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.
"He must have killed your parents for a reason. He took a huge risk doing it. Maybe he wanted something from your dad. They worked together, right? Maybe your dad did something to him at work and it was revenge."
Lucy swallowed, looking ready to throw up. "My dad was a good man, he would never hurt anybody."