Set Me Free (8 page)

"He must have killed your parents for a reason. He took a huge risk doing it. Maybe he wanted something from your dad. They worked together, right? Maybe your dad did something to him at work and it was revenge."

Lucy swallowed, looking ready to throw up. "My dad was a good man, he would never hurt anybody."

Patting her arm with a soft smile, Alex shook his head. "I didn't mean it that way. Maybe you're like unfinished business for Tenner."

"But why? If his beef was with my dad then he's finished! He killed him! Shot him dead! Why come after me too?"

"Hatred is an ugly demon." Alex shrugged. "It can drive people to do insane things."

Lucy cringed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Look it's only a theory, I'm just trying to understand the guy."

"Either way, it doesn't change the fact that he killed her parents and we need to prove that." Zach pointed to the open file on the table. "What do we need to make that happen?"

"Irrefutable evidence." Alex sighed.

"Does my testimony count?" Lucy's eyebrows lifted.

"Maybe. I mean, we'd have to prove you are actually Lucy Tate and somehow prove that you were there that night...and then also prove that you weren't guilty of the crime." Alex cringed.

Slumping down next to Zach, she rested her head in her hands. "I can't believe they think I did it."

"Technically your testimony should align with the evidence found at the crime scene, right? So if we can see the evidence, maybe your testimony could hold up in court."

She swallowed, her skin turning a sickly, pale color. "Court?"

Alex nodded, not looking up from the file. "As long as it hasn't been doctored." He flipped over the picture and smushed his thumb into William Tenner's face. "If this guy was working the case, we can't rely on anything. We really need to look over those reports. We need to compare your memories with his notes so we can figure out just how doctored the evidence is."

"How do we get access to those?" Lucy asked.

"Well, the crime's only five years old, so there'll definitely be records of it."

"Computer records?" Zach sat forward.

"Yeah." Alex nodded.

Grinning at Lucy, he reached for his phone on the edge of the table. "I know just the guy who can help us."

Chapter 9

LUCY

Elliot showed up within fifteen minutes, which I thought was a little miraculous since Zach's call actually woke him! He fumbled in the door, his rumpled clothes and tussled hair making me snigger. He flashed me a half smile that was forced and sat down, placing his laptop gently on the table.

"Who's coffee is this?" He reached for the cup.

"Mine." Zach looked bemused as he stood beside me.

Elliot grabbed the cup and skulled it quickly.

"He's not a morning person," Zach whispered.

"Then why is he here so quickly?"

"Because I want to save your stupid butt." Elliot growled. "Now stop talking behind my back and tell me what you want me to do."

Alex chuckled, slapping Elliot on the back and taking a seat beside him. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Strickland."

With a grunt Elliot opened up his laptop then grabbed a few other devices. I had no idea what they were. Zach and I took a seat opposite Elliot, letting Alex do the talking.

"So, Lucy...," his blue eyes flickered over mine before landing back on our computer geek, "...has remembered a few things."

Elliot's brown eyes, usually so hard hitting brushed over me gently. "Lucy. Nice."

I grinned, but it didn't stick around for long.

After a second Elliot paused, his forehead crinkling as if he remembered something. I dipped my head. Zach must have shown him the files. Was he about to lose it and storm out? I could hear him shouting, "Like hell I'm working for a parent killer." The door would then slam shut and I'd be left wanting to cry, yet again.

But none of that had a chance to transpire, because Alex drew Elliot's attention with a squeeze to the shoulder.

"She says her father was murdered by...a powerful man."

"Yeah." Elliot nodded. "A cop, right?"

Zach cleared his throat and reached for the photo. "Not exactly. He's Special Agent William Tenner of the FBI."

"The FB—What? You can't be serious." I kept my gaze steady on his, until his cynical glare popped wide and he slumped back in his chair. "Woah. Heavy."

"Yeah. Yeah, it is man." Alex shuffled in his chair. "Can you find out a little about him for us?"

That wasn't really why Elliot was here, but I did think it was a good idea to ease him in slowly. Besides, it was probably good that we found out a little about the man we were trying to take down.

Elliot's fingers clicked over the keys, the staccato sound making me nervous. A minute later he was wincing at the screen, making it even worse.

"What?" I didn't mean to snap.

"Um...Well, Mr. Tenner is now Special Agent
in Charge
of the San Francisco branch of the FBI."

My heart sank through my chest and into my stomach. I could feel it drowning in my belly acid. I dropped my head into my hands. "That's how he found me so easily in San Fran. Shorty would have started asking around the...well, the criminals." I tipped my head. "In his position, Tenner would have his finger on the pulse of everything that goes on in that city and if he killed my parents then surely he's involved in other criminal activity, right?" I felt a spark of a memory try to push through my wall, but it faded before I could snatch it.

"Most likely...unless this was a crime of passion that he's trying to cover his tracks on." Alex clicked his fingers. "Maybe he wants you gone because he sees you as a threat. He must have worked out that you were in the house that night. You're probably that last loose thread in this case."

I frowned. "Either way, he must have huge influence in the city...maybe even the whole bay area. There's no way we can get this guy."

