Page 28 of Soul Deep
Chapter Twenty-One
They were both laying on their bellies facing the foot of Christian’s bed. Lily had Christian’s laptop open in front of her, a secret smile on her face while Christian massaged her backside with sleepy eyes. After an afternoon of some of the most mind-blowing sex that Lily had never thought she’d have, her stomach growled loudly to remind both of them that bodies did in fact have other needs.
It was the plate of bread, fruit, and cheese – the cheese in particular – that had recalled the rather terrifying events of the morning and her subsequent call to Daisy. She needed to check her e-mail and see if Dev had made any progress. But before she’d even finished swallowing that last bite of food, Christian had shot her a look so hot it curled her toes and unleashed a riot of butterflies in her stomach. So, she’d been distracted for another hour.
It had been after that last particularly rambunctious bout of loving, when they had both collapsed back against the pillows, their chests heaving, and bodies sweating, that Christian pulled her close, kissed the top of her head and asked, “Do you want to talk about what happened this morning with the detectives?”
She had to hand it to him, his restraint was remarkable. Had the roles been reversed, she probably would have pounced on him immediately upon his return for information. Without hesitation, she filled him in. Somehow, she managed to keep the hysterics at bay this time around, and if she had to bet, it was because with Christian beside her, she simply felt stronger.
Of course, in the telling, she was also reminded that she couldn’t stay here. She needed to get back to her place, get on the computer, and see what progress the team had made. Saying as much to Christian as she got up and prepared to dress, Christian had grabbed her hand and pulled her back down for a hard kiss before he’d held up his index finger, “Hold that thought.”
Leaving the room for what couldn’t have been more than a minute, he returned with a laptop in hand. Lily couldn’t help but be secretly pleased that he didn’t want her to leave, especially since she felt exactly the same.
Logging in to her e-mail, she took a deep breath when she saw the bold font of the unopened message from Dev. Clicking on it, she scanned the message and frowned, her fingertips tapping absently near the keyboard.
“What does it say?”
“Dev was able to hack into their system and find out more details,” she summed up, skipping the parts where Dev extolled the virtues of the modern age where he even had access to speculative notes outlining opinions and theories. “According to this, I’m the prime suspect for the murder of a man named Stanley Duncan, the attempted murder of Kevin Barclay, as well as possibly connected to a case that has been reopened and now deemed a murder – a Chad Emery.”
Lily frowned, not recognizing any of those names. Not that that was really a surprise, she was terrible with names, but still.
“Why are they so sure it’s you?” Christian asked, sitting up and turning his attention to the laptop screen.
Swallowing hard, Lily read aloud what Dev had written, “According to notes from Detective Janet Sanford, the victims all had a past history to some extent of spousal abuse. Confirmed, the surviving spouses all attend a group support meeting for women of domestic abuse led by Psychologist, Doctor Danielle Hillary, and each event in question happened directly following said meeting.”
The next part had Lily’s breath catching in her throat, and without realizing it, her hand had shot out to grip Christian’s arm hard.
“What is it?”
She needed to clear her throat twice, but her voice still sounded gravelly. “Two eyewitness describe the victim as a young woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, blonde, build is described as thin, height possibly between five feet five inches and five feet eight inches, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.”
Lily took a deep a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment remembering the morning she had awoke wearing her mud a spattered black hoodie. Had it been mud? Or had it been blood? No – she shook herself. No, she would have smelled the blood. It had definitely been mud, but still… Trembling slightly, she returned her gaze to the screen and continued reading despite the tremors in her voice. "The victims were beaten. The witnesses to the Barclay assault claim to have seen the assailant with a baseball bat, the same weapon they suspected was used in both the Duncan case and in the reopened Emery case.”
“There, see? It’s not you.”
Lily gaped at the confident smile he was wearing. “How can you be so sure?”
Cupping her cheek, his thumb stroked over her scars, his eyes filled with an incredible admiration that left Lily choked with emotion. “I know you. If you were looking to punish these men, you’d use your claws.”
Lily let out a little huff of laughter, amazed she could find even the tiniest crumb of humor in this situation. “So how do we prove it?”
Christian’s grin turned positively smug. “If what that detective suspects is true, then it’s someone in your group, right?”
Lily nodded and Christian continued, “So how many of you fit the description?”
Biting her lip, she tried to recall the faces of her fellow survivors in the group. “Counting me, there are three blondes, though Jordan – the spouse of one of the victims” she waved absently toward the screen, “is too short if we go by what the eye witnesses are claiming.”
Christian shrugged. “Even better. Since we know it’s not you, it must be that other female. We’ll just follow her,” he finished, like they were simply planning a mid-day stroll, but Lily was only listening with half an ear. She pictured the other blond woman in the group, timid, usually sat toward the back. The woman was quiet, but she had shared a time or two. Nothing about that woman screamed serial killer, but then, was there really a look? Conjuring up the images of the other members, she tried to see beyond the personas they presented to the group. Her mind continually coming back to the belligerence of that one female – Alice? Alex? “We can’t rule out the possibility of a wig”.
“True. You know these women best. What do you think?”
What did she think? The truth was, given enough provocation, anyone could kill.
An image of Jordan grieving for an ex that had beaten her flashed in her mind. Was the grief real or an act? In the meeting before the man had been killed, the woman had been practically cursing the man’s name as she shared stories that would cause nightmares. The eye witness could have gotten the height wrong… A thought suddenly flashed in Lily’s mind and had her looking closer at the dates.
She wasn’t sure about the Emery case that had been reopened, but these newer ones… Jordan had shared the very night her husband had died, and this recent attack that had left Kevin Barclay on life-support – yes, it was noted that he and his wife, Gwendolyn were separated, divorce pending. Lily closed her eyes and concentrated, her mind picturing Doctor Hillary’s sweet face at the last meeting as she said, “Thank you so much for sharing, Gwen.” Gwendolyn Barclay had shared and her husband had been attacked.
Her eyes popped open with a revelation. “The killer must be using the stories to pick her victims.”
