“It was a man who, based on a search of his home and electronics, had never actually crossed paths with Lily in person untilrecently. His infatuation with her, though, began several years ago. Are you familiar with the website OpenVeil?”
My jaw clenched as a heavy silence hung between us.
“I gather by the look you’re giving me that you’re aware of why I’m asking?”
“Yes,” I gritted through my teeth.
“Remember, I’m on both of your sides here. I’m just laying out the facts for you to follow along.” Boden looked to where Lily was sleeping peacefully against the side of my chest.
Her breath was warm through the thin hospital gown I was wearing.
“I reached out to the police jurisdiction outside of Toronto that had originally handled Lily’s case against her ex-boyfriend to formally request access to the case materials, including the original hard drives that were collected. But since the evidence couldn’t legally leave the country, I flew up there to examine the hard drives in person with their digital forensics team. Cameron tagged along with me for backup and, after analyzing all the metadata we recovered, he used his unique skill set to uncover hidden communications indicating that Lily’s ex had impersonated her in conversations with several male subscribers. From there, we took that information and ran searches on all the men, but there was one particular name that stood out based solely on his address.”
I had a bad feeling I knew where this was going.
“Let me guess. Somewhere in Vegas?”
“Bingo. It was a case of right time, right place, but in Lily’s situation, it was clearly the opposite. Video surveillance placed him at the club that night, and, based on that footage, there was no reason to suspect he was aware of her presence until the moment he laid eyes on her. The guy was visibly shocked. It wasthen that Lily had her panic attack. Maybe she had a sixth sense. I’m not sure, but he didn’t get within twenty feet of her. From there, we tracked him following us back to the hotel and subsequently Sutton River.”
“Jesus, fuck. This all sounds straight out of a movie.”
“Agreed.”
“So, you’re saying this guy attempted to kill her by poisoning her and setting the lake house on fire, all because of conversations he had through the app, thinking it was her?”
“Yes. As far as he was concerned, they were in a relationship, and she ghosted him.”
“What! How? She literally had no idea she was being filmed.”
“I’m aware, but he felt it was all part of her shy-girl act. The allure of pretending you weren’t being watched but then baiting him in conversations, telling him you knew he was watching. It’s a thing, apparently,” he said, half-shrugging.
I grimaced in disgust.
“I know, man, I know. If he couldn’t have her, neither could you. He wanted revenge.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“No arguments here. He confessed pretty quickly, hoping for leniency, but it’s going to be a long time before he’s ever a free man again. The case is now in the hands of the Feds since he’s facing federal charges based on the evidence Vegas police discovered in his home and what we found here at your place.”
“Which was what, exactly?”
“As you know, a stone facade can help slow the spread of an external fire, and because Jameson and his crew arrived on scene just as the roof partially collapsed, that meant I was able to gather evidence from the main level afterward.”
“While I appreciate the backstory, please get to the point quicker.”
“There was a business card in the laundry room trash that tested positive for the poison that landed both of you and Arizona in here.”
“Ari’s here too?” Lily suddenly jerked her body away from beside me, clutching her chest in panic.
“Lily, I—I’m so sorry,” Boden stuttered.
I shot him a death glare, but the reality was this conversation was never going to be easy, regardless of how I sliced it.
“Yes, Arizona was also admitted. Her case was milder than mine because she had gloves on when she examined you, but due to?—”
“The baby!” She finished my sentence with a fresh wave of tears cresting and running down her pale cheeks. “Is the baby okay?”
“Yes, little baby Fisher’s heartbeat is good and strong, and everything appears to be on track for where she’s at week-wise.”
