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He nodded and went to the kitchen while I sat and nursed Sophie. I could see him from where I sat, enjoying the ability to watch his domesticity.
It was while I was focused on Sophie that Drake’s cell rang.
He answered and I heard him say, “Oh, hi, Lara. What’s up?”
He listened and then came around the island to pick up the television remote control off the coffee table.
“I’m turning it on now,” he said and clicked on the flat screen.
I turned to face the television. As I watched, a scene came into view of a forested area next to a lake, the video taken from a helicopter. Below, was a white tent-like structure and several figures dressed in white suits that were used for crime scenes.
“Oh, my God,” I said when I read the subtitle. Derek Richardson, of Richardson Securities, Confirmed Dead, Autopsy To Be Conducted.
Drake stood in shock, his cell up to his ear, the remote in his other hand. “I’m watching now,” he said to Lara.
We listened to the television for a while. The news anchor said that a staff member went to the billionaire’s cabin to do a routine check of the premises as part of a security detail of the property. While there, the security guard noticed that a door had been unlocked and there were signs that someone had been living in the residence. In the basement of the property, there was evidence of a struggle so the police were called. Evidence led to the boat house, where a significant quantity of human blood had been found, suggesting a murder had taken place. Police divers checked the lake but found nothing. Searchers scoured the nearby forest and found a body in a shallow grave less than one hundred yards from the cabin.
The body was identified as Derek Richardson.
The coroner’s report would indicate how long the body had been in the grave, giving a better idea of when Richardson had been murdered, but the preliminary report suggested it had been months due to the advanced decomposition.
“Drake,” I said, turning to watch him. He was frowning, his jaw clenched, his cell at his ear. “Do you think Lisa…”
“Lisa’s been in custody since they arrested her soon after the attack,” Drake said. “How could she do it?”
He listened for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll call you back,” he said and put his phone onto the table.
“Do I think Lisa killed Derek?” he said, walking to the sofa and turning the volume up. “I think Lisa killed Derek or had someone kill him for her.”
“But how?” I asked, confused. “She’s been in custody since the attack. They didn’t let her out on bail, did they?”
“Not
that I know of,” Drake said. “Lara said she was held at Bellevue for a psychiatric evaluation and then was held in general lockup because she was not given bail due to evidence gathered when they arrested her. It must have shown she planned the attack.”
I put Sophie up on my shoulder for a burp, and thought back to the weeks after the attack. I saw a brief video of her being escorted into the courthouse. She was wearing prison orange.
“Maybe someone else killed him,” I said. “He’s very rich. He might have been killed during a robbery or something.”
“Seems far too coincidental,” Drake said and finally sat down beside me. "They would have found out sooner if that was the case. I thought he went out of town."
He seemed stunned, his eyes wide as he watched the video of the crime scene taken from a helicopter.
“Well, we know she has it in her to try to kill someone, so why not have Derek killed as well? But why would she? What did Derek do that would make her want to kill him?”
Drake shrugged. “You know,” he said softly, “there was a moment – several moments back when I was trying to deal with Lisa that I got this bad feeling about her. The way she looked at me – there was this madness in her eyes. This threat. I never thought she could actually harm you.”
“You did want the added security,” I said. “You must have sensed some danger from her.”
“Yeah, but this? I mean, I could blame her attack on you as a moment of hot blood, a crime of passion, but killing Richardson suggests something more calculating. She overheard me talking to you the day she attacked you. For her to get someone to kill Richardson suggests something more…”
“More evil?” I said, finishing his sentence. “I saw her in the club that night Mersey played. The way she looked at me actually made me shiver.”
Drake sighed. “I guess we were right to be worried about her. I wonder what Richardson did. I called him back when I first learned that she was in the Fellowship program and was pushing me for a relationship. I told Fred Parker about her and I might have mentioned Richardson in the discussion. I wonder if he didn’t contact Richardson for more information and she found out.”
“Let’s hope the police figure it out.”
“Richardson was a decent guy,” Drake said. “He didn’t deserve this. He tried to help me. Maybe he contacted her and told her to stop, and she killed him.”
