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“But how?” I demanded. “How could they just arrest him?”
“He wouldn’t speak to them. There was no defense. Everything was written down as it was spoken in Ed’s words. Ace was told to sign the confession, and he did.”
“Just like that?” I asked in disbelief.
“Just like that. Signed, sealed, and delivered. Another victim of a broken justice system.”
“Why would he sign it?” I pressed. “I don’t understand.”
“It happens more often than you might imagine,” Lucian replied. “And in Huck’s case, it was simple. Ed had convinced him he was responsible for her death. Huck brought her into the home, and Ed claimed it was his evil spell that forced his hands. In Huck’s mind, he accepted responsibility, and he believed he should be punished for it. Punishment for things he couldn’t control was all he ever knew. There was nobody to advocate for him or tell him otherwise. By the time I heard of his case, he’d already spent ten years in prison.”
I was grateful Lucian was still turned away so he couldn’t witness the tears spilling down my cheeks. “You freed him. It seems like it would be impossible.”
“It almost was.” He pinched the muscle at the base of his neck. “I visited him for months before he finally spoke to me, and I’d almost given up at that point. That was just the first hurdle. I still had to build trust and get him to open up to me about what really happened. I did my own research and put together a theory, but I needed him to confirm it. The process for overturning a conviction is a long, desolate road. I didn’t know if we’d ever get there, but after three years of fighting, Ace finally walked free.”
“What happened to Ed? Did he just walk away?”
“Not quite.” Lucian shook his head. “After the investigation was re-opened, several other missing young women were linked to Ed. Evidence turned up in the house that would have inevitably led to his arrest, but before that could happen, Ed drove his car into a tree and killed himself.”
“Coward,” I scoffed.
Lucian turned to study me. “Ace doesn’t think he deserves good things in his life, Birdie. In his eyes, he still believes it was his fault his mother and Mary-Kate died. For as long as I’ve known him, he’s punished himself for it.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “Honestly, he came to my house the other night, and I could tell something wasn’t right. The thing is, Gypsy asked him to look after you, and she’s my wife, so at the end of the day, I just want her to be happy. But not at the expense of Ace.”
“What does that mean?” I couldn’t hide the hurt in my voice. “You think I’m going to screw him up even worse?”
“I think you have the capability,” Lucian corrected. “I just want to make sure those aren’t your intentions. That you understand I don’t want to see him hurt.”
“It isn’t my intention.” I squeezed my fingers against the grainy wood. “I’m not going back there anyway, so it doesn’t matter.” Even as I said it, it felt like a lie.
Lucian sat down beside me on the bench and stared at the floor. “He’s different with you. I’ve never seen him so out of sorts.”
That statement shouldn’t make my stupid heart beat faster, but it did. Still, I had questions. Things I needed to know for myself.
“Did you tell him to stalk me for over a year?”
“I asked him to keep an eye on you,” Lucian answered. “You were supposed to leave Vegas, in case that hasn’t already been established several times.”
I ignored his jab. “Does keeping an eye on me extend to the type of food I eat? Or the wine I drink? Or implanting secret spies into my life who I think are my friends?”
An odd expression passed over Lucian’s face. He probably thought I was crazy, but he didn’t verbalize it. Instead, he looked lost in his own thoughts, like pieces of a puzzle were falling together. And then he stood, checking his watch, as anxiety crept back into his features. His thoughts had returned to my sister and the baby.
“I have to go,” he said abruptly.
“You’re not going to call Ace and tell him I was here?”
His lips curled into a smile. “Oh, I will. But you should have about a twenty-minute head start by the time he gets here.”
TWENTY MINUTES WAS NOT A lot of time to get out of this part of town, especially since I didn’t even know where I was going. Instinct drove me toward the parking lot of the church, but I hesitated on the stairs, considering Lucian’s words.
Ace is going out of his mind looking for you.
Did he feel bad for what happened? Was he even capable of feeling anything? Sometimes, I couldn’t tell. Now I understood the reasons for his behavior, but it didn’t make it any easier to figure him out. The things Lucian told me would take days to process, if not weeks.
