Picture Perfect Murder

Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll catch him.”

“I don’t know if I like the sound of we. The FBI’s priority is to catch this guy, and right now my priority is to keep you safe. You aren’t actually responsible for finding him.”

“I appreciate that. But we can’t pretend that I’m a regular victim here. I think it helps that I have a lot of experience keeping myself safe.” She smiled for the first time since this conversation started. He couldn’t help but smile, too.

“Tell me more about your friends.”

“Alison Cruz and I have known each other since second grade. She’s my best friend. She has an interior design business and has an amazing eye for decorating. I met Jackson Bray in sixth grade and Guy Randolph in eighth grade.”

“What do the guys do for a living?”

“Jackson works in marketing for a technology company, and Guy is going to school to be an EMT. The four of us were a very close-knit group. We all kind of went our separate ways for college or jobs. Alison and Jackson left Atlanta to go to school in Athens at the University of Georgia. But they moved back after graduation. When I came back it was as if we all picked up where we left off.”

“I’d like to talk to them individually.”

“I’m sure they’ll help in any way they can. You could probably tell that the guys are very protective of me.”

Grace barked and he looked down at his watch. “It’s getting late, but I’m not leaving you alone. I know we haven’t discussed all the logistics, but as far as I’m concerned, you need 24/7 protective detail. Even if it’s not likely that the killer would come back to your house, I’m not willing to take that type of risk. The downside is just too high.”

“I’m not saying I like it, but I get where you’re coming from. I have a guest room down here on the first floor across from my darkroom that you or anyone else from your team is welcome to use.”

“Thank you, Lily. Get some rest. Nothing is going to happen to you on my watch.” And he was dead serious about that.

* * *

The next morning Lily couldn’t believe she had opened up to Rex about what had happened with James. She hadn’t told anyone about it other than the people she had to talk to at the Agency, including the psychologist she’d been ordered to visit. That session had been particularly painful. Mainly because she had absolutely zero interest in opening up to the person sitting in the chair, trying to get inside her head. Trying to break her down before the Agency was going to attempt to put her back together.

She headed downstairs with Grace, ready to take her for a walk. Rex was sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee.

“Good morning,” he said. “How did you sleep?”

“Considering everything going on, I think I slept pretty decent. I need to take Grace on a walk.”

He stood up from the kitchen chair. “You know I’m coming with you.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

The doorbell rang and Grace started barking. “It’s okay, Grace.” She started walking toward the door and Rex grabbed her arm.

“Let me see who that is,” he said.

She could already tell she wasn’t going to adjust well to her new bodyguard. She was so accustomed to fighting her own battles. Taking care of herself. Watching her own back. It felt strange to have someone there doing that for her.

But, as directed, she remained standing in the kitchen while Rex went to the door. She heard male voices.

Derrick and Sean walked in with Rex. Both men were tall and presented themselves with confidence. She surmised that Sean was a few years younger than Derrick and fairly new to the job. He wore his brown hair cut shorter than Derrick’s.

“Hey, guys,” she said.

“We’re sorry about all of this,” Derrick said. He reached down and gave Grace a hearty pat on the rump.

“It’s not your fault that there’s a killer out there.”

“Not just any killer,” Sean said. “A serial killer with your name on his hit list.” His brown eyes didn’t show any sign of levity.

“Yeah, we were talking about that just last night,” Rex added.

“What brings you to the house?” she asked.

“We wanted to regroup with Rex. The FBI is gathering additional resources to assist in the investigation, since Rex volunteered to take over your security in addition to working the case.”

“Have there been any new developments since last night?” she asked.

“Thankfully, no,” Derrick said. “We don’t know how long this guy’s cooling-off period is going to be. But there’s a high likelihood that he will contact you again. Also, have you thought about what the photo he left at the last scene could mean? The one of the farmhouse?” Derrick asked.

“I thought about it a lot while I was trying to fall asleep last night, and I have no idea what he’s trying to say with that picture. There’s no special significance that I can think of.”

“To you, maybe,” Rex said. “But in the mind of a serial killer it could have meant something.”

“Sorry to interrupt this discussion, guys, but I really need to walk Grace.” Her sweet dog was waiting patiently, but she knew that Grace would need to go.

“Of course,” Derrick said. “We’ll wait here until you folks get back.”

She leashed Grace up and walked out the front door with Rex right by her side. He was in full FBI alert mode. She didn’t really think that she was in danger in broad daylight in the middle of her neighborhood. But it was Rex’s job to be cautious and she appreciated that.

They were only about halfway down the street when they saw Alison and Jackson approaching them. “They were probably coming over to the house to check on me. Alison lives just down the block and Jackson is only an additional block away.”

Grace excitedly tugged on her leash to greet them as they quickly approached.

“We were worried about you,” Alison said. “I heard all about Jackson and Guy boarding up your window after it was smashed in. That’s horrific. You could’ve really been hurt, Lily.”

“I’m fine though, Alison. Just a few cuts from making my way through the glass. And, thankfully, Grace was outside.”

“We saw on the news that they are no closer to catching this guy.” Jackson frowned. “Or at least that’s what they’re reporting. The media is having a field day with this. Saying that this guy could turn out to be the deadliest killer that Atlanta has ever seen. Is that true?”

“I’m not going to attempt to minimize the threat here. We’re adding more FBI resources, plus we have Atlanta police working the case, too,” Rex said. “Bringing the killer to justice is a top priority for FBI and local law enforcement.”

Alison reached out and touched her arm. “And what about you, Lily? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to keep on living my life and trying to help with this case any way I can.” Grace tugged and Lily continued walking with her friends and Rex.

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