Chapter 22 #2
“Oh, my lawyer did mention something about that.” He let his eyes widen. “I should probably call her, shouldn’t I? Hey, Desmond…”
Lily had blasted past Desmond on the stairs.
“Text your girlfriend for me, would you?” Atlas asked Desmond. “Let her know the Feds are trying to pin a murder on me.”
“No.” Lily jumped between him and Gage. “You have this wrong. And, Atlas, stop playing with him.”
But it was fun to play. “Don’t you want me to have some joy?”
She tossed him an infuriated glare before turning her full focus on Gage.
Atlas smiled over her head at the Fed. “Meet my alibi.”
“Fucker,” Gage breathed.
“Well, yes, I did fuck her. Truly, the best sex of my life.”
Lily elbowed him. “Stop being an ass, Atlas. I know you enjoy toying with others, but now is not the time.”
It was second nature to him, though. Especially when he was threatened. Go on the offensive. Disarm your opponent, either physically or mentally. Get them off their game. Go in for the kill.
“Atlas did not kill anyone,” Lily snapped.
Oh, she knew that was a lie. Interesting that she could just be all bold and lie right to the Fed’s face—
“He did not kill Tonya,” Lily amended quickly.
Yep, there was that truthfulness part of her. Precious.
“He was with me last night.”
Bam. That’s right, sweets. Tell me him I fucked you and it was so much better than merely fine.
Sharon grimaced. “All night, ma’am?”
“Yes, all night.”
“Bullshit.” From Gage. “Bullshit, Lily. I know you.”
Why did the man harp on that? He’d known her surface, not her soul.
“You might have fucked him. Yeah, fine, I can buy that.” Brittle words from the Fed. “But no way you were with him all night. You fucked, and then you probably went to one bedroom while he went to another. There are probably a freaking dozen bedrooms or more in this monstrosity of a house.”
“Careful, you’re talking about my beloved home,” Atlas chided.
Gage ignored him. His full and angry focus was on Lily.
“You didn’t know when he slipped away because you weren’t beside him.
You were not with the man every single moment.
No lover stays with you, and I’m sorry if that sounds fucking brutal, but it’s your choice.
You don’t let them get close. You don’t let them stay.
You didn’t let me stay. So I damn well know the alibi is bullshit.
He would have been able to drive to Shreveport and get back…
he would have been able to make the trip.
But he screwed up, and he left his cufflinks and now we have—Lily, why are you shaking your head at me? ”
She was. A slow, negative gesture.
Atlas curled his fingers around her shoulders. “You are wrong, Agent Emerick.”
The agent’s fury pulsed in the air.
“I did not leave Lily last night. I slept in bed with her. Her body was curled around mine. My hands on her. I even had a nightmare once and woke up…probably due to all my recent, traumatic experiences.”
A furrow cut between Gage’s eyes.
“Lily was at my side. She comforted me. She drifted back to sleep in my arms. When she woke this morning—due to her friend Sloane’s phone call—I was in the bed with her.
” Granted, he’d left to grab jeans and he’d hurried back, but Atlas didn’t see why it was relevant to share that information.
Not like he could have driven to Shreveport and back in the five minutes it had taken him to grab jeans and brush his teeth.
“Lily…?” What could have been pain flashed across Gage’s face. “He…all night?”
“All night,” Lily confirmed. “I am his alibi, as I said. There is no way he went to Shreveport without me knowing.”
The brief flash of pain vanished as a mask seemed to slide over Gage’s face. “The cufflinks…”
“Yeah, about those…” Atlas did not let go of Lily’s delicate shoulders. The touch was to say many things…She’s mine. Back the fuck off.
She’s mine…don’t ever think of coming after her.
She’s mine.
Okay, fine, the touch was basically to say that one thing.
But, regarding the cuff links… “I was wearing a pair of gold, initial cufflinks when I was taken from the parking lot recently. Thought they’d fallen off during the attack.
Even mentioned them to the cops who questioned me as the cabin burned.
” A vague detail that hadn’t mattered. Or at least, he hadn’t thought it mattered at the time.
His cufflinks could have been lost in the parking lot.
They could have been lost when he tumbled down the stairs into the basement.
Or when he raced from the cabin with Lily.
“Check the report, and I’m sure that information can be verified. ”
Lily looked back at him. “The perp wanted to set you up.”
“So it would seem. Guess he didn’t count on my ironclad alibi.”
“Or he did.” Her hair slid over her shoulder.
