“Plenty of gas,” he said. “Battery seems fine.” He turned on the Jeep’s wipers. They flew over the grimy windshield.
Cadence stared at the car. She was missing something. She knew she was. When they’d first talked to Susannah, the woman had seemed so worried, so heartbroken about what had happened to Lily.
Lily.
“Who is she?” Kyle shook his head as he turned off the Jeep. “Is it even f**king possible she was a victim? One he let go? Why wouldn’t she go to the authorities?”
“She knew he was watching her.” A man that controlling would never let her go, not completely. “She knew he was watching.” She thought of the police station. Their suspects. “Or she knew he was the authorities.”
Jason Marsh.
James Anniston?
Anniston’s voice whispered through her mind. Susannah is good. Just like Lily.
“I want to talk with Lily Adams again.”
Kyle rubbed a hand over his face. “You think I haven’t been checking in with the marshal you sent to protect her? Every day. Lily still doesn’t remember anything.”
She shoved out a frustrated breath. “Not about the abduction, but she might remember plenty about Susannah.” The women had been friends for years. Lily should be able to tell them about Susannah. About Susannah’s past?
Despite the heat, Cadence felt cold as she stood in the parking lot. The heat surrounded her, but the ice came from within.
Susannah Jane had vanished of her own volition, running away? Or had someone made sure that Susannah vanished, because she knew too much?
And…after what she’d seen Fiona do, Cadence realized that there was another option in play. A dark possibility that twisted Cadence’s guts into knots. Could Susannah Jane be helping the killer?
The little girl with the big, blue eyes watched Cadence with worry as she hurried to her mother’s side.
Lily Adams shook her head. “I already told you both.” Her gaze dipped from Cadence to Kyle. “I don’t remember what happened to me.” She bent and pressed a quick kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “Sweetie, why don’t you go play in your room? I’ll be there in a few moments.”
Boxes were stacked in the house. Moving boxes. Cadence glanced over at US Marshal Malcolm Williams. He stood near the door, the bulge of his weapon barely noticeable beneath his jacket.
“When are you moving?” Cadence asked.
Lily exhaled softly. “As soon as I can. I just don’t want to stay here anymore. I can’t.” Her knuckles were white. “I don’t feel safe. Malcolm can’t stay here forever.” A broken laugh escaped her. “I’m afraid to go out by myself. I don’t remember anything about what happened. Nothing at all. But I’m terrified.”
“A fresh start could be very good for you.” Cadence didn’t blame the woman for running. Getting out of a nightmare was hard.
“I’m sorry I can’t help you,” Lily said, voice shaking. “I wish I could. I watched the news. I heard about…” Her voice dropped as she cast a worried glance toward her daughter’s bedroom door. “About the others. I want to help them, their families, but I just can’t.”
Kyle eased into the chair beside Lily. “Can you tell us when you first met Susannah Jane?”
“Susannah?” Lily blinked, then she smiled, a real smile that lifted her lips and chased some of the fear from her eyes. “She was here a few hours ago. Ever since she came to town, she’s always been such a good friend to me.”
Cadence kept her expression neutral. “Susannah came by to see you?”
“Yes, she…” Lily pointed to Malcolm. “She told me I was lucky to have my own guard, but I told her he wouldn’t always be here.” Her voice dropped. “I wish he could be.”
Malcolm’s face tensed. “I told you, Lily, I’m not going anywhere yet.” Malcolm “Mac” Williams had once been an Army Ranger, before he’d traded his military life for marshal service. He might be pulling protective duty right then, but Malcolm’s true talent lay in hunting. He never gave up his hunt.
Lily gave him a weak smile, then she looked back at Cadence and Kyle. “Susannah said she was sorry for what happened to me.”
I’m sure she was.
“Did she say anything else?” Kyle asked her.
Lily rubbed the back of her neck. “She told me that if she could, she’d stop something like this from ever happening again.” Lily glanced once more at her daughter’s bedroom door. “I told her the only way to do that was to stop the SOB who did this to me.”
Dani stared at the gritty image. She’d frozen the video on the woman’s face. Cadence had sure been looking at the video closely enough, and now that she’d finally found pictures of the woman calling herself Susannah Jane Evers, Dani knew why.
Is that you?
Her eyes narrowed as she leaned toward the computer screen.
Had the woman who begged for death been Susannah Jane? It was possible. There were some similarities, but it in the darkness, it was just too hard to tell for certain.
She leaned closer…
A gunshot rang out, the blast deafening.
Dani shot to her feet, her hands automatically going to the holster at her side. She always kept her gun with her, after what had happened to her.
Always keep your weapon close.
She opened the door a crack and inched carefully down the hallway.
“Where is he?” a woman’s voice screamed.
Then she saw the woman. The woman who looked just like the image she’d scanned a few moments before for Susannah Jane.
Susannah stood just a few feet inside the police station. She had a gun in her hand. A gun now shoved beneath her own chin.
Ben advanced toward Susannah. The female officer, Heather, closed in on Susannah’s other side. Heather had her own gun drawn and her face was deathly white.
“Stop!” Susannah screamed. “Stop right there, or I’ll shoot.”
Dani pulled out her phone. Called Cadence. “Get your butt back to the station,” she said when her friend answered. “Your missing girl is here, and she’s about to shoot herself.”
“You don’t want to shoot,” Heather said. The woman lifted her own weapon. Put it down on a nearby desk.
Oh, hell. Don’t do that. Don’t play hero.
Heather was confidently heading toward the other woman. “Susannah, it’s me. We’re friends.”