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“Bag it, Hayley,” Lizzy said. “It was never a good idea to begin with.”

“I’ll think about it,” Hayley said, even though she would do no such thing.

Lizzy looked at her for a long moment, then asked, “Do you remember the first time we met?”

Hayley dropped her head into her open palms. “Are you going to get all sentimental on me, Lizzy?”

“I don’t know . . . maybe. My hormones are raging. Are you really going to deprive me of one little sentimental journey through time?”

“Fine. Go for it.”

“The first time I saw you, I saw a little bit of me in you.” Lizzy nudged her arm. “Don’t make fun.”

“I didn’t say a word.”

“You had piercings all over your face, and your hair was dark and spiky. You had a tough look to you, but there was one thing that gave you away, something that told me you just needed a friend.”

It was quiet, and Hayley knew she was waiting for her to ask. “OK, I’m taking the bait. How did you know I was really this amazingly kind person with a soft inner shell?”

“All sarcasm aside, it was the angel tattoo on your collarbone.”

Hayley shook her head.

“What?”

“You’re grasping at straws here. I almost chose a devil with horns instead of an angel. It’s just a tattoo, Lizzy.”

“You’re right. Who am I kidding? You made the sheriff bleed that day.”

They both laughed, and yet they both knew it wasn’t funny. Lizzy had asked Hayley to demonstrate for a classroom full of young girls how she might get away from someone if she were grabbed from behind. After Officer Stuckey put his arms around Hayley, she bit him so hard he bled right through the sleeve of his shirt.

“I wonder how many kids over the years really listened,” Lizzy said, “really understood what they would need to do to save their own lives.”

“No telling,” Hayley said.

They sat quietly for a moment, each lost in her thoughts.

“Brace yourself for some more sentimental claptrap,” Lizzy said.

“Oh God.”

Lizzy ignored her. “I know you miss your mom,” she said, “but I want you to know that I love you as if you were my own daughter. I never want you to feel as if you’re alone. Not for one minute. You will always have me, and I like to think that I will always have you. Does that make sense?”

Hayley gave her a nod.

“It’s hard to believe I’m going to be a mother, isn’t it?”

“Not really. I saw you hold Salma’s baby. You looked like a natural to me.”

“Jared would have been an amazing father,” Lizzy said.

“He would have been. But you will be an amazing mother, and that kid of yours will be just fine.”

“And you,” Lizzy said, “will be an extraordinary godmother.”

“I can’t be there for your baby,” Hayley told her. “I want to be, I really do, but I’ve decided to leave town.”

“I know you’re angry at me for not taking care of Bennett while I had the chance, but, like you said, I couldn’t have lived with it. It wouldn’t have been right. And I also know I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’ve let you down more than once. But, Hayley, you can’t leave.”

“You didn’t let me down. Yes, I would have preferred it if Bennett had been taken out of the picture, it’s true, but it was your decision to make, not mine. Besides, I’m not going anywhere until that maniac is behind bars. He’s a loose cannon, and we can’t leave him be.”

“Agreed,” Lizzy said.

“You never let me down, Lizzy. I let myself down. Sure, we might be able to put a few criminals away, save a few more lives from being ruined, but it will never stop. I get that. And, yes, there was a time when I thought I could fight evil with evil. Maybe you did, too. But I still have this rage inside me. It’s deep and it’s dark, and it hasn’t even hit the surface. I certainly can’t be around your son or daughter, a tiny person who would be influenced by my actions and words. I can’t change, not completely. I don’t even know if I want to change.”

“If you left, I would spend the rest of my days worrying about you. Stay with me. Help me raise this baby. You know I can’t do it alone.”

“Nice try. You’ve been alone most of your life. You were born to be a mom. Hell, you’ll be the best mom in the world. I know it and you know it.”

“I found a house in Loomis,” Lizzy went on. “It’s not far from here. The property is amazing. There’s a lake and an old barn. We could get a horse. There’s an extra room just for you. Whether you come to live with me next month or next year, I want you to know there will always be a room ready and waiting for you.”

“I appreciate it,” Hayley said.

Lizzy patted her knee and then pushed herself to her feet. No sooner had she walked back into the house than Hayley’s phone vibrated.

It was Jessica.

Hayley picked up the call.

“I have an address.”

“Already?”

“Let’s just say I got a little help from a friend.”

“OK. I’m all ears—let’s have it.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Sitting across the street from the home of Scott Shaffer, number four on their list, Hayley looked through the binoculars and saw movement in the upstairs window.

She looked at the time. They had replayed what needed to be done over and over. It was supposed to take five minutes, seven tops. But Kitally had been inside the house for twelve minutes. “Hurry up, Kitally. Get in. Get out. That’s the rule.” She never should have agreed to let her handle this one, but Kitally had made it clear that she was tired of always being on the outside looking in. And besides, she was the one who knew about making bombs.

Just when Hayley thought about texting her and calling the whole thing off, she saw Kitally jump over the side gate and run across the street toward her. She jumped into the passenger seat and said, “Go!”

As they drove off, they heard an explosion. In the rearview mirror, she saw part of the roof land on the front lawn.

“I thought you said it would be a small explosion.”

“That was a small explosion.”

“His roof just came off.”

“That was two shingles at the most. It was perfect.”

“Nobody was in there, right?”

“Nobody was in there,” Kitally repeated. “Not so fun sitting in the car waiting and not knowing what’s happening, is it?”

Hayley didn’t respond.

“When they find all of those stolen goods in his place, they are going to put Scott Shaffer away for a very long time.”

Hayley could only hope. They had gone to a lot of work for this one. They had stolen Shaffer’s backpack from the backseat of his car and then taken assorted debris from his garage—everything Kitally would need to make a bomb. Tonight was the night Shaffer usually went to a club or drove the streets until he found some unsuspecting young woman to get into his car. And then he raped her and dropped her off.

“I really hope this works,” Hayley said.

“If it doesn’t,” Kitally said, “I’ll go back to sharpening knives and let you do what you do best.”

“Mind if I borrow your car for a while?” Hayley asked when she pulled up in front of the house.

“What for?”

“I just have one more thing I need to take care of.”

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

“Positive. This one’s mine.”

“And after this, we’re done with all of this craziness, right?”

“Absolutely.”

Hayley pulled her ski mask over her face and took out her tension wrench, worked it within the lock until she heard a click, then snuck quietly through the door. She’d been watching Nora Belle for a while now, and she knew her routine. The only thing Hayley regretted was that Nora Belle had gotten in another beating. The good news was that the man with the red hair and Naomi were able to scare the Ghost off before the old man took too many blows.