Page 69 of 2nd Strike
“Especially if the mother doesn't want anyone to find out. The money helps to hush up the kidnapper––although technically it's not kidnapping if you give the baby away."
“Still a crime, under the circumstances.” In the kitchen, he loads the dishwasher, and puts the leftover noodles and sauce into a bowl to take to Meg. "I can't see why Lily would want someone to take her child. Publicity stunt? Did she want them to return him later? Not too smart since the FBI would’ve been all over tracking down the person, right?"
"Right." I think back to the day I returned a seven-year-old boy to her and Carl. The look on her face I assumed was happy shock might’ve just been shock. "I wonder why Amelia stayed in D.C. afterwards. Did Lily know?"
“Maybe that was the deal," JJ says, wrapping garlic bread slices in foil to take with the pasta. "Maybe she wanted Ethan around so she could keep checking on him, and she never realized the boy she thought was Ethan wasn't hers.”
This is sounding even more bizarre. "I've seen narcissists who would do almost anything to keep everyone's attention on them, feeling they deserved love more than anyone else in their life. At this point, there's not much that could astonish me about this case."
“I’ll run this to Meg. Why don't you open a fresh bottle for us?"
In his eyes, I see the promise of tomorrow. A thousand of them. “I think I'll change into something more comfortable while you're gone. Don’t be long.”
He's slightly surprised by the invitation, but he's smart. He knows better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. He leans over and kisses me. “Be right back.”
With everyone's help, I’ve solved the most crucial aspects of the case––discovering both boys’ real identities. I hope I'm wrong about Lily, that I'm not about to rip her away from Jon just when he's found her.
I finish my wine before I go to the bathroom to change and hear a knock at the back. Thinking JJ has locked himself out, I hustle over to glance out the bedroom window. I can't see the person’s face from this angle, but it's not tall enough to be JJ.
I catch sight of jeans and a sports jacket, and I think it must be one of the boys. Meg probably wants some parmesan for her spaghetti.
Thank goodness I'm still in my street clothes, I think, as I open the door, smiling. It quickly fades. “What do you want?"
Twilight has fallen, a coolness in the air. Lily’s tucked her hair under a ball cap. Her face is in shadow as she looks at me solemnly from under the brim. "I came to apologize. Carl told me everything. I'm on my way to see Jon."
That’s an unexpected turnabout. “No camera crew to record it?” I can't help the snark. She probably came to the back door in order to avoid the cameras. "Apology accepted. Now go away. I have nothing to say to you."
"I'm dropping the lawsuit. I wanted to tell you in person."
A tinge of relief washes through me. "Glad to hear it. Go see your son. Goodnight."
I start to close the door, but she puts out a hand and stops it. “I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, but I'm serious. I'm sorry. You don't understand what it's like when somebody screws up your life, especially when it comes to your child—the person you gave birth to. He was my everything."
She’s serious, dark eyes pleading for my forgiveness.
"I hope everything works out for all of you. They’re both good kids, and I hope you'll still be there for the one you’ve raised the past eight years. He may need you more than ever the next few weeks, as he gets to know his real father and transitions to a new family.”
I try once more to close the door, but she won't let go, continuing to strong-arm it. “My life wasn't supposed to go like this, you know?"
I wish I could interrogate her about Amelia, but I have no proof and this is not the time nor the place to get into it with her. That's Taylor's job.
Yet, if Lily is the type of woman I believe her to be, and she's about to be exposed for having a hand in her son's kidnapping, there's no telling what she might do. Those with clinical narcissistic personality disorder have several common traits including lack of remorse, the ability to be cleverly deceptive, and sometimes display a Jekyll and Hyde personality.
Above everything else, they tend to believe they're entitled. Whatever they want should be theirs, regardless if it hurts anyone else.
“How should it have gone, Lily?"
A normal person would mention the twists and turns of the kidnapping. What Lily says chills me to the bone. “No one was supposed to know, but you figured it out, didn't you?”
Warning bells peal in my head. “You need to leave."
I bring my elbow down on her arm, breaking her hold. She throws her body against the door, taking me off guard. I stumble and kick out, catching her in the shin.
She cries out and I start to slam the door into her body, but the next thing I know, I'm staring at the end of a gun barrel.
The deadly click of the cocking mechanism sounds too loud in my ears. "You've ruined everything, you goddamn bitch."
I step back, raising both hands in a supplicating gesture. My gun is in the bedroom, too far away, but if I get her inside, I can distract her. There are plenty of things I can use as a weapon.
