Set Me Free (7 page)

Unable to look up for fear of showing my tears, I sniffed and gave a short nod.

"But you're gonna have to recall everything that happened that night. We need your memories so that we can get a full picture, okay?"

His gentle voice was soothing. I let it wash over me and tried to still my frazzled heart.

"So, why don't I just ask you a few questions and we'll go from there."

"Okay." My voice was so tiny.

"I'm gonna record it, alright?"

I froze as he pulled out what looked like an iPod and set it up to record. He pressed the red circle on the screen and sat back. "It's June 26th, I'm talking with Lucy Tate about the night her parents were murdered."

"Wait." I sat forward. "Please delete that. I don't want...don't use my name." My hand slid towards the recording device, looking for the off button.

"Lucy." Alex's warm fingers stopped me. "You're the key witness. We have to use your name."

"I'm also the prime suspect and the key target of William Tenner. If this gets into the wrong hands, he'll kill me. It's better that he doesn't hear the name."

"Sweetie, from what Zach told me on the phone this morning, he already knows you're alive."

"I know, I just don't want to be linked to you...or Zach."

Zach moved so he could rest his hand on my shoulder. His fingers kneaded the tight muscles before sliding down my back.

"None of this will surface until the day we bring him down. I know finding out he's FBI somehow makes this more terrifying, but you don't need to be afraid. I'm the only one with access to this recording device. You're safe. And what you give me today can be used as evidence to bring this guy down. We need you, Lucy. We need you to be brave."

My mouth dried up like the salt flats, but for some reason my head bobbed.

"Okay, so let's start with the night of your parents' murders." Alex swallowed, his eyes filling with sympathy. "What time did it happen?"

I squeezed my eyes shut. Other than admitting the truth to Zach and Marlin, this was the first time I'd ever had to talk about that night in detail. I wasn't even sure if I could remember it all, but as I opened that wretched door and finally let the memories seep into my brain, the images returned with a clarity that sucked the air from my lungs.

I pulled in a sharp breath and opened my eyes.

"It's okay," Zach murmured in my ear. He continued to rub slow circles on my back. "You told me you'd just had dinner."

I gave Zach a fleeting smile before turning back to Alex. "I don't know exactly what time it was, but it was dark outside. We'd just finished eating and Mom sent me down to the basement to get ice cream from the freezer." Alex's face blurred as I pictured myself walking back up the stairs, the cold tub pinched between my fingers. "I was about to head into the kitchen when..." I blinked. I'd forgotten this part. "Mom and Dad were talking and he was really worried about something. I could hear it in his voice. I felt bad for eavesdropping." My breath hitched. "But then the doorbell rang." I licked my bottom lip. "I went into the kitchen with the ice cream and my dad gave me one of those reassuring smiles, the ones you just can't buy into. And then he heard the man at the front door and his face just changed," I whispered, reliving that terror-filled look in his eye. "Hide, he said." My voice vanished.

Hide. That was the last word he'd ever said to me.

My chin trembled and I covered my mouth with my hand. Zach squeezed the back of my neck, pulling me towards him and giving me a kiss on the side of my forehead.

"Where'd you hide?" Alex's voice was quiet, but firm, I knew I had to answer him. He wasn't quitting on this interview just because I was struggling.

"I ran back to the basement, but I wanted to see what was going on, so I just hid on the top step and watched through the crack in the door."

"Could you see everything okay?"

"I could see enough to get a clear picture."

"What happened next?"

My brain protested, spiking with pain. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to relive it. My breath hitched and I pressed my ear to my shoulder, trying to wriggle away from it. My knee bobbed erratically and I squirmed in my chair.

"Lucy. Calm down." Alex tapped my arm. "Lucy, just breathe and talk your way through it."

I sucked in a long breath, held it for a minute then slowly expelled it. My eyes crept opened. "Mom started screaming. Dad was yelling at this guy to let her go."

"Who was the man at the door? Had you seen him before?"

"It was that guy in the photo, William Tenner. I'd never seen him before." Pressing my fingers into my eyes, I tried to hold back the tears. "Dad always kept his work stuff really private. He worked in an office so it's not like he was a field agent with a partner or anything. We didn't...I'd never met any of his colleagues." The word colleagues brought bile into my mouth. I was still reeling over the fact that he'd been killed by one of his own.

Alex let me sniffle for a few minutes, but not long. He soon cleared his throat, forcing me to gather my composure.

"We can stop if you need to," Zach said.

"No, we should keep going while it's fresh in her head."

I opened my eyes to see the tail end of Zach's glare.

"It's okay. I can...I'll try." Pressing my lips together, I pinched the bottom of my chin and forced the memories back. "The guy had a gun...it had a long silencer on it. He shot Mom first. No. He didn't. He had her by the throat. It was Dad. He was trying to call the police. He shot Dad in the shoulder and stamped on his hand... and kicked him in the face. There was blood." I sucked in another quick breath. I had to get this out before I completely lost it. "Mom was yelling and the man was asking something. I can't remember his words, but Dad didn't know or shook his head and Mom got shot. In the leg. She screamed. It—" I shivered. "It was really scary. She was in so much pain, you know?" The words were punching out of my mouth in erratic bursts.

