“I don’t think that Lilith arranged for this meeting so that she could tour the school grounds, either, Christine.” Allison stepped forward. “I came a long way to be here for this. You know that. I could ask you to trust me, but only you can make that decision.”
Lilith nodded. “You stopped Jackie.”
Allison nodded. “With help, I was able to uncover her information empire, yes. But you know that in the end she chose to take her own life.”
“Yes. Lucy told me. And you are aware of what Echo is?”
“I have been given detailed reports.”
“Reports will not be enough. You must understand that beyond her skills and her ruthlessness, she is sick. Twisted in a very dark way,” Lilith insisted. “Maybe even more than Jackie was. Jackie could at least pretend…civility. I do not know that Echo has this skill.”
“I understand.”
Lilith reached inside the neck of the T-shirt she wore and pulled out the gold necklace. She had only taken it off during those times when Tarak made love to her because she did not want something so dark to be part of something that was so beautiful. Beyond those times she had guarded it with her life and her poison.
Pulling it over her head, it almost seemed as if the necklace weighed a thousand pounds. “You understand that this is only a piece of it.”
Allison took the ugly gold necklace from Lilith and cringed. “How very Jackie. Yes. I am aware of that. More than you know.”
“The responsibility is yours now,” Lilith said. “It is up to you to stop her. To find the other two packages and destroy all of the information. You will destroy it, won’t you?”
“Still wondering if you can trust me?”
Lilith assessed the woman standing in front of her. The gleam of sparkling intelligence was impossible to miss, as was her internal fortitude. “No. You remind me of someone. A friend I used to know. When I heard about this school I thought she would have made an excellent student here. If you are half the woman she was, then yes, I do trust you.”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s go, sweet. I need to get you off your feet,” Tarak said.
Lilith took back her crutches. She nodded to the two women and began to turn when she stopped and met Allison’s gaze one last time.
“You will stop her. Won’t you?”
Allison returned her gaze directly. “Lilith, I promise you. I will stop her.”
Untouchable Page 20