Terraformed Skies

by Anna Lewis

  “Your food is getting cold,” she said, wriggling out of his grasp and going to the stove. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I made grilled turkey, pesto sandwiches with all the trimmings.”

  He arched his brow, taking in the fare while she put their plates together.

  “You know, that smells so good, I was so impressed that you were such a good cook.”

  “Then you came down the hall and saw that I was ‘cooking’ sandwiches?”

  “Exactly. But it still looks good. I’m sure it’s delicious.”

  He grabbed her again, pulling her close and nuzzling her neck. Lilly’s body responded in spite of herself, and she struggled to hold back her disgust with his touch and her traitorous body’s reaction. She didn’t want him touching her.

  “Let’s pick this up later,” she said. “I’m starving.”

  “I’m starving too,” his hands were on her hips.

  Lilly rolled her eyes.

  “At least you’ve forgiven me for being in jail. But seriously, I’m really hungry. After lunch, we can talk and then if you’re still—”

  She blushed and thanked her lucky stars for once that her cheeks flushed so easily. He smiled at her, tilting her chin so that he could look straight into her eyes.

  “You’re beautiful when you’re bashful,” he said.

  His mouth closed on hers and his tongue shoved its way into her mouth. She fought the urge to gag, giving back as good as she got and wishing this moment was over.

  When he finally released her and sat down in front of his plate of food she almost sighed with relief. She didn’t want to sit across from him either, but it beat the hell out of pretending to enjoy his mouth on hers. She couldn’t take much more of that.

  Jason better hurry up.

  ***

  Jason dialed Adam’s number, waiting impatiently for him to pick up the phone. Unlike Lilly, he answered it on the first call.

  “Adam,” Jason said into the phone when he picked up. “It’s Jason. I need you to listen to me. Lilly is in trouble.”

  “Hey. Lilly went to get you. She’s fine, and you’re off the hook, my man.”

  “Adam, she’s not with me. She’s with my twin. I know it’s a lot to explain but—”

  “Oh shit. How did she end up with your twin when she went to find you?”

  “Wait. You know about the twin?”

  “Yes. The DNA came back and the entire charade unraveled. Lilly went to find you so that we could put you into protective custody until we caught him.”

  “Too little, too late,” Jason said. “He had me tied up at my parents’ farm and he’s already with Lilly.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I just talked to her and she changed the conversation abruptly. I’m assuming he’s already there. I’m headed over there now, but I’m going to need backup.”

  “Of course. I’m already in the car. I’ll head that way.”

  “Thank you, Adam.”

  “For what?”

  “For believing me.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. If we would have listened to you from the beginning, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

  “And then you would both be shitty detectives.”

  “True. I’ll text you when I’m close.”

  “Got it.”

  Adam hung up and Jason punched the gas. He’d lied to Lilly; he was a little further away than he’d said. But he could hear the tension in her voice and he didn’t want her to panic. She was alone in the house with a serial killer, and she needed him to think that she had no idea.

  ***

  Lilly glanced nervously at her watch.

  “Can’t it wait?”

  “Sarge is expecting me. I need to leave and take care of the file. I’ll be back in an hour and you can have me to yourself then.”

  She tried for a sultry smile that she wasn’t feeling. She needed to get out of this house. Her gun was already in the safe, her ankle piece locked firmly in the gun safe as well. It was just her habit to put them away as soon as she got home. As she went over the moments when she’d first arrived home with who she thought was Jason, she wanted to kick herself for locking them up. She should have known. Now, the only way she could get to them before he knew was if he went to the bathroom or took another nap.

  She doubted either of those things would happen. With each passing minute, she was sure that he was watching her, looking for signs that she knew the truth.

  “Why can’t Adam do it? I thought he was your partner.”

  “He is, but he has a lot on his plate with this case. I can’t just leave everyone else to do my job and pick up my slack. I’ve busted my ass to prove that I’m good enough to work with the big boys. I can’t act like a flake now. I’ve worked much too hard to be where I am.”

  He let out a huge sigh, and Lilly realized that she’d finally gotten through to him.

  “I’ll be back right away, promise.”

  “Fine,” he said, pouting a little bit; something that Jason would never do. “But at least drive me to the station to get my car.”

  Lilly’s stomach clenched. Dammit. He was supposed to stay here so that she could get away. What the hell was she going to do with him in the car?

  “Can I just bring it back? I can have Adam follow me back.”

  “Then your car would be at the station.”

  He was right. And if she protested much more, he would get suspicious.

  “Of course, where is my head?” she said, laughing softly. “That’s fine. I’ll take you. By the time they get your car out to you and you’ve signed all the release forms, I should be done anyway.”

