Set Me Free (A Fugitive #2)(14)

"Who was the man at the door? Had you seen him before?"

"It was that guy in the photo, William Tenner. I'd never seen him before." Pressing my fingers into my eyes, I tried to hold back the tears. "Dad always kept his work stuff really private. He worked in an office so it's not like he was a field agent with a partner or anything. We didn't...I'd never met any of his colleagues." The word colleagues brought bile into my mouth. I was still reeling over the fact that he'd been killed by one of his own.

Alex let me sniffle for a few minutes, but not long. He soon cleared his throat, forcing me to gather my composure.

"We can stop if you need to," Zach said.

"No, we should keep going while it's fresh in her head."

I opened my eyes to see the tail end of Zach's glare.

"It's okay. I can...I'll try." Pressing my lips together, I pinched the bottom of my chin and forced the memories back. "The guy had a gun...it had a long silencer on it. He shot Mom first. No. He didn't. He had her by the throat. It was Dad. He was trying to call the police. He shot Dad in the shoulder and stamped on his hand... and kicked him in the face. There was blood." I sucked in another quick breath. I had to get this out before I completely lost it. "Mom was yelling and the man was asking something. I can't remember his words, but Dad didn't know or shook his head and Mom got shot. In the leg. She screamed. It—" I shivered. "It was really scary. She was in so much pain, you know?" The words were punching out of my mouth in erratic bursts.

"What did the man want? Try to think of his words." Alex's voice was so calm. How could he sound so level-headed when my emotions were pitching so high? I felt like Dorothy on her way to Oz.

"He wanted to know something about Dad. I—" Shaking my head in frustration, I tried to recall the words. "I can't remember."

"Okay, that's fine, just keep going. It might come back to you. After your Mom got shot...what happened?"

"Well, then he shot Dad."

"So, you're Mom was still alive?"

"No. No, Mom was dead."

"So, she died from the bullet wound to her leg?"

"No." I slumped back into my seat. "He shot her in the head."

"And what about your dad?"

I rubbed the side of my face, wiping the salty tears into my skin. They were streaming in torrents from my eyes and dripping off the bottom of my chin.

"Lucy, did he kill your father after that? Did he shoot your father?" It was a struggle for Alex to ask. He almost looked guilty as he uttered the questions.

A quiver jerked down my spine as I remembered what came next. "I don't want to do this anymore." I fumbled out of my seat, my hands hitting the floor. I sprung up and dashed from the room, making a beeline for Zach's bed. I wanted to bury myself beneath the covers and never come out, because what came next terrorized me.

I know you have a daughter too, Jack. She's here, isn't she.

William Tenner's voice rang out through my head. He sounded almost gleeful as he stood over my dad's limp body and called out, Lu-cy. Come out, come out wherever you are.

I squeezed my eyes shut against his sing song voice...the one that meant death if he ever got his hands on me.





Chapter 8





ZACH





"You can't keep pushing her like that. She's fragile." Zach slapped the table and stood, hating the image of his bereft girlfriend stumbling out of the room.

"She's stronger than you think. Once she gets these memories out, she can move forward and we can end this."

Zach shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "It's killing her. Watching her go through this is killing me!"

He jerked out of his chair. Placing his hands on his hips, Zach paced to the island in the kitchen and back to the table again.

"Look I know it's really hard, okay, but she's doing great. We need the details, every single speck of truth she can give us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know it'll make her testimony that much more powerful." Zach flicked his hand in the air.

"That's not just it, little bro."

"What? What do you mean?" Zach paused on the kitchen floor, the tiles suddenly feeling like quick sand.

Alex grimaced. "You know I hate to admit this, but..." He scratched his stubbly chin. "She's the prime suspect in this case. We can't ignore the speculation."

"But she's also the key witness." Zach ground out.

"Yeah." Alex's nod was slow and unconvincing. "But I don't think her testimony will be enough. As far as the public is concerned, Lucy Tate murdered her parents."

Zach's eyes flashed with anger. Alex jerked in his chair and raised his hands. "Hey. It's obvious to me she didn't do it. But we have to somehow prove that. Then we can clear her name and dump Tenner right in it. We need details in order to do that, Zach."

The hard edge dropped from Zach's expression. Damn it. He was right. Lucy's testimony wasn't going to be enough on its own. "So how do we prove these people wrong? Where's all the evidence?"

"Probably buried under a shit-pile of lies." Alex threw his hands in the air. Zach knew how vehement his uncle could get over these things. He was one of the strongest advocates for justice Zach had ever met. That's why he became a reporter. He knew the power of the press and his zeal for the truth made him a pit bull. Zach had always found it so inspiring. He reminded himself that he wanted to follow in his uncle's footsteps...at least he thought he did. His uncle could be pretty relentless when he wanted to be. He couldn't help worrying that it might end up scaring Lucy away.