Page 51 of Temptation
She could feel Preston standing behind her. She was not particularly surprised that he’d followed her inside the small room.
“You think I’m just going to let him get away with that?” Atlas demanded. “You think I’m not going to make his life into a living hell?”
“Atlas,” Lily chided. “Calm down. Remember what I told you about threatening to kill people?”
“Yes. Don’t do it in public. This isn’t public. And I said I’d make his life a living hell. Didn’t say I’d kill him.”
But he would. She could see it in his eyes. Sloane nodded. “It’s time for you both to leave.”
“What?” Lily tried to get off the bed.
Atlas pushed her right back on it. “Don’t you dare.” His voice had deepened. He didn’t normally get firm with Lily but…he just had.
“Leave,” Sloane directed again. “It’s time for you to leave. As in, get out of town and go back home. Honestly, you weren’t supposed to be here at all.” A situation that they hadn’t exactly had the opportunity to discuss before. Sloane had come to Cashiers on her own. Lily and Atlas should have been far away.
“If we hadn’t been here, you’d still be under the dirt!” Lily pointed out.
“No, we were digging our way out.”
Lily beetled her brows at Sloane.
“Fine.” Sloane sighed. “I am forever grateful for the save.” She was. To the depths of her soul.
Preston was silent behind her.
“But this was my case.” Oh, wait. She probably should not have referred to Preston as a case. Especially with him being right there. Awkward. Anyway… “You two were supposed to be halfway across the country.” Her head cocked. “How did you get to me so quickly? I mean, I get that Atlas has pull but…”
Lily and Atlas looked at each other. The intense, quiet, exchange-of-information look that couples could do so well.
Uh, oh. “What’s happening?”
Lily nibbled on her lower lip. “We, um, we were coming to talk with you about a development.”
“So we were already in Cashiers,” Atlas rumbled. “When you went missing, that is. We went to the inn, but you weren’t there. Lily tried calling you, again and again, but you didn’t answer.”
“You always answer me.” Lily’s soft voice. “I got scared. Worried. So we tracked you, and when we saw you were stationary in the middle of the woods?—”
“Buried in the woods. Not just stationary.” But Lily wouldn’t have known that. Not until she’d gotten to the scene. “Let’s backtrack.” Because something her friend had said raised alarm bells. “What development?”
Lily’s fingers twisted in front of her.
“You didn’t need to both make a personal trip to Cashiers in order to talk with me. You could have emailed. Called. Texted.” Unless it was bad news. Her spine straightened. People always came in person to tell you bad news. They didn’t deliver it over the phone. “What’s happening?”
Another long look between Lily and Atlas.
Bad news. Bad.
“Sloane…” Lily began, voice hesitant. “We are going to fight this. He’s not going to get out.”
What is she talking about?
“Early parole,” Lily told her.
Early parole.
No, no. No, no, no, no.
“He got concurrent sentences,” Lily reminded her.
