Set Me Free (5 page)

Zach wondered who put the theory forward that Lucy was the killer. Was it just a shot in the dark because she'd disappeared and no one else had surfaced? The evidence for the crime was minimal. Man, he wished he could get his hands on the actual reports from five years ago. There was bound to be more in there than what the newspapers could give him.

With a frustrated sigh, he slapped the folder shut. He couldn't do anything until Lucy gave him the go ahead and there was a chance she wasn't going to do that. Elliot was right though, they couldn't just sit on their asses all summer. What would happen when he left for Arizona in August? What would happen when his parents returned from Europe? He'd have to explain why Lucy was living in their house with him.

Tucking the folder back into place at the top of his closest, he rubbed his temples. He'd give Lucy a few days to rest and recover, but by the end of the week, he had to get her talking. She was the only person who could really blow this case wide open.

Chapter 5

LUCY

Blood. It was everywhere. Soaking into my hands, staining my shirt. I got up to run, but pain shot through my leg. Looking down I noticed a large shard of glass protruding from my calf muscle. The window. Shorty.

My body jerked. He was laying in my arms, making me promise something, but I couldn't hear what. I gazed into his lifeless eyes, feeling hopeless. But then they morphed to a pair of pale green orbs that glared up at me, promising me a painful death. I let go of the body. It thumped to the floor and rolled over to face me. Shorty's dark skin was no longer there, eyes that didn't belong to him disappeared and I was now standing over my dead father. "No!" I screamed as his face turned to liquid and reappeared as my mother, bereft of life, her limp limbs twisting at an awkward angle, blood pouring from the gunshot wound in her leg.

"No!" I jerked awake, the darkness a sudden comfort. It always was. It meant the dream was over and that I was still hidden, safe from those pale, green eyes.

I grabbed two handfuls of hair and rested my elbows on my knees. I hadn't slept a full night since I was thirteen-years-old. Jerked awake by nightmares constantly, I wondered how much longer I could bear it. Forcing my mind to the one task that seemed to settle my nerves, I slowly worked my way through the day.

It had started with a truck driver.

My breathing slowly stilled as I relived the safe details. The feel of the truck rumbling beneath me, the smell of the driver's pine freshener dangling from the review mirror. The weight of the bag on my shoulder as I approached Zach's door.

"Zach," I whispered, my lips forming a languid smile. He'd taken me in without any hesitation, wrapped me in his arms, helped make me clean. He'd clothed me, fed me. I grinned then blinked at sudden tears as I noticed the sheets over me. I must have slept the day away. I had no idea what time it was now, but...

"He tucked me in." I hitched in a breath and squeezed my eyes tight. No one had shown me that kind of care since Marlin...and even Marlin didn't have Zach's tenderness. I didn't deserve him, but I couldn't seem to leave him either.

I was a selfish, selfish girl.

Flicking back the covers, I stood from the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. I gazed down the dark hallway to Zach's door. I could just make out that it was open a crack. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt like early morning. I usually woke around four, my internal clock and security system always waking me. In spite of it being summer, I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself as I turned back to the spare bedroom. Stopping at the door, I looked back down the hallway. The idea of slipping into the foreign bed alone filled me with a sense of dread. Nibbling on my bottom lip, I took a tentative step back towards the bathroom.

Several tentative steps later, I was at Zach's door. Easing it open, I crept into the room and approached the bed. I didn't say a word, just lifted the covers and slid in, silently hoping he wouldn't mind.

He was facing away from me, so I sidled up behind him and carefully placed my arm around his waist. He jerked just a little, then went still. I couldn't move as I waited for his reaction. Was he awake? Would he send me back to my room?

It felt like we were both holding our breath. The air whooshed from my lungs when he trailed his fingers down my arm then pressed my hand to his chest. I kissed the spot between his shoulder blades, the fabric of his shirt feeling rough on my tatty lips.

Nestling my body against his, I felt his heart beat beneath the palm of my hand and smiled. This was right. I never wanted this to end. And if that was what I wanted, then I needed to figure out a way to set things straight...just like Elliot said.

No one had to tell me that the solution had to start with the truth.

Being the coward that I was, I waited until Zach's breathing was once again even before opening my mouth with a whisper. "I have to tell you the truth about why I ran away from you." I licked my bottom lip. "I never wanted to leave you. Even though I was mad, I wanted to stay but..." I sighed, feeling awkward.

Maybe it was best to start from the beginning.

"When Mom and Dad first died, I was on the run, on my own, this pathetic little kid scared out of her brain. I met this guy, Marlin, and he kind of took me under his wing, taught me how to survive. He was like my Fagan, you know from that stage show, Oliver?" I paused, knowing he'd know it. He was friends with AJ and Jaeda, those guys knew every musical on the planet.

