Her gun wasn’t aimed at Chance or at Dev. She was pointing straight at Finn.
And he’d sure been ready to bet that Finn was guilty too, but now…what if they were looking at the wrong man? What if someone else had just wanted them to think Finn was guilty?
Finn was another longtime part of Sophie’s life. A friend, a confidant. By making him look guilty, that man would be removed from Sophie’s world, perhaps tossed permanently in jail.
And the ADA already said he wouldn’t rest until Ethan was locked up.
Ethan, the other constant in Sophie’s life. “I think we need to find Ethan Barclay,” Dev announced. A gut instinct.
“Hell,” Faith said. “That guy always means trouble.” Her breath expelled on a long sigh. “This case is just getting worse.”
Yes, it was.
***
Gunfire. Sophie had ducked as soon as she heard that thunder, and now she crouched in Lex’s car, her heart racing. She didn’t hear anything outside. She didn’t hear Lex at all.
Not Lex. He can’t be hit. Not Lex.
Her fingers fumbled as she looked for a weapon. She shoved her hand under the passenger seat and she felt the rounded edge of a handle. She pulled that handle, yanking it hard, and Sophie saw that she’d grabbed a screw driver. Yes!
Her car door opened. The vehicle’s interior light flashed on and she looked up, hoping desperately for—“Lex?”
It wasn’t Lex.
ADA Clark Eastbridge stood there. He smiled at her. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
No, she wasn’t. “Where’s Lex?”
Clark offered her his hand. “Someone was waiting in the dark. They shot at him, and he gave chase. But it’s okay. I’ll take care of you until he gets back.”
She stared at his offered hand. She’d tucked the screwdriver up the sleeve of her sweatshirt, instinctively hiding it when the car door opened. She didn’t see a gun in either of Clark’s hands. But maybe he’d hidden his weapon, too. How hard would it have been to tuck a gun in the back of his pants? Or to hide it under his jacket? “Why are you here?”
“Sophie.” Now anger pulsed in his voice. “We need to get out of here. I told Lex I’d watch out for you. Come on.” Then he stopped waiting for her to take his hand. He locked his fingers around her left wrist and pulled her out of the car. She didn’t fight him, not then. What would have been the point? She had to wait for a perfect moment.
He kept his hold on her and headed back toward his vehicle. “I had a few more questions about the shooting Lex witnessed today.” He was speaking quickly and guiding her to his SUV—a vehicle that still appeared to be running. Its bright lights were on. Why the brights? “I was here to talk with him, but the shooter must have come to eliminate him—and maybe you, too. Lex raced after him…”
He’d said that before. He spoke in that easy, confident voice that he used in the courtrooms. So sincere. So charming.
But she was scared and cold and she didn’t see Lex. “Clark…” Her voice didn’t tremble. That was good. “Did you ever get a hit on the traffic camera that was outside of the courthouse? Did you get the video of the vehicle that nearly ran Lex and me down?”
A vehicle that sure had looked a lot like this one.
“No.” His sigh was long. Almost sad. “I’m sorry, Sophie, but it turned out there was some kind of glitch that day. No video was recorded.”
Right.
He opened the SUV passenger door for her. Because she hadn’t fought him, because she’d been so docile—maybe that was why he let her hand go. As soon as he did, though, she seized that moment and raced back toward Lex’s car—toward the driver’s side of his car.
“Sophie, no!” Clark called out. “The shooter—”
Lex was lying facedown on the ground. He didn’t seem to be moving at all. She immediately dropped to her knees beside him. “Lex!” She touched his back and her fingers were instantly soaked in his blood. “Lex, no!”
Footsteps thundered toward her. “You should’ve just gotten in my vehicle.”
Her head whipped back toward him.
Clark towered over her. “But maybe it’s better this way. Now you can see that he’s gone.”
Lex wasn’t gone. Her left hand was on his back, in his blood, but she could feel him breathing. He was still alive. Could Clark not see that small movement in the dark? The bright lights didn’t hit over here. Maybe he didn’t know…
You screwed up. Lex is still alive. And I won’t let you kill him.