  Lilly grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Her adrenaline was pumping but her hands were steady. One of the perks of the job.

  She stepped out of the house in front of him, and was two steps away from the door when Jason came around the corner on foot.

  “What the hell?” he asked, staring at Jason for a split second before he acted.

  She felt his arm go around her shoulders so quickly, she didn’t have time to react.

  Jason stopped and put his hands up.

  “Don’t hurt her, Jacob,” Jason said, looking entirely too calm.

  “I’m not Jacob, you’re Jacob,” the man with his arm around Lilly’s shoulders and throat said. “Tell him, Lilly.”

  When Lilly didn’t say a word, Jacob squeezed his arm around her throat threateningly.

  “Fine. Have it your way. I wasn’t interested in picking up a girlfriend anyway.”

  He squeezed even harder, but then stopped suddenly. Lilly heard the telltale sound of a gun cocking behind her. Jacob froze.

  “Let her go,” Adam said, and Lilly almost collapsed in relief.

  “You won’t shoot me,” Jacob taunted. “She’s too close and this isn’t the movies. That bullet will ricochet right through her skull.”

  Jacob shoved Lilly hard into Adam, knocking them both down. He ran past Jason, who tried to stop him in vain. He was still so weak from losing so much blood that one good shove from Jacob had sent him stumbling into the grass.

  Adam jumped up, taking off after Jacob as he ran towards the street. Jacob turned, and looked over his shoulder at Adam, who was only a few yards behind him. Jacob stepped into the street, eyes still locked on Adam, running full speed.

  A horn honked an instant before the sickening thud of flesh and bones connecting with car filled the air.

  ***

  Lilly watched in horror and stunned disbelief as Jacob’s body flew lifeless through the air and landed on the ground several feet away. She didn’t have to check on him to know that he was dead.

  Still, Adam holstered his gun and ran to Jacob, kneeling down and shaking his head grimly.

  Jason ran to Lilly.

  “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m better than he is,” she said. “We should call it in and check on the guy driving the car.”

  Jason pulled her
close, almost crushing her when he squeezed her tight.

  “Jason, I’m alright. I promise.”

  “I know. I just- I just thought I was going to be too late and I was so scared.”

  He released her from his embrace and grabbed her hand. They ran to the car that had struck Jacob and Jason bent low beside the driver’s closed window and signaled for her to unroll the window.

  She took one look at him, and at the dead body in the road and started shrieking in panic.

  Jason shook his head frantically.

  “It’s alright, just open the window so we can help you.”

  The woman stared at him, muttering rapid prayers under her breath and staring at the rosary that hung from her review mirror. Lilly opened the passenger door, smiling benignly at the poor woman, holding out her badge and speaking softly in Spanish.

  The woman breathed a sigh of relief and finally opened the window to Jason.

  Jason smiled at the woman encouragingly and opened the door to help her out. Already, there were sirens in the distance, and people had turned around to go down another street or parked their cars and gotten out to see what they could do to help.

  Jason turned the engine off and made sure the car was in park. The woman looked at Jacob’s mangled body and turned away, burying her face in Jason stomach. Jason placed a hand on top of her head and stroked her gray hair. She was mumbling in Spanish, but Jason didn’t understand a word she was saying.

  He didn’t need to understand her words to know what her trembling body meant, and he couldn’t imagine how she felt having run down a human being.

  Lilly came to stand beside Jason and the woman. Lilly said something in Spanish and the woman stood up straighter, abruptly pulling away from Jason. She looked at Jacob and looked back at Lilly.

  “Serial killer?” she said in English.

  Lilly nodded.

  The woman smiled.

  “I kill the devil?”

  “Pretty much,” Lilly said.

  Jason released the woman, who stood a little straighter. She wasn’t happy to have taken a life she told Lilly in Spanish. But she felt better knowing that the dead man had been pure evil.

  Two ambulances pulled in about the same time. Adam walked over to Jason and held up his hand, waving one of the paramedics over. Jason looked at him quizzically.

  “You’re bleeding,” Adam said.

  Jason looked down and sure enough, blood was seeping out from under his shirt.

  “Jason, what happened!” Lilly asked in horror.

  “I was tied to a chair and I had to get to you,” he said.

  The paramedics brought a stretcher over and Jason plopped down onto it gratefully. He was feeling dizzy again, and the wound was burning where the stitches had tugged loose.

  Another paramedic walked up to Lilly and Adam, his face grim.

  “We’re not going to move that one. He’s DOA and there’s nothing we can do for him.”

  The paramedic looked at Jason and did a double-take.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Sir,” he said to Jason.

