she said. "I get it. No DA tonight. No anything tonight."
"Good. Let's just go back to my place, get settled, and work on our game plan. Boyd's not going to disappear in one night, not when he thinks he's totally in the clear."
Brandon had promised to come down in the morning so they could decide, as a group, how to handle telling the others on the team that she was alive. The last thing Lily wanted was to cause any of them more pain, and she had no idea how they would react.
There were other decisions to make as well, including how she should report to FBI headquarters. Should she go in with a lawyer? Go straight to Crandall's office? God knew there was no way she was putting herself in Anspaugh's hands.
Unwilling to sit back and do absolutely nothing while they figured out their next move, she also wanted to know what she could do to help in the investigation while she was stashed away in Wyatt's house. Brandon, he'd told her, had come up with other audio clips for her to listen to. That would occupy her for at least a little while tomorrow.
As for the rest? It all remained to be seen.
About the only thing they had decided for sure since Jackie's shocking phone call about Jesse Boyd was that Lily could no longer remain dead. Justice demanded that she do the right thing. No matter what it cost her.
"I was thinking I might try calling Boyd's defense attorney. I'd really like to know how she ended up with this case."