Page 125 of Tear Me Apart

“I am having a hard time believing this.”

“He’s violent, Juliet. He’s a killer. He smothered her, wouldn’t let her out of his sight when he was home. She was being abused. And now he’s within a hands-breadth of my child, and God knows what he’s going to do. That’s why Jasper and I are keeping watch. That’s why we’re so afraid for her.”

Juliet is so confused. The certainty in Lauren’s voice is enough to convince anyone, but Juliet can’t believe this of Zack. He is too good. He is too kind. She takes another sip of the tea, sets it down with a grimace.

“You asked me to find him. You wanted me to find Zack. You practically handed Jasper the name to give to me.”

“I never thought you’d be able to locate him. The military scrapped his DNA from the system. Vivian told me they do that with all their intelligence operatives. God knows how many crimes he can be linked to. And he was supposed to be living off-grid, not easily findable. His career choices made him a target. And now we’re all going to be a target. His target.”

Juliet is hugging herself now, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She can’t believe the words she’s hearing, can’t understand them. Zack, a killer. Vivian, in danger from her own husband.

Has Juliet just signed their death warrants by finding the man who can save Mindy’s life? But she doesn’t have time to think it through; Lauren is on a roll now.

“And of course, super sleuth Juliet, our modern-day Nancy Drew, with your beakers and potions, you found him and brought that viper into our lives. And now what are we supposed to do? The media is watching, and he thinks he’s safe. That thegrieving dadwill supersede the truth. Well, it won’t. If something happens to me, there’s a letter ready to go to the press, explaining everything he’s done.”

“But the doctor, Castillo...why lie?”

“Don’t you see? I was trying to keep us safe. I couldn’t have any ties to Vivian. The Castillo story was the perfect cover. She was feeding babies into the system. It was the right timing, the right scenario. I saw the story in the paper, about that Graciela girl. I knew it was the perfect cover in case anyone—especially Zack—ever found out. There was no way anyone could prove I hadn’t received one of those babies.”

Juliet shakes her head, trying to absorb all of this. “Zack isn’t a bad man—”

“Says you? He’s charmed you to pieces. Him and his dog. Also a trained killer, mark my words. That beast is his weapon when he can’t hold the gun in his hand. You can’t see who he really is. You’re blinded. But don’t worry. Now that we have what we need from him, I’m going to take care of him. He won’t hurt anyone in this family. Ever.”

Lauren comes around the table to Juliet, sits next to her and takes her in her arms. Juliet is shaking, but Lauren is steady as a rock. “It’s okay, honey. I forgive you. I knew you’d break all the rules to save Mindy’s life. We both—all three of us—thank you for doing that. I’ll make sure Woody knows you weren’t responsible.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know you broke into the files, took Mindy’s DNA, and put it into CODIS to look for a match. I’m so proud of you for breaking the rules. It must have been so difficult for you. I explain it all in the letter, because I didn’t want you to get in trouble for doing something so unethical.”

“That’s not exactly what happened. And don’t bother. He already knows. I’m on suspension.” And then she really hears what Lauren is saying. “Wait, you threw me under the bus in your letter?”

Lauren smiles and puts a finger on her lips. “I’m trying to save you, sweetie. Zack Armstrong is very dangerous, and if something happens, we need to be covered. We need to protect our family. I will do whatever’s necessary to protect us. Whatever it takes.”

“The man’s an English professor at Vanderbilt. He’s a grieving widower. He’s Mindy’s father. You’re wrong about him.”

Lauren’s chin rises. “I will not allow him to hurt my daughter.”

“So you’re going to discredit him? Or what, get rid of him? Dear God, Lauren, you’ve gone entirely insane. Has the lack of sleep made you psychotic? Does Jasper know how ill you are?”

“Jasper knows everything. I told him what Zack is, why he’s such a danger to us. What you did. And now I’ve told you as well, not that I think it will matter.”

“You can’t be serious, Lauren. You can’t just kill Zack. The police will be all over you in a heartbeat.”

“I’ve handled threats to this family before.”

Juliet stands up, the chair screeching back. “Like Vivian Armstrong? Did you kill her so you could steal her baby? Because that’s a hell of a lot more plausible to me than this whopper of a story you’ve just told me. You’re lying. Why are you lying about this?”

“You really don’t remember. It’s amazing.” Lauren shakes her head with an uncanny smile, and the frisson reverberates through Juliet’s spine. It is not Zack who is the problem. Her sister is a monster.

“Remember what?”

“Why we moved to Colorado. I know you were young, and Mom always said you blocked it out entirely.”

“What are you talking about, Lauren?”

“Bennett Thompson.”

“Our stepfather? He died when I was little. I don’t remember him.”