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Vicky drew in a sharp breath.
“They’re waiting inside while I talk to you about what they want,” Mallory continued. “They’re prepared to compensate you, of course, and it would help them if your DNA was ruled out. Having said that, as your family’s lawyer, I must tell you that it’s generally considered not a good idea to give them your DNA unless they obtain a court order. Cross-contamination can happen. It’s been proven in multiple cases.”
Cross-contamination? “Are they thinking I did something?” I shrank against Brett.
“Jesus Christ,” Brett spat.
Mallory’s eyes flicked to Brett, almost as if she were having a hard time not paying attention to him. She shook her head, focusing on me. “Of course not. I’m just saying worst-case scenario.”
“Uh…” Vicky gestured to Mallory. “Mallory was saying earlier that if these lawyers keep pushing things, it might be a good idea to bring in another lawyer who specializes in cases like this.”
“In serial-killer cases?” There are lawyers who specialize in that?
“In forensic cases,” Mallory explained. “I’d stay on as well. They would be my co-counsel.”
More lawyers. I looked over at Vicky. More bills.
I’d had my own lawyer when I was a child, who was more a child advocate. He’d been assigned to me.
“I’m not giving them my DNA. I’m not doing it. I don’t care.”
Mallory cleared her throat. “I’ll be blunt here since I’m sensing you’re about to shut everything down, which is your right to do and what I would do as well. I need to advise you that these lawyers are ambitious. Vicky informed me that they’ve tried to reach out to you before.”
I looked over at Vicky, not knowing this.
She looked away.
I didn’t like that. Vicky and Howard hadn’t told me.
“They’ve been in the news lately,” Mallory continued, “promising their latest attempt at an appeal will be successful.”
I went back to watching Mallory.
Her mouth went flat. “I think they’re full of shit, but lawyers can sometimes pull a rabbit out of a hat. With the new DNA, they want to rule yours out so they can say it’s another unidentified person at the crime scene. They’ll argue that could’ve been the real killer.”
“What the fuck are they saying is their client asshole’s reason for being there then?”
She lifted her eyes to Brett. “They’ve not made their argument official, but my guess is that they’re going to claim Cameron Fowler happened to be in the area, heard a scream, and came in to help.” Her eyes flickered to me before returning to him. “According to Miss Harm’s statement, she didn’t actually see him murder anyone.”
God. I was back there.
The screams.
“I saw him entering the house, and I hid,” I told her. “They were alive when he came in and dead when he left. There was no one else there.”
Silence fell over the group.
Mallory’s shoulders stiffened. “Yes. They’ll pick that apart.”
I rocked back against Brett.
This was a nightmare. My nightmare.
It was going to work—everything she’d said they were going to do, and he was going to be released.
Then he’d come for me.
This was it. This was how the universe was going to take everyone away from me.
