Page 37 of Lilly

"It's not considered a secret if it's told within a committee. We don't have to share that information with the group until something's brought up for a vote. Phillip can work on getting her son approved for consideration and then when the time is right, he'll present him to the rest of us. By then, he'll have the committee's support and the others members will likely go along with it."

"What I don't understand is why they're doing this so early. The boy is only twelve." I pause. "This is all just a theory. I don't trust that we're correct. When it comes to Katherine and Phillip, anything is possible."

"Then get yourself on the committee. Find out for sure."

"As I said earlier, Alister will do everything in his power to make sure I'm not on that committee."

William smiles. "Then crash it. Crash their meeting."

I smile back. "That's a good idea. I just might do that." I imagine myself walking into the meeting uninvited, then stop, realizing it's not a good idea. "Actually I shouldn't do that. I'm trying not to draw attention to myself and doing that would cause quite a stir."

"Then show up there on my behalf. Tell them I called you and asked you to sit in on the meeting. They're not allowed to question me, so they'll have to go along with it. I'll even provide you with an official note."

"When's the next meeting?"

"Sometime in July. They'll be doing final interviews for the candidates before introducing them to the rest of the members. I believe two men are being considered. Their paperwork was submitted to the higher level members last January. I'm not assigned to that committee so I know nothing about these men but I was told they're both a good fit."

The higher level members are each assigned a committee to oversee. William is on the Rules and Regulations committee, which he purposely chose to make sure the organization doesn't go back to the strict rules and harsh punishments that existed when I was younger.

"Going to this meeting won't tell me what Phillip is up to."

"It might. Phillip may keep quiet, but you never know what someone else on the committee might let slip."

"Very true. All right. I'll do it."

"Anything else we need to discuss? Because if not, we should probably have lunch. It's almost noon and Meredith gets very upset if I don't eat at regular intervals."

"Well, you could stand to gain a few pounds."

He chuckles, but it's true. He's very thin.

His phone rings and he takes it from his pocket and answers. "Yes." He nods, his expression growing grim. "I'm sorry to hear that...Yes, thank you for calling."

"What is it?" I ask as he sets his phone down.

"There's been a car accident." His eyes lock with mine. "Ezra and his wife were killed."

Shit. They knew something they shouldn't and were killed because of it. Because Ezra told someone.

Because he told me.

I'm the reason they're dead. Ezra made those couple remarks and someone overheard. Now Ezra and his wife are dead.

If this was really about Katherine's son, why would anyone care if I knew? I wouldn't try to stop it. I don't even know her son. I don't really care if he's a member someday.

Which means whatever Ezra was trying to tell me wasn't about that. It was about something else. But what?

Chapter Nine

Lilly

"Let's go out," I say, pulling on Reed as he lies on my bed. We just had sex but it was really quick because I didn't want to risk my parents coming home and catching us. They went out to get stuff for the Fourth of July party we're having tomorrow.

The summer is half over, which I'm happy about because it means that soon I can go back to school and finally have privacy and be able to see Reed whenever I want.

The past few weeks, my dad hasn't let me drive down to L.A. by myself, saying it's too dangerous, even though I used to drive down there all the time. So now I can only go see Reed if my parents drive me there. It's so ridiculous. I feel like like I'm back in high school.

This morning, Reed drove up to see me. He's staying the weekend, but in the guest room. There's no way my dad would let him stay in my room, even though I know for a fact that my dad let Jade stay in Garret's room when they were dating.

---