"Anyway, he taught me how to pick pockets. We learned a few simple cons together and pulled them off okay. I hated it, but it felt so good not to starve or be alone that I just went with it, you know?

"About a year later we met Shorty. He saw us pulling a con and liked our work so he recruited us...taught us how to play the bigger game. I had a bed again, a hot shower every day and food... as much as I wanted. It was the closest to normal that I'd felt since...since I was thirteen. I figured maybe I could outrun my past somehow, like with these guys I was hidden." My words caught as I remembered the night with crystal clarity.

"But then I saw him. I tried to pull a con on the guy who killed my parents. I didn't realize it at first, but his eyes. He has these really pale, green eyes and they just did me in." My voice began to shake. "He was still out there and I'd spoken to him. I had to tell the guys after that. I still wouldn't give them my name though." I swallowed, wondering how much detail I should include.

"It turns out he was still looking for me. If I'd known that I probably wouldn't have gone to San Francisco with the guys, but Shorty had a plan. That's when the whole high school con came into it. You know about that already." I squeezed him, kissing his shoulder lightly. "You found out about the crazy guy in the mall, right?"

He didn't respond and it was a comfort to know he was asleep. This was a good practice run for later.

"Yeah, well the guy that attacked Miles...that was Marlin. He tried to save me in San Francisco. He gave up his life for me, but it didn't help." I sniffed, licking the tears dribbling past the edge of my mouth. "And the worst part was, he got to Shorty too, like within days of taking Marlin. I think he tortured Marlin for information, but he told me he found Shorty because
my moronic friend started asking the wrong questions
.

"He's a powerful man, Zach. He called himself the carnivore. I don't find him, he finds me. That's what he said." My voice hitched. It was getting harder and harder to keep going, but I had to say this aloud. I'd never told anyone before and it was cleansing in some ways. "Shorty died in my arms, his blood was all over my hands. Literally and metaphorically, I guess. I may not have stabbed him, but he wouldn't have died if it wasn't for me."

Zach spun around. I thought my heart was going to explode, mostly from the sudden movement, but also from the chilling thought that this was no practice run. He'd just heard every word. I didn't have time to live out my shock. He pulled me into his arms before I could utter a sound, his chin resting against my cheek as he whispered, "It wasn't your fault. You can't be held responsible for that."

My fingers dug into Zach's back as he held me close.

"Shorty got killed for asking questions. When you said your uncle was looking into this, I just freaked out. What if he gets to you somehow?" I squeezed him to me, trying to banish the images of Zach's bloody body in my hands. "What if he hurts someone you're close to? What if he gets to your friends?"

"It's gonna be okay. We're going to beat this guy."

My insides went still. I smiled as Shorty's words reached me from the past.
Don't let him win. Live for me, love.

"Running has always kept me safe, Zach." I swallowed, pressing my tear stained cheek against his. "But the past few weeks I just haven't been able to get your words out of my head. I've always been too afraid to ever consider justice. Running was the only defense I had, but it took me meeting you to realize what a coward I've been." I pulled back so I could look into his eyes. I could barely see them in the dark, but I felt his soft breath on my skin. "My parents were murdered for doing nothing wrong and I've let their killer roam free and then murder two more people who meant the world to me." Tears bubbled over my lashes as I sucked in a shaky breath. "I've let fear own me, Zach. It's made me forget about justice. It's made me fail my family."

"You haven't failed anyone." He pulled back, brushing my cheek with his fingertips."

"By doing nothing, I've let him win and kill two more people. I can't let him kill you too."

My tears turned into sobs, wrenching through my body and making me shake. Zach rolled onto his back and pulled my head against his shoulder, shushing me softly as I released the pent up emotion.

Saying I was a failure may have sounded harsh and I understood why Zach didn't agree with me, but the idea had been sleeping within me for years. Nothing could have stopped my parents' death, I know that, but if I'd fought a little harder for justice, Marlin and Shorty might have still been alive. Running had only served myself.

It was time to stop running. It was time to fight back.

Chapter 6

ZACH

Lucy's sobs tore at Zach's heart, but he refused to let her go. She obviously needed to let it all out and he understood why. Lying still and listening to her story of Marlin and Shorty had made his skin prickle with sadness. His heart had wrenched at the image of her holding a blood-soaked man as he died in her arms. It had taken everything in his power not to roll over and stop her, just so she didn't have to live through it again.

It wasn't until she started blaming herself for everything that he couldn't take it anymore. She had not killed those men. That asshole police officer had. Anger burned through his veins as he thought about how terrifying it must have been for Lucy to meet him face to face. She had suffered way too much trauma and he wasn't sure he wanted to put her through anymore, but she'd never, ever, be able to move on until they ended this. The fact she had told him the truth, and even admitted what she thought was her failure was actually a good sign.