Criminal

couldn’t hold her up anymore. Gently, she let the girl fall back onto the bed. Her eyes took on a blank stare. Amanda had never seen another person die before. The room got cold. A breeze chilled her to the bone. It felt as if a shadow hovered above them, then just as quickly, it was gone.
    Evelyn sat back on her knees. She spoke quietly. “Lucy Bennett.”
    “Lucy Bennett,” Amanda repeated.
    They stared at the poor creature. Her face. Her torso. Her arms and legs. The horrors of the last year were writ large across her body.
    “How could she love him?” Amanda asked. “How could she …”
    Evelyn used the back of her hand to wipe away tears. “I don’t know.”
    Amanda stared into the dead girl’s eyes. She had seen her through the window just moments ago. The image flashed into Amanda’s mind like a scene from a horror movie. The girl on the bed. Her hand at her chest. It was a knife she had been holding. Amanda realized that now.
    The sound of the sirens got louder.
    “House is clear.” The patrolman came up behind them. “What did you—” He saw the body. His hand slapped to his mouth as he ran from the room, retching.
    Evelyn said, “At least we were here for her.”
    Tires screeched in the street. Blue lights flashed.
    “Maybe we brought her … I don’t know. Comfort?”
    Amanda said, “We were too late to save her.”
    “We found her,” Evelyn said. “At least we found her. At least the last few minutes of her life, she was free.”
    “It’s not enough.”
    “No,” Evelyn said. “It’ll never be enough.”
    The sirens wound down as the cruisers pulled up. They heard talking outside; gruff voices barking orders, the usual palaver of men taking charge.
    And something else.
    Evelyn obviously heard it, too.
    Still, Amanda asked, “What’s that noise?”

twenty-eight
    Present Day
    SUZANNA FORD
    She knew what the noise was now. The elevators rushing up and down. She heard the wind whistling like a train—up and down, down and up—as the doctor cut the threads with a pair of office scissors.
    “You’re going to be okay,” the woman said. She was obviously in charge. She’d been the first to come to Suzanna’s side. The only one who wasn’t afraid of what she had seen. The other guys hung back. She could hear their breathing like steam pushing out of an iron. And then the doctor told one to call an ambulance. Another to get a bottle of water. Another to get a blanket. Another to find some scissors. They jumped to obey, running off so fast that Suzanna could feel the ghosts of their presence long after she could no longer hear their sneakers pounding against the floor.
    “You’re safe,” the doctor said. She put her hand to Suzanna’s head. She was pretty. Her green eyes were the first thing Suzanna saw. They looked at her down the blade of the scissors as she carefully snipped apart the threads. She’d covered Suzanna’s eyes with her hand so that the light would not blind her. Her touch was so light when she cut apart Suzanna’s lips that she’d barely felt the metal grazing her skin.
    “Look at me. You’re going to be okay,” the woman said. Her voice was steady. She was so damn certain that Suzanna believed her.
    And then she saw the man. Hulking. Lurking. He looked different. Younger. But it was still the same guy. Still the same monster.
    Suzanna started screaming. Her mouth opened. Her throat scratched. Her lungs shook. She screamed as loud as she could. The noise wouldn’t stop. She screamed even when the man left. She screamed over the doctor’s soothing voice. She screamed when the paramedics came. She didn’t stop screaming until the doctor stuck the needle in.
    The drug rushed through her body.
    Immediate relief.
    Her brain calmed. Her heart slowed. She could breathe again. Taste again. See again. There was no part of her that did not feel it. Her hands, her fingers, her toes, all tingled from the rush.
    Release. Salvation. Oblivion.
    And Zanna was in love all over again.

twenty-nine
    Present Day
    WEDNESDAY
    Sinatra crooned softly through the speakers in Amanda’s Lexus, but Will could only hear Suzanna Ford’s screams. He had been so relieved to find the girl alive. He’d wanted to weep as Sara freed the girl. His father had hurt her. He’d tried to destroy her. But Will had stopped him. He’d won. He’d finally beaten the old man.
    And then Suzanna had taken one look at Will and seen James Ulster come back to life.
    He leaned his head