“And he wanted to make sure we fully understood that he was the one doing the killing. He wanted us to give him credit for what he was doing. He used your cufflinks so you would know.” She whipped her head back toward Gage and Sharon.
“He has my list.” Urgency filled her voice.
The same urgency that Atlas could feel trembling through her body.
“You’re standing here, threatening to arrest Atlas, when he’s been a victim all along. ”
“I am a victim.” Ah. He’d almost nailed that. Theodora would have been proud.
Lily’s voice trembled with urgency as she said, “He used the cufflinks because he wants us to know it’s him. He’s punishing. Don’t you see? He was punishing here in Dallas and now, he’s—”
“He went after Tonya Johnson because she’s a thief?” Sharon cut in to question.
“No, because she’s evil. To him. To him. She’s the product of a serial killer. It’s the blood. She’s guilty. To him.”
But Gage appeared uncertain. “You’re losing me, Lily.”
“She’s not losing me,” Atlas fired back. “Could very well be the reason why the bastard came after me in the first place. Because he knew what my father had done. And being that freak’s kid was more than enough reason for him to decide I was guilty. At least, guilty in his mind.”
“But…” Gage took a step back. “The two other kills in Dallas. Those poor bastards were not the kids of serials.”
“Killers evolve.” Lily’s tight voice. “They grow. They develop. This guy—he was too quick. The timing between kills was far too brief. No cooling down period, and that scared me.”
“You were scared?” Gage asked. He seemed surprised.
She ignored his surprise. “He would want more victims, fast. Because he likes killing. But he thinks what he’s doing is right.
So that means the victims have to be wrong.
” Her words tumbled out. “The kids of serials—if he believes they were born evil, then he’s justified in what he’s doing.
He’s eliminating evil. He’s punishing. He has my data.
He has my files. Oh, God. It’s my fault. ”
“No.” Atlas was adamant. “This is not because of you.”
She whirled to face him. “He got the information from me, and now Tonya Johnson is dead.”
“You did not kill her.”
“No, I just gave him her address.”
He would not let her carry this guilt. “He stole the address.”
“He has all of their addresses.” Breathless.
“I worry he is just getting started.” And she spun away, whirling toward Gage and Sharon again.
“If we don’t act, now, he will be killing someone else.
And it will be fast. Not three weeks from now.
Not three days. In fact, I think he is hunting right this minute. ”
Sharon swiped a hand over her forehead. “You…you ever wrong about stuff like this?”
“She knows killers,” Gage said. A quiet confidence.
“I am not wrong.” Lily was adamant. “But…I-I don’t know which vic he’s going after next.
There are two immediate options. Two. I figure he has to be going after the one closest but…
I don’t know if he came back here to Dallas, a spot that I think is his home based on the initial kills…
or if he went after the vic by driving straight out from Shreveport…
which would put him going to New Orleans and—”
“Lily, slow down.” Gage rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. “I can’t keep up.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Two potential victims are at the top of my list. One is in Oklahoma City. His name is Hatch Davis. Hatch is the son of the Spring Break Strangler.”
Sharon’s eyes widened. “I remember that vicious bastard. I didn’t know he had any kids!”
Desmond climbed silently down the stairs. He stopped when he reached the landing.
“Hatch isn’t like his father. He’s never hurt anyone in his life. He doesn’t even know who his father is.” Lily edged away from Atlas. “The second option is Westin Blanchard. He’s in New Orleans. The son of—”
Gage swore. “Fuck. Blanchard the Butcher. Yeah, I know about his dad.”
“Me, too.” Sharon backed up a step.
“Westin was just paroled. He served time for the armed robbery charge, and he’s out on good behavior.
He’ll be walking the streets of the Big Easy.
” Lily’s words still came a bit too quickly, but she had slowed down.
Some. “We need protection for both men, but…Hatch really has no idea who his father is. If we reveal it, when he finds out the truth…”
He’ll spend the rest of his days wondering if he will become a monster, too.
Yeah, Atlas had been there. Done that for his whole freaking life.
“We need guards on them.” Lily was adamant. “They need protection, immediately.”
But Gage shook his head. “That’s not how it works. I can’t send in federal agents when you have a hunch. No way Brass will go for that. Not to just cover random people.”
She surged to stand toe to toe with him.
“They are not random! They are targets! They are potential victims. And if you want to stop this killer, if you want to catch him, I am telling you how to do it. He will be going after one of these individuals. Catch him before he kills. Help me to save them.”