"But the crime didn't happen there." Zach squeezed my hand. "It happened in L.A. and Special Agent Jackass doesn't work there anymore."

"He's still part of the FBI."

"Yes, but he won't have his eye so closely on L.A. activity." Alex's grin sparked with pride as he looked across at his nephew. "Elliot can you try doing some sort of search to find us the police reports on the Tate's investigation?"

Elliot's eyebrows rose. "You mean FBI crime reports?"

"Yeah, from five years ago." He scrambled for the file, flipping through the articles. "Anything to do with Jack and Edith Tate in February 2009."

Hearing the details rattled off with such detached efficiency made me feel sick. In spite of that, I was starting to feel a tad calmer. Reliving their deaths had been hideous, but there was a certain sense of release. I'd held the details locked in for so long and getting them out seemed to lift a weight off me. I didn't feel that pressure in quite the same way, although I still felt like there was more.

I tried to relax my brain, see if more would come forth, but I was obviously still scared. My brain muscle seemed to bunch in protest every time I reached for it. It was damn frustrating.

"You know I can't just Google that information, right?" Elliot lifted his eyebrows.

"Yeah, we know. That's why we called you." Alex's eyes were fiery as he prepared himself for Elliot's reaction. "We need you to hack into the FBI."

The air went still around us as everyone held their breath. It was like Elliot had frozen in time, the only thing to move were his eyeballs, which darted from one corner of his eye to the other. Finally, after an age of waiting, a laugh burst from his mouth.

"Bring it."

He swiveled in his seat and bent over the keyboard, losing himself in a flurry of keystrokes.

"I'm gonna try activating a couple of backdoor sleepers that I nabbed from the underground guys."

I had zero idea what that even meant, but was completely fascinated watching Zach's friend. His eyes ran over the screen, frenetically taking in whatever code he could find. Sometimes he'd frown, other times he'd snicker and half an hour later, he slumped back in his chair with a triumphant smile.

"So, Dani-girl. What do you need to know?"

"You did it?" My mouth dropped open.

"Of course I did it."

"But it's the FBI."

"And I'm Elliot Strickland." An arrogant smile stretched across his lips, making Zach laugh.

"You're such a douche bag."

Elliot just winked at his friend and shuffled around in his seat. The smile disappeared from his face as he looked up at me. "Come here."

I nibbled the bottom of my lip as I edged around the table, past Alex, who was already scanning the screen.

"Try that one first." He pointed to a file named Tate, J with a long number after it.

Elliot double clicked and a file popped onto the screen.

"We need to keep our movements minimal and fast. Trust me, somebody is onto this already, but it's cool. I've got this breadcrumb trail bouncing a spider's web across the globe with an evolving encryption algorithm that the Chinese recently knocked out. So yeah, this one will get some real attention and the Chinese will now be on my ass."

With a nod, I quickly scanned the details. "This is the right file."

"I'll image them to my desktop."

Elliot nudged me out of the way and quickly copied the entire file over. A blue line slowly inched across the screen, my heart rate increasing with each second that passed by. Finally, it disappeared and a few keystrokes later, Elliot logged off.

"Damn, that's cool. Our own little hacker. Good job, man." Alex slapped Elliot on the back with a broad grin. "Now let's take a look at these files."

Elliot double clicked the first file. Inside was a long line of photos, which he selected and opened up. They popped onto the screen, stealing my breath and making me want to crumple to the floor. I squeezed the back of the chair I was leaning on, grateful when Zach's hand silently snaked across my back and pulled me against him.

Images of my house wrapped in yellow tape were suddenly replaced by the floppy armed corpses of my parents.

I gasped and covered my face. Zach's hand cupped the back of my head and pushed me into his shoulder.

"It's okay. I'll tell you when it's over," he croaked.

The room fell silent. I could feel their struggle to stay calm as they sifted through images of my parents, dead on the floor. I shifted my head on Zach's shoulder. On the floor? My mother didn't die on the floor. Well she did, but her body was leaning up against the kitchen cupboards. Pushing away from Zach, who tried to hold me in place, I wriggled free and turned to the screen.

"Go back." It took all my courage to utter the command. I chewed the edge of my mouth as I waited for Elliot to start clicking the arrow button. "Back. Back. Back." He sped through them and I leaned down over the screen. "Stop."

I felt like I was swallowing cinder as I gazed at the image. My insides trembled, but I finally found my voice. "She wasn't lying like that. She was leaning against the kitchen cabinet. She couldn’t have fallen and landed way over there.” I pointed to the image of my mother lying in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"Are you saying she's been moved?"

I nodded. "The scene looks all wrong. Dad was over there." I pointed to the edge of the kitchen, closer to the refrigerator. "He and Tenner fought. There was a shot and then Dad fell, landing on his back." I leaned closer to the screen, knocking Elliot's shoulder. "What does that gun on the floor even mean? Why didn't he just take it with him?"

"Well, we have to look at the crime report to see, but remember the newspaper articles implied that you shot your parents and ran." Alex cleared his throat and gave me a tight-lipped smile.

"And I was dumb enough to just leave the gun at the crime scene?"

The reporter gave an awkward shrug.