Sloane stood nearby, another tear sliding down her cheek.
Desmond’s hands were clenched at his sides.Fury evident in every tight line of his body.
Atlas felt the same fury.No, not the same.His was so much stronger.So much hotter.It burned.He had no control.All he wanted to do was attack.Destroy.Kill.
And, as he stood there, as the pieces clicked in his mind, as he thought of everything that had happened recently…
The blast at the cabin…
A blast that hadn’t touched the basement.But had killed a cop.
The motive of the killer…the violence…
The perp was so determined to punish the guilty.To make them suffer as much as possible for their crimes.
And Atlas thought of Hatch Davis.Potentially killed days before, long before Lily’s files had been stolen.But if that was the case, if Hatch was already dead, then the murderer would have needed access to Lily’s data sooner.Especially since the info about Hatch being the child of a serial wasn’t public knowledge.That was knowledge that Lily had possessed.The killer would have needed to be in Lily’s house in order to get the info on Hatch.He would have needed to get close to her…
He would have needed…
“Sonofabitch,” Atlas breathed.He let go of Gage.“Get out of here.Go find my Lily.”
Gage glared but straightened his shirt.“I will,” he snarled back.“This might fucking stun you, butIactually care about her.I will get her back.I will save her.”
“You think I don’t care?”Lethally soft.“You think I don’t care?”
“Can you?”Gage’s nostrils flared.“I’ll have police officers and Feds stationed close to your estate.”A slant of his gaze toward Desmond.“Seeing as how your guards can’t seem to do the job of keeping you and Lily protected.”
“Oh, you’re a sonofabitch,” Desmond noted.“Understood.”
“My partner is still at the recent crime scene.She’s gathering data and evidence.Know that wewilltrack the bastard.We’ll check all the video footage.We will findLily.”
“Then go be the hero.”Go the hell now.
“I will.Because being a hero is something you sure as hell will never be.”Gage stormed out.The front door slammed moments later.Atlas stood there, his hands balling into fists as his mind whirled.So many things to do…
“Lily never loved him.”Sloane’s low voice.
His head turned toward her.
“She’s so reserved.So controlled.A lot of people get confused about her because of that.They think—they think she doesn’t feel anything.That she’s cold as ice.”A hard shake of her head even as the tears gleamed on her cheeks.“It’s the opposite.She feels too much.Too strongly.She keeps her control because she’s afraid of all the emotions inside herself.”
Atlas had thought he had such great control.Such a fool.And to think, he’d boasted to Lily that he could turn on and off his emotions.
Fury blazed through him.Fear choked him.Could he turn them off?No.Dammit, no.“Lily loves me.”Something that both gave him comfort and tormented him.He pulled in a breath.The Fed was gone.That meant he could get to work.“She loves me, and I will kill for her.”He’d always known that he would.Fuck being the hero.The bad guy was needed more now than anything else.
Desmond stalked closer.“Atlas?”
He flashed his dimples at his old friend.“I know who the killer is, too.”More than that, though…He nodded.“I think I can find the bastard.”No, correction.“We can find him.”
Desmond nodded.“Then let’s fucking go.”
He was already going.Rushing to his office, grabbing his phone, his laptop.Calling in favors with frantic phone calls even as his fingers flew over the keyboard of his computer.Research and damn development.Yeah, that was what he did.Security research for the government.Medical research for health companies.Computer hacking and data retention.Information was his life.
No, Lily is my life.
He called the right people.He asked the right questions.He demanded his intel.
Lily loves me.I will kill for her.
