Page 66 of Falling for a Killer

I get the sense none of them have ever had a chance to feel that level of support, and I can’t help but feel sorry for them. I’d have been no different if it wasn’t for her. “You guys want some snacks? We have plenty.”

I nod toward the loot we splayed out and sit on the couch again as a few of them make their way over to start a conversation, and once again I find myself thanking Joey. She’s why I haven’t lost my mind, my way, my heart, and now her support has me gaining friends here too. She’s made my life better than anyone or anything before her, and if I ever go free again, I make a vow to do the same for her.

We’re walking through hell right now, we just have to remember to keep on going. We’ll make it to the other side eventually.

Thirty-Three:

The Blast

“Are we ready?” Violet asks, looking over our mom’s shoulder to meet my eyes. “Everyone?”

My heart is in my throat and my fingertips are shaking, but I nod as I look around the room. My parents are smiling softly, and Erin and Sarah — the two interns we borrowed from their company — look nervous, but ready. I fix my eyes on the clock. “It’s time. Five, four, three...”

On one, we each hit send. In the seconds that follow, I feel myself relax. We just told the world the truth. In a series of emails, interviews, and social media posts, we told the world who Senator Jack Lawson really was. It took days for us to get everything together, to coordinate with newspapers and reporters who were willing to hold our interviews until right now, draft the posts, and make sure every word will get past the censorship bots trying to stifle the truth.

Jack Lawson was evil. If the media wants to paint Killian as a vigilante, that’s fine. Instead of fighting it, we decided to lean into it. To show everyone who will listen exactly the kind of man Killian supposedly went after, while simultaneously trying to piece together the history and personality of a man who would never do such a thing.

He did it, of course he did. But thanks to my dad’s mathematical skills, my mom’s background in law, and the sheer willpower put forth by the rest of us, we’ve unraveled the evidence. The timeline doesn’t make sense. They never found the gun to match to the ballistics after searching the cabin, they have no paper trail putting Killian anywhere near the scene, and the pictures they released to begin with are too grainy to makea positive ID. Adding in the coke bottle that didn’t have his fingerprints and the two dozen people we’ve found who also loop their K’s, it’s all circumstantial. And now that we’ve just made the crimes of Jack Lawson public knowledge, we’ve introduced a flurry of new suspects.

Motive won’t get them across the finish line anymore.

Still shaking, I stand up from my computer and make my way to the kitchen to get a drink. It’s only 1:00pm, but I think this calls for a little bourbon. Violet meets me there.

“Are you okay?” she asks, grabbing a glass for herself. “It won’t be long now.”

“I know. I just feel like shit that we waited so long. Donna told me to do this ages ago.”

The bourbon burns my throat, but Vi pours me another glass anyway. “It wasn’t safe. This isn’t just about saving Killian, Joey. If Ryan figured out where you were while you were still alone, he could’ve killed you. But you’re safe now, okay? You won’t be alone again. Greg and the kids will be here in a couple of days and mom and dad aren’t going anywhere either, so he’ll have to get through all of us if he wants to get to you.”

“He can try,” my dad pipes up from the other room. “I owe him one. Bastard broke into my house.”

“What?” I snap, forgetting my drink altogether as I rush toward him. “What do you mean he broke into your house?”

“Just as I said. He used the key in the planter on the porch to let himself in, the cameras caught him. Don’t know what he was looking for since nothing was missing, but I’d still like to put a couple of holes in him just for being such a prick.”

He was looking for me, I’d bet my life on it. Knowing I wasn’t staying at home anymore, of course he’d think I went to my parents’. It never occurred to me to worry about it because they were overseas at the time. “Jesus. Did you call the police?”

“By the time we saw the footage, he was long gone. He planned it for the hours that we’d be asleep in Japan, but we filed a report for the trail.”

My mother scoffs. “We would have panicked if we hadn’t already heard from you and Vi, and with all of this we didn’t want you to worry more about a man from your past. By now he knows you’ve moved on.”

Which is exactly what I was afraid of, but they’re right. Ryan isn’t my concern right now. Killian is. “I’m sorry,” I say softly. “I had no idea what kind of animal he really was. I’m sorry I brought him into your life.”

“Oh, honey.” My mother closes the distance to give me a hug. “Don’t apologize. For what it’s worth, I already like your prison boyfriend more,” she jokes. “I feel it when I look into his eyes. Mothers know these things.”

“Our Joey sure knows how to pick them,” dad says teasingly, moving over to ruffle my hair. “Don’t stress anymore, Buttercup. We’ll be here with you until he’s a free man. Then I’d like to look him in the eyes and thank him for bringing our daughter back to life.”

Vi weasels her way into our weird little huddle, her arms wrapping around us to give us a squeeze. “I want in on this. It’s been like twelve years since our family had a good group hug. We can thank Killian for this too.”

Is that what he did? Bring me back to life?

I think of how scared I was when I left my home and went to the cabin, how convinced I was I’d never love again. I was isolated and sad, with nothing to focus on and no direction.

He’s changed... all of that.

“Thank you guys for believing us,” I whisper, squeezing them tighter. “I know it was a big ask, especially since you know the truth. You didn’t have to do any of this but I’ll never stop being grateful.”

My dad chuckles as he becomes the first to step back. “You know how we feel about the government. Fuck ‘em. If you ask me, your boyfriend did this country a service. He should be rewarded, not thrown in jail.”

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