testified against Elise and that girl had played the judge and the psychologist who testified. The shrink insisted that Elise had been abused and forced to commit crimes. Lucy didn’t know if Elise had been abused, but when she met her, that girl was running circles around everyone else. Her relationship with her psycho brother wasn’t abusive, they played off each other. Elise was just as evil as Tobias, and as smart as her sister, and that made her doubly dangerous.
The only thing they had going for them was that she was young and impulsive. Which was both good and bad.
The people they cared about were in her crosshairs.
Like Nate.
“Planting the drugs is something she would do,” Lucy said after a moment. “She wouldn’t care about the price; it would tickle her to do something that bold.”
“We have to go,” Felicity said. “I’m sorry, Lucy, but they want to interview Sean, and I shouldn’t have let him call you.”
“Wait—just wait one second.”
She ran upstairs with her phone and went into Jesse’s room.
He jumped up. It was clear he’d been crying, but he pulled himself together.
“Your dad’s on the phone.”
His face brightened.
“He doesn’t have long, one minute.” She waited until Jesse wiped his face and then handed him her phone.
“Dad?”
“Jess? Hey, I’m okay. I promise.”
“This sucks. This really sucks.”
“I know, buddy. But I have the best lawyer in Texas with me. I need you to be strong and do exactly what Lucy and Nate say, okay?”
“I will, but are you going to be okay?”
“Yes. It’ll look really bad if anything happens to me.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m sorry. Yeah, I’m okay. I really am. I don’t like this, I’ll be honest, but I’m okay. I didn’t kill her.”
“I know.”
“The truth will come out. But you have to be diligent at all times because someone is framing me.”
“I promise, Dad. I’ll be careful.”
“I know you will. I love you, Jess.”
“Love you, Dad.” His voice cracked and he handed the phone to Lucy.
“I mean it, Sean—stay alive. We need you.”
“Right back at you, princess.”
The call ended.
“Thank you,” Jesse said.
She hugged him, then she left and went to her room. She wanted to scream, but didn’t. She swallowed it back, closed her eyes … and felt nothing.
No, that wasn’t true. She felt everything too deeply. Rage. Love. Fear.
She couldn’t afford to cry.
So she buried everything. Every emotion that threatened to take control.
The only way she could survive this—to prove Sean’s innocence, to find Brad Donnelly, to remove the cloud over Nate—was to think like the people responsible. Why? Why was this happening? Revenge? Something more sinister? Maybe this was all to distract them from a darker plan.
If she was going to figure this out, she couldn’t allow her own emotions to interfere. No emotions, no distractions, just a game plan.
The first thing she needed to do was meet with Elise Hunt’s warden.
She went back to Jesse’s room. “I need to follow up on a lead. I don’t know when Nate will be here, but do not let anyone in, understand? Nate has the codes to the house. If anyone other than Nate comes, call me, then call 911. If the person is threatening in any way, call 911 and get to the panic room.” After the house had been invaded last year Sean had a panic room installed. It was behind a false wall and could be accessed from downstairs or upstairs. Even the police hadn’t found it. It wasn’t large—downstairs was the size of a small closet with a ladder that went up to a ten-by-seven-inch space that stored weapons, a satellite phone, and rations for a week. Just in case.
Yes, Sean had gotten a bit paranoid, but if they needed it, they wouldn’t think about that. They would know he had the foresight to protect his family.
Jesse hugged her. “Be careful. I don’t want to lose another mom.”
Jesse had never called her mom. He’d only lost his mother last year, and she didn’t expect him to embrace her as a replacement. They had a good relationship, one she respected and cultivated. But for the first time, she thought of Jesse as her son. Not Sean’s son, or her stepson, but her son.
She had to protect him with everything she had.
She didn’t know if she was doing the right thing, but the only way she could truly protect Jesse was to find out who had framed Sean.
“I love you, Jesse. We’ll get through this.”
She went downstairs. Garrett was working at the dining-room table.
She said, “I’m