Lilly locks eyes with me through the window of her sister’s car as it drives down the hill. Once she’s out of sight, I close the door to my home as if closing off any chance with her, too. It’s time to put the mask away and accept our doomed fate, but not before I've found the motherfucker who broke into her home.
“Thanks for coming.”I close the door behind Dom as he stands in my hallway with a hand stuffed into his jeans. His other hand, covered in tats, scratches his beard.
“Anything for you and Lils, you know that. What are we dealing with?”
“We have no leads on the person who broke into her house. She said they seemed to know her.” Sickness rises in my throat. If I wasn’t on a late chat with her, things could have ended very differently.
Dom nods his head. “Makes sense. Most burglaries are committed by someone who knows the victim.”
“Come into my office. I want to show you something.” I walk down the hall to the small box room. Usually I’d offer Dom a beer, but today he’s here on business, not pleasure.
He eyes the cream cardigan of Lil’s folded over the bannister. “Is Lils staying here? I thought she’d have gone to her sisters.”
“I brought her here after the break in. It was late and there was no point waking up Fern and her kid. She’s at her sisters now until we can get her door secured.”
I open the office door and step into the small space. Sitting in the office chair, I press my finger against the biometrics on the iMac to bring the screen to life. “Lilly doesn’t know about any of this, and I need it to stay that way.”
“Sure. What you got for me?” Dom leans over my shoulder, scanning the screen as I pull up her account. He clears his throat as if choking on his saliva. “Fuck is that?” He straightens his spine, looking away, but then looking back at her image in the naughty nurse uniform.
“Tell me about it. She had over one hundred subs until I infiltrated her account and blocked them all.” My fingers tap away on the keyboard as I open up the list of blocked subs and click print.
At the side of me, the printer makes a warming sound before pulling a sheet of paper through the rollers.
As soon as it’s printed, I snatch the sheet from the tray and present Dom with a list. “My theory is that it’s one of these motherfuckers who’s pissed she blocked them.”
Dom scans the usernames on the printed document. “KinkyKevin?” He lets out a small laugh. “Sarge_in_Charge? Is that you?”
I glare at him. “Better than DaddyDom.”
He scratches his beard. “I dunno, DaddyDom has a good ring to it. If I ever need a username.”
“I want addresses of all these accounts and their identities. I’d do it myself, but I just don’t have the time, and I don’t want everyone at the station knowing about her account or that I’m one of her subscribers. If this got out, she could lose her job.”
He folds the paper over and slips it into his back jeans pocket. “I’ll get straight on it. How’s she holding up?”
“She seemed all right this morning.” I rub the ache in my chest, wishing she was still here so I could hold her. She soothes me as much as I do here, like two lost pieces of a jigsaw fitting together to make each other whole.
But right now, I need to track down this motherfucker and put an end to them.
32
LILLY
“Thanks for picking me up.” I drop my bag onto the bed in Fern’s bedroom. It’s not the first time we’ve shared a double bed, but it is the first time since we’ve been adults.
“I wasn’t going to let you stay at Shane’s place, was I?” She takes the clothes from my bag and makes room in her drawer. “We can get the rest of your things tomorrow. Do you know when you’re getting your door fixed?”
I shrug a shoulder. “Shane says he’s gonna ask Kane, but I guess I’m gonna need to buy a new door. The crowbar damaged the frame and the lock.”
Fern tuts. “You should’ve had a proper PVC door on ages ago. The old wooden ones aren’t safe.”
“I should be married to a millionaire too, but that hasn’t happened yet either.” I glare at my sister, annoyed at her chiding me. She should be offering me sympathy, not blame me for having a crappie door.
“You and me both, Lil. Any idea where you find them? I’d even sell my body for a bit of cash at this point.”
I part my mouth. “Would you? Really?”
Her face screws up. “No, Lil. Not really.” She laughs it off as if it’s the most absurd thing she’s ever heard, confirming my initial thoughts. She’ll never understand. “I doubt anyone would pay to see my body, anyway.” Her hand wafts over her large stomach.
