Which would have been after this vigilante group had formed. While I’d tried during the long drive to convince him to tell me more, he’d been quite cunning in skirting around the discussion. Now that we’d arrived, I continued to ask myself the point in bothering. If Samuel had no family, then I was facing a copycat, who’d been interestingly silent since the first call.
With the two calls coming from burner phones, they were of no use. Other than to keep us guessing. Just another game and exactly like something the killer would do. He’d enjoyed a little cat and mouse.
We couldn’t stop now. There was no doubt in my mind that Ashley’s life was in danger and we were the only two people who could possibly save her.
I’d been labeled a go-getter for a reason, which was why I had to follow through with my insistence on working with the bestselling hunk on this case. I wasn’t a quitter.
At least I had a better handle on why Maverick was so possessive of me. I’d remembered more details about the case I’d mentioned. The judge had been Hudson Armstrong; the witness, Valentina Sciascia. What had occurred had been textbook romance novel 101. The press had eaten it up, calling the people involved heroes.
A term Maverick hated.
His former partner had warned him to let the case drop. To allow Samuel to die. Why? I continued to pick through any plausible reason other than saving face. It just didn’t make any sense to me. Maybe Samuel was the one to help put the pieces together.
I stared at the group of buildings even before the guard ushered us into the parking lot. The razor wire was something else I’d paid little attention to before. Or the guards holding assault rifles in towers located throughout the heavily guarded property. Now they were beacons of security, although two convicts had escaped the establishment a couple of years before.
It wasn’t something I would concentrate on now.
The gray day was fitting for the visit. As soon as Maverick pulled into a parking spot, I took a deep breath. For all the conviction I’d felt and shown him earlier that morning, I was feeling a little puny now. I hadn’t seen the bastard since before I’d been rescued. Other than a couple of times when I’d caught the story on television, something my mother had actively tried to avoid.
“While I called ahead to have you placed on the visitor’s list, have your identification ready.” Maverick was hesitant, staring out the windshield. When I slipped my hand into his, he softened.
“Yes, sir.”
“I like the sound of that. Maybe I’ll require you to address me that way at all times.” He threw open the door, giving me a wink.
“Over your dead body.”
His grin was more carefree than I would have thought given the circumstances. He was doing everything in his power to make me feel better.
He waited until I managed to push myself free of the car, still marveling that we’d headed to a prison in a Lamborghini. Who did that? Oh, that’s right. A bestselling author.
I glared at the tiny windows at the building, squinting even though the clouds created an ominous series of shadows. I could swear faces were peering at me through the thick glass coming from every direction.
We’d stopped at my house, allowing me to change into a suit. Nothing special. Nothing flashy. Just a nondescript dark suit. I even shoved my hair into a bun, which I hated, and was currently tugging at the single strand that had fallen free.
I couldn’t let my nervousness keep showing.
The buzzer allowing us in through the gate grabbed my attention to the point I teetered on my feet just enough he was forced to grab me. “Are you certain you’re up for this?” He pushed me away from the cameras, which seemed to be everywhere.
“I’m fine. I need to do this, Maverick.” The man was as tense as I was, but for an entirely different reason. Yet as soon as I pressed my hand against his chest, every aspect of his being softened.
“Let me handle the conversation. Okay?”
“You do realize you spent almost an hour of the drive going over details of the conversation including that you were handling the bulk of the questions. Right?”
“Just in case you forgot. You are not Maria Rivera.”
“I know,” I said to appease him. “I’m an attorney finalizing details of his estate, which means I will need to talk.”
“Limit your interactions.”
“We’ll see how he handles the situation. Trust a woman’s intuition.” What I’d yet to tell him was that I’d remembered the last thing he’d said to me after grabbing Lily that fateful night. His comment on the greatest loss in life would be something I’d never forget again. Now I needed to put his face and eyes to his voice to know for certain whether we were dealing with a clone.
“Like I said. Don’t forget what I told you.”
“I forget nothing, including purchasing a suit.” I adored annoying him or maybe I was buying time. My skin tingled, my pulse thumping to the point the sound was echoing in my ears. By the time we were finished with the interrogation, I’d be a puddle of nerves.
I pushed him gently away, immediately pulling my identification into my hand. I was the first one to approach the guard after another opened the door once I buzzed. “We’re here to see Samuel Wells. We should be on the list.”
