Love Me Dead (Lilah Love 3)

“Do they have this equipment in Paris?”

“Yes, it’s a state of the art facility, but the bodies are here.”

“I’m on this new task force. I’ll see if I can keep you involved, but you have to go to Paris. That’s non-negotiable. Decide now.”

“You can keep me involved?”

“I’m not promising, but I’ll try. But if you’re dead, I can’t do that, now can I?”

She hugs herself and cuts her gaze. “Right.” She inhales and looks at me. “Keep me involved. I want to help.”

“When do you leave?”

“This afternoon.”

“I’m going to have Kane’s man take you to the airport.”

“Okay.”

I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Kane. “Yes, beautiful?”

“Can Jay take Beth to the airport? She’s on her way to Paris.”

“You think she’s safe in Paris?”

“You don’t.” It’s not a question. He thinks the Society is a part of this. I wonder if there will ever be another case where one or both of us won’t at least suspect their involvement.

“Why don’t I have one of my men go with her?” he suggests, in what is a generous offer.

I glance at Beth, standing there looking like a delicate flower, and I agree. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Make her listen. Scare the fuck out of her if you have to. You’re good at that.”

“Thanks,” I say, because it’s true, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a compliment.

“I tell you you’re beautiful, you say fuck you. I tell you you’re scary, and you say thank you.”

“Your point?”

“We’ll discuss my point in person. I’m at my apartment headed to my office here in the city. I’ll call my secretary to arrange for a car, and one of my men will be at Beth’s disposal. A second car will be waiting on you. Don’t shoot the driver. And Lilah, Purgatory still exists, and it’s waiting on you.” He hangs up.

Purgatory still exists, and it’s waiting on me.

Purgatory being what I call my thinking room. He just told me that he kept my room in his apartment here in the city, our apartment at one point. I slide my phone back into my jeans’ pocket. “Kane’s doing more than providing a ride. He’s sending someone to Paris with you. Don’t fight it. Just go with it.”

“I can’t travel with a stranger.”

“People travel with bodyguards all the time. They don’t know them. They just like knowing they know how to shoot people and kill them. That’s where you need to be right now.”

“I’ll be in Paris. Are you suggesting I’m not safe there either?”

“You can’t even tell me how those women died, Beth. You could die. Don’t be stupid.”

She pales. “You’re such a bitch.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Are we doing this autopsy or what?”

“You do it. I need to go to the police station and get my hands on the evidence they haven’t already fucked up.”

“That crime scene was the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. It was almost like the killer knew Williams and chose her like he chose us.”

She’s right. That’s exactly how this reads. “Call me if you find anything and before you leave for Paris.” I turn for the door.

“Lilah.”

“Yes?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder at her.

“You and Kane are back together?”

Only a few days ago, I would have quickly rejected that idea. Now, it’s not a question I’m ready to answer at all. “Call me, Beth,” I say and exit the office.

I walk through the facility, and when I reach the front office, the female guard is no longer there.

A man has replaced her, a tall, broad, stoic-looking man, and I don’t like it. I stop in front of him. “Who are you?”

“Clint.”

“Clint. Where’s the female guard?”

“She quit. I’m her replacement.”

“When did she quit?”

“Last week.”

Holy fuck. “She was here less than an hour ago.”

“If she was here, she wasn’t on duty.”

“Where were you an hour ago?”

“I took lunch. My lunch coverage was here.”

“And that’s who?”

“Rick.”

“Who was on shift last night?”

“Rick.”

“Do you have a picture of Rick?”

“I don’t,” he replies.

I show him my badge. “I need your supervisor’s name and number.”

He doesn’t so much as blink. “Of course.” He reaches in his pocket and hands me a card for Edward Davis. “I’m an ex-Marine, Agent. I assure you I’m here to serve and serve well.”

I dial the number, and a man answers. “Ed here. How can I help you?”

“Ed, this is FBI Agent Lilah Love. Tell me about Clint.”

“He’s an Ex-marine. Highly thought of. What’s the problem?”

I eye Clint. “Meet me at the police station, and I’ll let you know.” I hang up.

Jay walks in the front door. “About damn time,” I say. “Is Beth’s ride here yet?”

“On the way now.”

“Stay here with Clint.”

I walk through the facility and back into the exam room to find Beth already working. “You need to leave now.”

She pulls her mask down. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

It was just a matter of time. Hang out with me. Become a potty mouth. “Serious as Beethoven at a Jay Z concert. Not as serious as Jay Z at a Beethoven concert. As serious as—”

“Stop. Please stop with the horrible, poorly timed jokes. I get it. You’re serious.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Why the sudden urgency?” Beth demands. “Why do I need to leave now?”

“We’re on Kane’s schedule,” I say and then proceed to mumble off some kind of nonsense about traffic and the car she’s using to get to the airport. It’s a bunch of bullshit that somehow works. Fifteen minutes later, she’s updated her paperwork, given me the contact information for the medical examiner who will take over for her on this case, and I’ve loaded her into the damn car with one of Kane’s men.

“Now what?” Jay asks, clearly planning to be my out of the closet shadow.

“Now, you make me believe you’re gone again.” I proceed to ignore him and the car waiting on me and start walking, not to be an idiot passing up a free ride, but I need to call Tic Tac on the way to the station and do so without an audience, even if that audience works for Kane.

Quickly fading in with the bustle of the Manhattan crowds, I navigate the sidewalks as I punch in Tic Tac’s number. “I need stuff.”

“You always need stuff.”

“I need the security footage for the morgue last night through right now, specifically home in on a Hispanic female guard. I also need information on the security company, the owner, and two additional guards: Clint and Rick. And I need all of this now. The owner is on his way to meet me at the police station.”

“What am I looking for?”

“That Hispanic guard quit last week, but she was there last night and today. And wait, shift attention to Detective Williams for about ten seconds. I’m about to be in all kinds of confrontation-ready moments with that wicked excuse of a detective. What do I need to know?”

“She shot and killed a suspect last year that earned her heat with Internal Affairs, including a psych exam. And no, I can’t get you the exam.”