Page 72 of Greed
“He forbade me to go to the kidnapping exchange.”
Bev arched a brow at Lilo. “And?”
“I went anyway.”
“So, you’re telling me you got upset because the man asked younotto go and jump into danger when only that morning, he saw your life threatened. And he was shot himself, mind you.”
Lilo dragged her lip through her teeth. “Well, when you say it like that…”
“Is it possible you’re overacting a little?”
She frowned at her friend who’d echoed her earlier thoughts. Bev had never been so harsh with her before. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am, hun, I am. It’s just that I don’t want to see you blow off a potentially good relationship because of a lost cause like Donnie. I don’t want you to think that all men are like that.”
“Griffin ordered me not to go.” Lilo knew how she felt, and she hadn’t liked it.
“For good reason. I tried to order you not to go too, and that was because I love you and I don’t want to see you hurt. And if the Deadly Seven hadn’t turned up, you would have been hurt, right? You’d be in a body bag.” Bev pushed away from Lilo’s desk. “All I’m saying is that he’s not Donnie. I’ve seen enough of him to know that. Maybe you should give him another chance and get to know him better.”
* * *
A few hours later,Lilo was sitting in Fred’s office, going over the proof of the article she’d just written. Amazingly, she’d discovered the best photographs on her spy-phone. Not only had she caught a dramatic shot of the two Greeds fighting, but she’d nabbed a few blurry night shots of members of the Deadly Seven after she’d left—after the real Greed had stolen her from the scene. All the members were in their crime-fighting costumes, except one woman. She wore a generic black hood and sweat pants, but still had a mask over her mouth and nose. You couldn’t tell who she was and Lilo hardly remembered seeing them in the chaos. The only reason Lilo knew she was a woman was because of her curvy body shape.
There was also a picture of Lilo’s father being taken away by the police.
Griffin hadn’t lied when he mentioned Liza being involved. She was the arresting officer which could be a good thing. She might agree to speak to Lilo about it and give an official statement. If Lilo hadn’t been in such a rush to leave after returning that night, she might have put her big girls pants on and worked the scene with the police. She might even have had a chance to see Liza there.
Something Griffin had said sparked in her mind. He said Liza had asked the officer to take her to the station. It was nice to think Griffin’s sister was looking out for Lilo.
“These are great shots, Lilo.” Fred held the printed photos from his face, squinting to see better. “You know I have to officially say that we don’t condone this kind of risky behavior to get a story, but off the books—well done.” He whistled through his teeth at some of the more violent photographs. “I’m amazed you came out of that unscathed.”
She bit her lip. The only reason she did was because of Greed. He’d gotten her out of there. She would be dead if he hadn’t turned up. “I’m very lucky,” she agreed.
“And this shot. Is it really two of them fighting against each other?”
“I have reason to believe that one of them is an imposter. You read my story, right?”
He looked at her over his glasses as if she were stupid.
“Sorry. Of course you did.”
“We can’t put opinions in there, you know that.”
She chewed on his words. He was right. Some of what she wrote was jumping to conclusions. She would have to go back and check over her words. But she wanted to paint the heroes in the best light that she could.
“Do you have any hard evidence that one of them was the imposter?”
“What about the fact that the fake one used a gun, and the Deadly Seven don’t normally use them?”
“But they have in the past.”
She slumped. That was true. A sighting a few months back showed a hostage situation on the freeway. Not much information had leaked out of that disturbance, but she knew the Deadly Seven were involved.
“What about the fact one of them tried to save me, the other one tried to kill me?”
He cocked his head, considering. “It’s all conjecture and one person’s eye witness account, but I’d approve that. Just keep it factual.”
“I just know someone is impersonating one of the Deadly Seven. I just know it.” She turned to Fred. “How do I write a story like that?”
