Page 119 of Compulsion
They had told Desmond before that they wanted the killer’s attention.But…bait.The word whispered through her mind.Atlas had used himself as bait before, to draw the killer to him.Atlas had deliberately put himself in a vulnerable position, his guards not close, so the killer would attack.
She didn’t want Atlas being bait.Not ever again.
Lily wasn’t even sure that their killer would come after him.But…
Will you come after me?“Don’t congratulate me yet.”Nerves trembled through her.She didn’t normally seek out attention.This was far from her realm of comfort.“Hold the thought.”And she hurried after the inspector, heading straight toward the small throng of reporters.
“Dr.Gallo!”
“Lily!”
Shouts from the reporters as she drew closer to them.
“Why did you come back to the scene of the crime, Dr.Gallo?”
“Lily, Lily!Is that an engagement ring you’re wearing?”
“Dr.Gallo, what do you know about the killer?”
Atlas had followed her.He curled his arm around her, putting it over her upper chest and pulling her back against him.“Sweets…” A breath in her ear.“What are you doing?”
She was going to do what had to be done.She and Atlas both wanted the killer to know they were hunting him.There was certainly one very direct way to do that.Just tell him.Tell the world.“I am engaged to Atlas Bennett.”Her voice was a little too husky.A bit too breathy.She cleared her throat.“We came back here because we are not going to let the killer get away.We know who he is.”
Lots of shouts exploded in the air.Furious exclamations.Demands for more information.
“He is weak, and he isevil,” she emphasized that point, deliberately.“He is standing in judgment, delivering so-called punishments when he is the one who should be punished.When he is the one with sins tainting his blood.And he is the one who will pay.”Her gaze swept over the reporters.She was being filmed.Good.Probably even live-streamed.The better to deliver her message.“Smoke and fire don’t fool us.We know who you are targeting.The Feds know.You are the one that is going to be caught.The handcuffs will be on your wrists, and there will be no escape.You’re not doing some kind of righteous work, no matter what lies you feed to yourself.You are the monster.And we will stop you.”
“Dr.Gallo!Dr.Gallo!Do you have a name for the suspect?Who is the killer?What does he look like?What does?—”
“Lily is done,”Atlas’s voice, cutting through the yells instantly.“And the bastard who took us will soon be begging for mercy.”He backed away, pulling her with him, as he guided her to the limo.More shouts followed them.So many more voices.
“When is the wedding?”A quick high-pitched question.
Lily glanced over at the reporter.A woman with short, red hair.“I?—”
“As soon as possible,” Atlas replied.“Might even fly to Vegas tonight.”Then he steered Lily to the waiting limo with even more demand in his touch.
She didn’t fight him.She’d said what needed to be said.
She and Atlas ignored the other questions hurled at them.Carl opened the side limo door.“About time we left, sir,” Carl noted.
“Yeah, working on it.”Atlas gently pushed her in the vehicle first, then he climbed in after her.
Carl slammed the door.
She took a deep breath.One, then another.
“What.The.Fuck, Lily?”
She blinked in surprise.“I…thought that went well.”A delicate clearing of her throat.“There is something I need to tell?—”
“Are youfuckingkidding me?”
“You…we…talked about getting his attention.”The killer’s attention.And about the killer?—
“Consider his attentionfuckingcaught.”
She blinked.That was the thirdfuckin a row from Atlas.Not a good sign.“You’re angry?With me?”Anxious, confused, she glanced around the limo.He took me there.Right on that seat.Drove into me fast and hard, with barely any foreplay, and I still came for him.Came so easily when I could never let go for others.
