Chapter 13 #2
“Leave,” Sloane directed again. “It’s time for you to leave.
As in, get out of town and go back home.
Honestly, you weren’t supposed to be here at all.
” A situation that they hadn’t exactly had the opportunity to discuss before.
Sloane had come to Cashiers on her own. Lily and Atlas should have been far away.
“If we hadn’t been here, you’d still be under the dirt!” Lily pointed out.
“No, we were digging our way out.”
Lily beetled her brows at Sloane.
“Fine.” Sloane sighed. “I am forever grateful for the save.” She was. To the depths of her soul.
Preston was silent behind her.
“But this was my case.” Oh, wait. She probably should not have referred to Preston as a case. Especially with him being right there. Awkward. Anyway… “You two were supposed to be halfway across the country.” Her head cocked. “How did you get to me so quickly? I mean, I get that Atlas has pull but…”
Lily and Atlas looked at each other. The intense, quiet, exchange-of-information look that couples could do so well.
Uh, oh. “What’s happening?”
Lily nibbled on her lower lip. “We, um, we were coming to talk with you about a development.”
“So we were already in Cashiers,” Atlas rumbled. “When you went missing, that is. We went to the inn, but you weren’t there. Lily tried calling you, again and again, but you didn’t answer.”
“You always answer me.” Lily’s soft voice. “I got scared. Worried. So we tracked you, and when we saw you were stationary in the middle of the woods—”
“Buried in the woods. Not just stationary.” But Lily wouldn’t have known that. Not until she’d gotten to the scene. “Let’s backtrack.” Because something her friend had said raised alarm bells. “What development?”
Lily’s fingers twisted in front of her.
“You didn’t need to both make a personal trip to Cashiers in order to talk with me. You could have emailed. Called. Texted.” Unless it was bad news. Her spine straightened. People always came in person to tell you bad news. They didn’t deliver it over the phone. “What’s happening?”
Another long look between Lily and Atlas.
Bad news. Bad.
“Sloane…” Lily began, voice hesitant. “We are going to fight this. He’s not going to get out.”
What is she talking about?
“Early parole,” Lily told her.
Early parole.
No, no. No, no, no, no.
“He got concurrent sentences,” Lily reminded her.
She didn’t need to be reminded of that fact. Concurrent, not consecutive jail time for Cody.
“He was a youthful offender at the time.”
She knew exactly how old he’d been.
“Apparently, he’s been a model prisoner. Plus, his father still has power. You know that. Plenty of power. He’s been pulling strings like mad, and he’s getting Cody an early appearance before the parole board.”
Sloane backed up. Her shoulders hit Preston. She jerked in surprise, whipping toward him because she’d just remembered another time, another strong body behind her…
Cody, closing in behind me while I stared at my mother’s body.
“It’s not going to happen,” Lily vowed. “We’ll stop it. We have plenty of power of our own.”
This could not be happening.
“Atlas found out because, well, it’s Atlas. He always gets intel.”
Her breath sawed in. Out.
“We’ll stop it,” Lily said again.
Sloane stared up at Preston. His expression was completely unreadable. Meanwhile, what was her face saying? She hadn’t given a thought to masking. She’d been too stunned.
He wasn’t ever supposed to get out.
Sloane immediately schooled her features.
But if he does, I have a plan.
That plan involved killing Cody Crenshaw. Before he could kill her.
Slowly, she turned back to face Lily. She really, really needed to focus on one horrific situation at a time.
Right now, she needed to focus on the immediate threat and that threat would be the driver of the red Honda Accord.
No, she hadn’t caught the tag on the vehicle, but she was hoping someone else had seen it and reported that info to Debra Tooni by now.
Surely the sheriff was looking for witnesses who’d been out on that road? “You’re leaving town.”
“Um, no?” Lily shook her head. “You need me, and I—”
“I’m staying with Preston. He’s going to provide around-the-clock protection for us both. He’s as rich as Atlas, so you know he can get the best people to watch over us.”
Lily’s expression hardened. “I didn’t see those best people in front of the sheriff’s station.”
Excellent point. “I didn’t anticipate that this perp would open fire on us in a public place. Doesn’t exactly seem to fit with his MO.” To drive this particular point home, Sloane pushed, “Did you anticipate it, Lily?” Because Lily always knew the killers so well. Better than Sloane did.
Lily’s lashes flickered.
Yep, that was a no. Lily had been taken by surprise, too. Because when a killer buried his vics alive, you didn’t expect him to suddenly start shooting.
Another reason why I say we’re dealing with a copycat.
