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Julia
“I’m going to kill him.” Lachlan’s voice was eerily calm as he stared into space. “But first, I’m going to make him suffer for every woman he hurt. For Piper. For Claire. For all of them. By the time I’m done with him, he’s going to be begging me to put him out of his misery.”
“Lachlan…”
When I placed my hand on his leg, his gaze shot to mine, snapping out of whatever trance he was in.
“It could be nothing, like Ethan said.” I flashed Ethan a smile, begging him to help me talk Lachlan down from choosing a course of action he’d eventually come to regret. “There’s nothing definitive here. So what? Daxton was born only seven months after his parents married. Nine months after his mother filed an incident report alleging sexual assault.”
“Sexual assault that has your ex-husband’s signature all over it,” Lachlan snipped back.
“True.” I inhaled a calming breath, attempting to be the voice of reason when it felt like all reason had officially left the room. “But that still doesn’t mean—”
“And how about the fact he obviously knew Autumn Quinn?” he spat, nostrils flaring, spittle forming in the corners of his mouth. “Is that also a coincidence? Not to mention he just so happens to volunteer for a fucking prison program and has had access to your ex. Is that all a coincidence, too?”
Hearing footsteps padding on the second floor, I glanced over my shoulder at the stairs before refocusing my attention on Lachlan, lowering my voice. “Please keep it down. For Imogene. She can’t know about this. Not yet.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, digging his fingers through his hair. “I introduced them.”
“Who?”
“Dax and Piper. And Claire.” He laughed to himself. “I should have—”
“We still don’t know anything for certain.” I held his gaze for a moment before facing Ethan again.
“With this new…development, is that enough to involve the FBI? Or, at the very least, reopen the investigation into Claire’s death? And perhaps Autumn’s?” I gestured to her photo.
“I put a call into Agent Curran this morning and am waiting to hear back. I’m sure he’ll be of the same mindset we are.” Ethan glanced at Lachlan. “That it is suspicious.”
“Damn straight it is,” he growled.
“Still… Whatever we do, we need to be delicate about this.”
Ethan looked toward the front windows as sirens blared in the distance. It was strange to hear them this far out in the suburbs. Then again, as I’d learned, bad shit could happen anywhere.
“Daxton Shepard isn’t your run-of-the-mill criminal. If he is the one behind this, he’s gotten away with it for five years now. And with his wealth, he has limitless resources that have probably helped him do that. Based on the profile I’ve put together over the months, I’m all but certain he’s already several steps ahead of us. We need to be careful to not…poke the beast.” He gave Lachlan a knowing look, eyebrow raised.
“What are you getting at?”
“You can’t just go into his office and accuse him of being a goddamn serial killer. We need ironclad evidence. Need to try to…catch him in the act.”
“Catch him in the act?” Lachlan shot back with a disbelieving laugh. “So… What? We’re supposed to wait until October thirteenth and hope we know exactly when and where he plans on killing another innocent woman?”
“Without definitive evidence implicating him otherwise, I don’t see any other option,” Ethan argued as the sirens grew closer.
With each second that passed, my pulse increased. Hearing sirens wasn’t an odd occurrence. Not in this city. There were areas of Atlanta that had pretty high crime rates. Still, I couldn’t shake the premonition deep in my gut that something horrible was about to happen.
When the sirens came to a stop in front of my house, tires screeching, I knew it for certain.
“Mama!” Imogene shouted, darting down the stairs, eyes wide, panicked. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, baby.” I wrapped her in my arms, a chill washing over me when an incessant knock sounded from my front door.
“Julia Prescott? Georgia State Patrol. I’m here to do a welfare check. It’s important I speak with you immediately.”
Heart in my throat, I swung my eyes to Lachlan’s, both of us frozen in place.
“Please, ma’am. This is an emergency. I need to make sure both you and your daughter are okay.”
