“As far as they knew. He could have snuck out a window.”
“I assume he did, or the parents were so distracted they didn’t notice him sneak out a door. Police found a backpack in his closet with the bloody knife in it, along with a stash of ketamine. He says he can’t remember some of that night.”
“Convenient.”
“Ketamine can cause amnesia with a high enough dose.”
“So, what? He was high, decided Lucky’s family had to die to keep her safe, including a kid who’d never done anything to anyone, someone she loved so much she put herself in a monster’s path time and time again?”
“Killing the kid doesn’t make sense.”
“Unless he didn’t want to have to raise the kid with Lucky.” Hawk hated the idea.
“In Neil’s mind, he was saving her. He probably thought she’d be so grateful they’d live happily ever after on whatever her parents left behind.”
“Except the family was in debt and Lucky had to use whatever money there was to pay off bills. She couldn’t even keep the house.”
“So you two have talked about the past.” Jase gave him a knowing grin. “You are getting close.”
“Yes. She’s staying at my place. If I have my way, she’ll never leave.”
Jase settled back in his chair, a knowing grin on his smug face. “So it’s like that.”
“I want it to be. I’m trying not to rush her, but it’s hard not to want everything all at once with her.”
“Word is going to spread that she’s with you. That could put a target on your back.”
“Whoever is doing this seems hell bent on makingherlife miserable.”
“Yeah. After the egg and graffiti incident there were a few other things.”
“Like what?”
“Someone pushed her down a flight of stairs at a house she was cleaning. No one else was home at the time.”
“So someone knew she was there, broke in, and tried to kill her?”
“That’s what she claims. She had bruises and a busted lip from where she hit the hardwood stair treads, but there was no evidence anyone had been in the house, except her word.”
“She wouldn’t throw herself down the stairs for attention.”
“I never said she did.”
Hawk fumed. “It was implied.”
Jase gave him an evil look. “That’s what she accused me of, too, and I’ll tell you what I told her. I believed her, I just couldn’t prove it.”
Hawk relaxed a bit. “Okay. What else?”
“Stupid shit. Leaving the gas stove on but unlit, filling the cabin up with gas. Breaking into her house and moving shit around, so she knows someone’s been there, but not who. The first year that her family was gone, someone left her notes on the tenth of the month, every month.”
“What did it say?”
“You’re the reason they’re dead.”
“Fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair. “That’s fucking harsh.”
“Someone started a rumor that Lucky was offering more than housecleaning services to her clients. Her business got dozens and dozens of calls from men wanting to hire her. She got propositioned just about everywhere she went. Some guy even pushed her up against the glass ice cream case in the supermarket, stuffed a fifty in her pocket, along with his phone number, and kissed her. She kneed him in the nuts and clocked him with a bottle of juice. Dude was covered in mango peach.”
