ChapterFourteen
Julia Tutwiler PrisonFor Women
Wetumpka, Alabama
Three weeks ago…
“I’m worried about Lily,”FBI Agent Gage Emerick said as he sat in the small, private room at the maximum-security prison.His chair wobbled beneath him.Damn uneven legs.
“You broke my daughter’s heart.You used her.You took her for granted.Yetnowyou claim to be worried?Don’t insult my intelligence.”Magnolia shook her head.“I really shouldn’t have even agreed to see you today.”
Yeah, well… “Why did you?”
“Boredom.”A sigh.“And I typically enjoy visits from handsome men.”Her full lips curved, just a bit.But the faint smile quickly faded.“Unless those men have hurt my daughter.I don’t like it at all when someone hurts my precious Lily.”
Ah, yes.The moment he’d been waiting for.“Did David Warren hurt Lily?”
Magnolia’s expression didn’t change.Not even by a flicker of one long eyelash.
The woman was really quite lovely.Time had always been kind to Magnolia.Even in the garish orange prison garb, she somehow seemed…fashionable.Maybe it was the twist of her hair.The faint pink sheen on her lips.
The red polish on her nails.
If he didn’t know better, he would have even thought she’d had the prison uniform tailored a bit.It didn’t sag on her body.The collar fluffed—fuck, if that was even the term.The sleeves were well fitted and?—
“Who is David Warren?”
He laughed.“Come on, this is widespread knowledge.The man did a media tour after your conviction.”Why was she even trying to pretend with him?“You were dating him…years ago.Back before you were convicted of multiple homicides.”
A roll of one shoulder.“I dated lots of men.I don’t remember all of their names.”
“But you remember the names of the men you killed, don’t you?”He would bet those names—and the faces—were burned in her memory.
“I know the names of the men I was convicted of killing.”A careful and deliberate distinction.“I’m innocent, of course.That would be why my conviction is on appeal.”A shudder.“Death row.For me.Can you imagine?What a horrible miscarriage of justice.Honestly,Iam the victim here.”
The hell she was.“You were dating David Warren right around the time that Lily was poisoned.”
Her gaze flickered to the watchful guard.“Jesse, do you know what’s for dinner tonight?Wait, wait.Let me guess.Would it be…a meat patty?Beans?Perhaps even a piece of fruit for dessert?Oh, how incredibly exciting.Talk about a dining extravaganza.A real feast for the senses.”
Magnolia was interesting.Intriguing.Borderline personality disorder, narcissistic, histrionic…
Charming beyond measure when she wanted to be.Brutal beyond thought when the urge struck her.
And she was Lily’s mother.His Lily.He really fucking needed Lily back.
“Magnolia,” he said her name deliberately.
Her attention returned to him.“I have no clue what Lily saw in you.You’re far too stiff and boring to entertain my daughter for long.”
“Lily…talked about our relationship with you?”It sure seemed that way, but it was hard for him to imagine Lily just opening up with her mother.Or, with anyone, really.
“Doesn’t a daughter tell her mother everything?”
That wasn’t an answer.Magnolia was sly that way.“You have a lot of…fans, Magnolia.”
“I do.”A delighted smile.“They adore me.They understand that I shouldn’t be locked away.That I need help.That I must have my freedom.”
Uh, no.The world would be a safer place with her locked away forever.“The warden told me that you receive more mail than anyone else at the prison.”He knew to deliberately appeal to her pride.Her pride was a weakness for her.