"What did the man want? Try to think of his words." Alex's voice was so calm. How could he sound so level-headed when my emotions were pitching so high? I felt like Dorothy on her way to Oz.

"He wanted to know something about Dad. I—" Shaking my head in frustration, I tried to recall the words. "I can't remember."

"Okay, that's fine, just keep going. It might come back to you. After your Mom got shot...what happened?"

"Well, then he shot Dad."

"So, you're Mom was still alive?"

"No. No, Mom was dead."

"So, she died from the bullet wound to her leg?"

"No." I slumped back into my seat. "He shot her in the head."

"And what about your dad?"

I rubbed the side of my face, wiping the salty tears into my skin. They were streaming in torrents from my eyes and dripping off the bottom of my chin.

"Lucy, did he kill your father after that? Did he shoot your father?" It was a struggle for Alex to ask. He almost looked guilty as he uttered the questions.

A quiver jerked down my spine as I remembered what came next. "I don't want to do this anymore." I fumbled out of my seat, my hands hitting the floor. I sprung up and dashed from the room, making a beeline for Zach's bed. I wanted to bury myself beneath the covers and never come out, because what came next terrorized me.

I know you have a daughter too, Jack. She's here, isn't she.

William Tenner's voice rang out through my head. He sounded almost gleeful as he stood over my dad's limp body and called out,
Lu-cy. Come out, come out wherever you are.

I squeezed my eyes shut against his sing song voice...the one that meant death if he ever got his hands on me.

Chapter 8

ZACH

"You can't keep pushing her like that. She's fragile." Zach slapped the table and stood, hating the image of his bereft girlfriend stumbling out of the room.

"She's stronger than you think. Once she gets these memories out, she can move forward and we can end this."

Zach shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "It's killing her. Watching her go through this is killing me!"

He jerked out of his chair. Placing his hands on his hips, Zach paced to the island in the kitchen and back to the table again.

"Look I know it's really hard, okay, but she's doing great. We need the details, every single speck of truth she can give us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know it'll make her testimony that much more powerful." Zach flicked his hand in the air.

"That's not just it, little bro."

"What? What do you mean?" Zach paused on the kitchen floor, the tiles suddenly feeling like quick sand.

Alex grimaced. "You know I hate to admit this, but..." He scratched his stubbly chin. "She's the prime suspect in this case. We can't ignore the speculation."

"But she's also the key witness." Zach ground out.

"Yeah." Alex's nod was slow and unconvincing. "But I don't think her testimony will be enough. As far as the public is concerned, Lucy Tate murdered her parents."

Zach's eyes flashed with anger. Alex jerked in his chair and raised his hands. "Hey. It's obvious to me she didn't do it. But we have to somehow prove that. Then we can clear her name and dump Tenner right in it. We need details in order to do that, Zach."

The hard edge dropped from Zach's expression. Damn it. He was right. Lucy's testimony wasn't going to be enough on its own. "So how do we prove these people wrong? Where's all the evidence?"

"Probably buried under a shit-pile of lies." Alex threw his hands in the air. Zach knew how vehement his uncle could get over these things. He was one of the strongest advocates for justice Zach had ever met. That's why he became a reporter. He knew the power of the press and his zeal for the truth made him a pit bull. Zach had always found it so inspiring. He reminded himself that he wanted to follow in his uncle's footsteps...at least he thought he did. His uncle could be pretty relentless when he wanted to be. He couldn't help worrying that it might end up scaring Lucy away.

Alex's stormy expression calmed suddenly as he looked up the stairwell. "What do you think finally stumped her?"

Zach shrugged.

"There was something. She had a memory that froze her up."

"Maybe it was watching her dad die."

"Yeah, although she relived her mom's. Not easily, but she still did it. No, there must be something more."

Clearing his throat, Zach stepped back to the table, unable to deny his spark of intrigue. "She said to me last night that she'd seen him again and that he'd been looking for her. Do you think he spotted her that night?"

"Only she can tell us that." Alex's gaze drifted back to the stairwell.

Zach closed his eyes, hating the idea of pushing her more, but knowing his uncle was right. They needed Lucy to finish her story so they could uncover the truth.

With a reluctant sigh, he headed for the stairs, but stopped short when he saw his puffy-eyed girlfriend descending.

"He knew about me." She swallowed. "Wil—Tenner—was calling my name. He was looking for me. Dad fought him and...lost." She breathed out a shaky sigh and wiped away the last of her tears, looking slightly stronger as she came down the last few steps. "I don't know why he wanted me....or I can't remember, but William Tenner has not stopped looking for me. Maybe he thinks I have something or maybe he wants to punish me for something my dad did. I wish I could remember what it was, but my mind has just been living off terror. I can picture the scene so clearly, but some of the words are fuzzy. Right now, the only thing that is crystal clear in my head is Tenner calling my name and telling me to come out from wherever I was hiding."

"Hmmm." Alex's head tipped to the side. "So you still think he's after you? Even after all this time?"

Lucy's gaze was hard. "I saw him less than a year ago and he was pretty pissed and determined then."

"So something's still driving him."

Lucy frowned as she made her way back into the kitchen.