“Ask her how far away she is so I know when to start breakfast,” Ava asks in the background.
“I just started the drive, but you guys go ahead and eat. I’ll be there soon,” I say in place of goodbye and hang up.
Elio has spent a year begging me to allow him or for one of his guys to help me track down these fuckers, but I’ve refused. I need to do this for myself, by myself, but there is one major flaw. I’m supposed to be dead, meaning that I can’t go walking through town asking questions, can I? I mean, I could. I could walk straight into the college or hell, even call up Lilly and start asking all the questions that would lead me to Ned. But then that would cause questions about what happened and where I’ve been, and I don’t want to answer those. There is also the major plot detail of Lilly lying about me that night.
I hadn’t known Lilly lied before last night, but now that I know, I can’t stop thinking about it. Why would she do that? She seemed nice, and we were on our way to becoming friends. What changed? Or did I misread her the same way I misread that whole night? My mind replays every interaction I had with Lilly leading up to that night until I’m sure my initial perspective about her was right. She’s a good person. This means that something happened that night, and I need to know what it is.
I hit my hazard flashers and pull off onto the shoulder of the road. Reaching behind me, I grab my backpack and pull out my laptop. I fire it up and connect it to my mobile hotspot.I start by searching for Lilly on all the social media platforms young people have these days. I strike out with each one besides Facebook. Her profile is set to private, so I can’t see anything but her profile picture, but that gives me a lead. Her picture is of her with an adorable little girl. I never knew she had a daughter and the little girl clearly belongs to her.
Switching gears, I search Lilly Harris and scroll through all the results until my eyes land on what I’m looking for, a birth announcement. There is no mention of the father in the announcement. I pick up my cell phone right as a police siren filters in through my opened window. I hurriedly click off the birth announcement and bring up Google Maps. Looking up, I watch the officer step out of the police car parked right behind me.
This is why I don’t fucking like driving during the day. “Coricare,” I tell Reaper, and he lays down instantly, but his eyes track the officer as he walks up to my window.
“Is everything alright here, Miss?”
I turn, and the first thing I read is his nameplate, Lemmons. That name causes a dark, unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Yes, of course. I got turned around and thought it was best that I pull over to recheck my directions again.” My voice stays calm despite my wildly beating heart.
“Where are you heading?” Officer Lemmons places his hand against the roof of my truck and leans closer to my window.
“Haywood.” The name of the town I was in last week rolls off my tongue easily. It’s four hours away, and I know for certain that if I follow this road for another ten miles and turn right onto the interstate, it’s a straight shot. “I could have sworn there was a turn-off somewhere around here and worried I missed it.”
His eyes bounce to Reaper in the backseat quickly before returning to me. “Nope, it’s about another ten-minute drive up the road on the right.”
I sigh in fake relief. “Oh, that’s great. Thank you for stopping to check on me.” I shut the laptop and place my phone on top of it before straightening up in the seat. “Have a great day.”
“Not so fast. It’s protocol that I at least run your name. You know, to make sure that you aren’t running from the law.” His brown eyes narrow on my face, and a smirk almost exactly like one I’ve seen before pulls at his lips.
“Of course. No problem,” I say, pulling the man’s wallet I use out of my jeans pocket. I hand over the ID I have. I watch him walk back to his car and slide inside. While I’m uncomfortable right now, it’s not because I’m worried about what will come up when he runs the name. This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with the police. While the name on the ID isn’t mine, it will come back with my picture and a clean record. Vance is good at what he does, and I’ve never had any issues before.
Five minutes later, Officer Lemmons is back beside my door. “Everything is clear. Have a good day, Tammy.” He glances once more toward Reaper before heading back to his car.
I slowly pull out onto the road and make sure to keep my foot off the gas pedal. Officer Lemmons stays parked on the side of the road for another minute before pulling a U-turn and heading back the way he came. I grab my phone and call Vance.
“What’s up, Tara?” From the noise in the background, he is still at home because I can hear a baby crying and cartoons blaring.
“I need a number for Lilly Harris. Normally, I would do this, but I’ve already had one run-in with the local police and don’t want to risk another.”
“Everything okay?” Vance asks, sounding just like an older brother would.
“Yeah, you know, small-town cops. They see someone sitting on the side of the road and they have to stop and run theirnames.” Reaper let out a low growl, letting me know that he didn’t like Officer Lemmons either.
“Glad you’re okay. I’ll get you the number as soon as I get Junior to stop fussing.”
“Thanks and good luck.” I hang up on him, laughing at the walking contradiction he is. Vance can hack any computer and find information that the CIA doesn’t want us to know, but he can’t figure out how to entertain his two children.
I turn on the radio and hit play on my playlist. Letting the sound of Sam Riggs push away the memories of what I did last night as much as possible. But the memories of Gabe have never truly left me, and I don’t think they ever will. Maybe once this is over and everyone who hurt me is dead, I’ll be able to finally think about my future again. I have a new lead, Lilly Harris, and hopefully, with her help, I’ll be closer to ending this.
By the time I pull up and park behind Elio’s blue Mustang, I have a solid plan for Lilly Harris. I grab my stuff, let Reacher out of the car, and walk around to the gate that leads into the backyard. I open it and watch Reaper take off, running through the grass. He deserves some time to just be a dog today, plus I’m safe here.
“I’m home,” I say, pushing open the back door into the mudroom. I hang up my leather jacket and unlace my boots before taking them off. I hear Ava singing along with the radio in the kitchen. “Where’s Elio?”
“He took his bike into town, saying he had some things to work on at the hospital. How was your visit?” Ava asks, turning the music down so we don’t have to scream at each other.
“Insightful, to say the least.” I walk over and pour myself a cup of coffee. The pot is full, and the coffee maker is still making the noise it always does when it has just finished. I quickly kiss Ava’s cheek and sit down on a bar stool at the island.
“Want to talk about it?” Ava pulls a plate piled high with biscuits smothered in gravy, two fried eggs, and bacon out of the microwave. I take a sip of my coffee and moan at the bitter taste.
“Not really,” I say, cutting the egg and shoving a piece into my mouth after she places it in front of me.