The real Last Breath Killer had never used a gun.
He’d buried his vics alive. But there had never been any gunshots.
No knife wounds. The vics had died in their coffins.
The carbon dioxide had slowly built up in the coffins.
Eventually, the vics had stopped clawing at the wood.
They’d gotten sleepy. One ME had even said he believed the vics had fallen into comas before their hearts stopped, so, at the end…
You fell asleep in the grave, and you never woke up again.
But…
But…
The bastard did pull a gun on me at the gravesite. That gun was the way he got me in the grave. So…maybe the copycat liked his gun. Maybe he’d decided to incorporate it into his attacks.
“The shots were wild,” Preston noted, speaking for the first time.
His strong voice made her give a little start.
“Some hit the side of the building. One went through the station’s door.
It was a frantic spray. Didn’t seem to be focused on any one of us in particular.
Hell, I was standing right there. The closest to the road.
If he’d wanted to hit me, he could have.
” Then, “Are we even sure this is the same perp? I get that I’m the new member of this little group, but don’t perps like him usually follow the same MO? ”
Atlas widened his eyes. “He thinks that he’s in our group? Since when? Dude, not even close. Not. Even.”
“We can’t know that it’s the same person yet,” Sloane said.
Because they could not. However, they also could not ignore the obvious timeline connection.
“I haven’t had any attacks on my life lately, until last night.
” She waved toward Preston. “You and I get buried alive, we escape, and then someone takes shots at us all within a twenty-four-hour period. Pretty sure we have to say those two attacks are connected.” Connected did not mean the same perp. It doesn’t mean that yet.
But, what the whole twisted situation did mean…
There are targets on me and Preston. Anyone near us could get caught in the crossfire. Which meant…Danger. Lily can’t be around me. I won’t let Lily be hurt.
When it came to the people in her life that Sloane cared about, Lily was at the top of her list.
Lily had always said she was grateful for Sloane’s friendship because, well, Lily swore she’d never had a friend until Sloane. When your mother was a notorious serial killer, people did tend to avoid you.
But Sloane hadn’t avoided Lily. Instead, she’d deliberately sought her out in college. Just as she’d deliberately put herself in Preston’s world.
Both times, she’d had a compelling reason for getting close.
“You’re leaving the area,” she told Lily, very, very definitely.
“I’m staying with Preston. He and I will pull in guards.
We’ll take whatever precautions are necessary.
And we will hunt the bastard.” There. Done.
She slanted a glance at Atlas. “I’d love to talk with Lily alone for a moment, please. ”
“Fine. I’d love to talk to the wannabe member of our group alone, too.” But Atlas bent and pressed a kiss to Lily’s cheek. His hand feathered over her stomach. “Nothing bad happens to any of you.” A stark promise. Then he stalked toward Preston. “Come on, asshole. We need to clear the air.”
She waited until the door closed behind the two men. Then…
A wide smile curled Sloane’s lips. “Twins? You’re having twins?” She squealed and ran forward to hug her friend. “I am so stinking excited for you!”
Lily hugged her back. “I’m not leaving you,” she whispered.
Sloane pulled back. “Are you my best friend in the entire world? My ride or die?”
Lily nodded. Serious, somber Lily.
“Then you are leaving.” Because you will not die. “I will not have you hurt.” But Lily had already been hurt. Sloane could see the bandage on her arm. “You are getting out of here. You’re going to let Atlas spirit you away to some place super fancy and decadent.”
“I’m not the type to run away when a friend needs me. You need me now.”
No, Lily didn’t run. She fought. Sloane wanted to be more like her. Instead…
Sloane had always been a planner. A plotter. A…manipulator. She smiled even brighter. “I have brand new protection in the form of Preston Byron. He is going to be my human shield.” Okay, he had not promised to be a human shield, and she certainly did not expect him to be but…
“Why him, Sloane?” Still no smiles from Lily. Her smiles were always too rare. Atlas fought viciously for every single one he could get.
“What do you mean? Why did the perp take him again?” Lily was so good at profiling. Sloane was surprised her friend had even asked the question.
Lily shook her head. “Why are you so focused on Preston?”
Ah. Right. Lily was good at profiling. And at seeing through the bullshit.
“What’s your goal?” Lily pressed her.
“My first goal is getting you to safety.” Priority one. “I can fight this battle without you.”
Lily didn’t even blink. “Why Preston Byron?”
“Why did you get so focused on Atlas Bennett? What was it about him that made you go all in?”
“Atlas is my soulmate.”