“He wasn’t right for you, Sophie. He didn’t believe in you. Never understood you.”
Lex understood her perfectly.
“I’ve waited so long for you.” Clark’s fingers brushed over the back of her head in a caress that sent her stomach rolling with revulsion. “I first saw you years ago. Beautiful Sophie with the haunted eyes. I knew the first time I saw you that you would be mine.”
She would never be.
Sophie kept her head bent. She began pulling the screwdriver from her sleeve.
“You were walking with Ethan Barclay. You’d been crying. I could see the tears on your cheeks, and I wanted to take your pain away.”
She had no idea what he was talking about.
“So I started learning about you. Everything I could. Watching you. I loved to watch you. Did you know that sometimes, I’d even sneak into your house? It was so easy to get inside. That way, I could be close to you.”
She felt Lex’s muscles tense beneath her hand. When he’d been shot, had he fallen against the car? Or hit his head when he collided with the ground? She knew he’d been unconscious moments before, but that growing tenseness told her that he was becoming very aware again. She could feel him, almost as if he were readying for an attack.
Lex can’t attack now. He’s hurt! And Clark still had the gun.
“I watched you as often as I could back then. I even saw you that night on the bridge. You were climbing up there, and I was afraid you’d jump.”
OhmyGod.
“I knew then just how much you needed me. I was there to take your pain away.”
She shook her head.
But he kept talking. Clark said, “Since I knew my way in your house, it was easy enough to get in the night I killed your parents.”
The world stopped spinning. He’d just said the words so casually. So calmly.
“Evil people should be stopped.” He sounded as if he were speaking to a jury. Convincing them of just how just he was. “They should be punished. That’s what I do, Sophie. I’m a prosecutor. I punish the criminals. Even way back then, I knew what I was meant to be. My first year of law school…” His voice actually warmed. “I killed them on a school break. No one ever had any clue.”
The screwdriver was in her hand.
“I got nervous. I’ll admit that.” His hand stilled on her hair. “I left the gun. Stupid mistake. A mistake that could have cost me everything. But you covered for me, didn’t you, Sophie? I rushed back to the scene, determined to get rid of all the evidence I’d left. I mean, hell, it was my first kill. I got nervous. I just didn’t expect all of that blood.”
No, based on the emotion in his voice, he’d gotten excited. Not nervous.
“But I saw you when I went back.”
Because, apparently, he’d made a habit of getting in and out of my home—for how long? Dear God, for how long? Had she ever been safe from him?
“You threw the gun into the river for me. I followed you that night. You went back to that same bridge. You were so beautiful. I knew that you appreciated what I’d done for you. You felt the connection, too.”
I feel that you’re insane.
Her muscles bunched as she prepared to lunge at him and attack. She had to move fast, before Lex launched at the guy.
“You’re such a dumbass, ADA Eastbridge…”
Those low, growling words came from right behind Clark. And that rough voice—she knew that voice. It was Ethan’s voice.
Eth
an was striding forward from the darkness.
“She didn’t hide the gun for you. She did that for me. Sophie thought she was protecting me. Why the hell would she do it for you? She had no fucking clue who you were.”
Clark’s hand fell away from her, and, snarling, he whirled to face Ethan. As he did, Sophie saw him yank a gun out from under his jacket.
“No!” Sophie cried.
“You’re just some obsessed asshole—” Ethan shouted.
Sophie knew Clark was going to shoot him. She lunged to her feet and she drove her screwdriver into Clark’s back as hard as she could. He bellowed and whirled as grabbed for her. She heard his gun explode and a white-hot pain lanced over her arm.
The bastard had shot her.
“Sophie!” That roar was Ethan’s.
Clark yanked her closer against him. He put his gun under her chin.
“You attacked me.” He seemed confused. Why would he be confused? Didn’t he get that he was the bad guy?
She didn’t like bad guys, not anymore.
She ignored the burn in her arm.