“I married the woman and love pushing her buttons. It’s become a hobby for me. I’m interested to hear what you have to say, too.”
Evie almost broke down into tears seeing Lexi sitting there looking so lost. She went over and knelt down in front of her taking her hands in hers. “I’m so sorry. Please let me explain.”
“You’ve got five minutes.” Lexi wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Anthony rented Grandma’s cottage. We didn’t know that until he showed up one day. After a short time of him proving he wasn’t Jeremy and explaining why he’s here, I decided to help him. Don’t you understand, Lexi? He wants Jeremy found even more than you do! You don’t know what that bastard has taken from him. We just found out he killed Anthony’s parents. His list of victims keeps growing with every new piece of the puzzle we find. Please understand, you know I can help.”
Lexi sat there for a few moments lost in thought. “It was just a shock to see him standing there. Right now, I can’t separate the two in my mind. Why did he come here?”
“He wants to talk to you.” Hearing Lexi’s gasp, Evie continued on. “He’s hoping that you will remember something, anything that might help us. We’ve already talked to people in the area where he stayed and the ex-husband of the lady that was murdered here. It gave us another name, Jay Ellison. We found property in New York and went there.”
“Did you find anything else?”
“He knows Anthony is searching for him. He’s left letters for him at both the New York home and Anthony’s home in London. He’s one sick bastard and he’s got to be caught. You could help with that.”
Lexi got up and started pacing the room. “How can I help him? It makes me sick just to look at him.”
“Lexi, they are two different people,” Noah said quietly from the other side of the room.
Lexi whirled on him. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think it makes me sick that I put him away for years for doing nothing? Nothing Noah, absolutely nothing!” She sat down hard. “I still hate myself for that.”
Evie got up and walked towards her. “I know, honey, but this is your chance to help out. There might be some little thing that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else but Anthony. Some little thing that might help us catch him before he kills again. Because he will, it’s just a matter of time.”
Noah came over and sat down next to Lexi putting his arm around her. “She’s right, you know. As much as you hate all of this, not helping when you have the chance will eat at you. You can set the terms. We can meet here, anything to make you as comfortable as can be.”
Leaning her head on Noah’s shoulder Lexi said, “I don’t know when I’ll be ready.”
“It’s got to be sooner, rather than later. Jeremy has to know with Anthony knowing about his parents, he’s going to be coming harder and faster to find him and make him pay.”
The two friends stared at each other. Lexi took a deep breath. “Tomorrow. Both of you come here tomorrow. We’ll go over everything.”
Evie hugged her. “Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you, too, now go. I think I need to lie down.”
Evie and Noah watched her walk out of the room. “Please make sure she gets some rest tonight.”
“I’ll do my best. But you know Lexi…”
“Yes, I do. Oh, and make sure you have everything you’ve got on Jeremy handy. He stole all of our paperwork in London. We’ve got a lot to go over.”
“Sure, I’ll see if I can get any other information on Jay Ellison while I’m at it.”
“Thanks, and Noah, keep her safe, that sicko is still out there.”
“That’s my mission. See you tomorrow.”
The sun was setting as Evie drove home. Distracted, she didn’t notice the headlights following her.
– CHAPTER TWELVE –
Evie walked slowly up to the cottage door. Before she could knock, the door flung open and she was pulled into a hug. Laying her head on his chest, she breathed in the scent she could recognize anywhere.
“Come in, I was worried about you. I hated the fact that I couldn’t go with you. It’s been the longest two hours of my life.”
“I was just at Lexi and Noah’s. There was security all over the place.”
“I know, but I was worried about the drive to and from there. Anything could have happened. Now that you are here I thought I’d cook you dinner.”
“You can cook?”
He messed up her hair. “Yes, I can cook. Nothing fancy, my mom made sure I knew how to cook. She said it would keep me from starving or dying early from eating fast food all the time.”
“Well, whip me something up, Chef Maldono.”
Grinning over his shoulder at her he said, “You kinky thing you.”
“Ha-ha.” She sat down on the couch and watched him work in the kitchen while she filled him in at how things went with Lexi and Noah. There was something sexy about a man comfortable in the kitchen.