  “Don’t be. He’s a serial killer. Nothing good would come of having him alive on this earth.”

  The medic nodded and jogged a short distance away to radio in for the Coroner.

  Jason was wheeled to one of the waiting ambulances. Lilly was right behind him, climbing in against the protests of the paramedic.

  “This man is under my protective custody,” she said. “I’m not leaving his side.”

  “Jacob is dead, Lilly,” Jason said as the doors closed. “I’ll be fine.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I need to know you’re going to be alright, and I’m not going to—”

  Her voice broke.

  “I can’t believe I was alone with that man and I didn’t realize.”

  “I’m sure on some level you did.”

  “I did, but I just thought that it was you, and that you were mad because you spent the day in jail.”

  “After spending a few hours tied to a chair, jail was actually like a resort.”

  “I’m so sorry that you went through all of this because of me.”

  “I went through all of this because of Jacob, Lilly. None of this is your fault.”

  “But I didn’t believe you.”

  “You had to follow the evidence. I wouldn’t expect you to do anything less.”

  His hand was on hers and she raised it to her lips before pressing his hand to her heart.

  “I know. I should have realized right away that you wouldn’t have been mad at me for doing my job. Even if you ended up in prison, you would still expect me to follow the evidence.”

  “I don’t want to be too forward, but I think now is as good a time as any to tell you that I’m in love with you, Lilly Bruce.”

  Lilly smiled, blushing furiously and ducking her head when she noticed that the paramedic was openly listening to every word that they were saying.

  Jason laughed and then immediately grabbed his aching side.

  “You don’t have to say it back, Lilly. I just need you to know how I feel. I’m a patient man; I can wait until you’re ready to say it.”

  He reached out and cupped Lilly’s cheek, his thumb tenderly stroking her smooth skin. She didn’t say the words back. She wanted to wait until she was sure, and she was sure she didn’t want it to be in the back of an ambulance.

  The ambulance ride to the hospital was rough, but Lilly didn’t pay it any mind. She was right where she was meant to be, and she was never going to forget that.

  ***

  One Week Later

  Lilly pushed the button for the fifth floor on the elevator and gave a dirty look to the reporter that called out to her to hold the door. She pressed the door close button and held it, staring at him until the doors shut and the elevator lurched upward.

  How were there so many reporters when it was only six in the morning? Didn’t these people sleep?

  She let out a sigh of relief. Ever since the media had gotten wind of the particulars of the case, they’d been camped outside the hospital, hoping to get a glimpse of Jason Hathaway and Detective Lilly Bruce.

  When the doors opened on the fifth floor, she stepped out and went straight for room 545. The police officer stationed at the door nodded and moved so she could squeeze by.

  “What’s in the bag?” Jason asked.

  “Clothes. I’m breaking you out of here,” she said with a sly grin.

  “I don’t think you need to break me out. They’re just discharging me.”

  “You haven’t seen the throng of reporters outside. It’s going to take a lot of work to get you out of here quietly.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He pulled on the new jeans, careful not to pull them up high enough to rub the bottom of his wound.

  “Do you need help putting a new bandage over it?”

  “Sure,” he said.

  Lilly stepped forward, holding his shirt up for him while he attached a clean gauze pad to his skin. It was almost healed, and the risk of an infection passed. Still, Lilly’s heart clenched every time she looked at his wound and remembered how close he’d come to dying while she was in the arms of a murderer.

  “Stop thinking about it,” he said, pushing his way into her thoughts.

  “It’s getting easier,” she admitted. “I just am blown away by how close I came to—”

  “Enough. You couldn’t have known. Quit beating yourself up over it.”

  He secured the last of the tape and grabbed her tight. Stepping into his arms felt so right, and Lilly still couldn’t fathom how she hadn’t known, at least on a visceral level, that Jacob was not Jason.

  “So what’s the plan?” he asked.

  “Adam is going to drive out of here in the car I arrived in with a pile of blankets made up to look like someone hiding in the back, and you and I are leaving in Silas’s truck.”

  “I need to get that cleaned so I can return it.”

  He grimaced a
t the memory of his blood spilled all over the back seat.

  “Already done, plus I filled the tank up and had new tires put on since the old ones were nearly bald and there was no way it was going to pass inspection.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You’re such a cop,” he laughed.

  “It’s the least I could do. Silas inadvertently saved my life by saving yours and getting you here to me.”

  “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

  “I can follow you out there. That way, we can take a look and see if there’s anything you want to salvage before it’s lost for good.”

  “I’d like that,” Jason said softly.

  “Let’s get going then.”

  She tossed him a black felt hat and admired the man standing in front of her.

  “I feel like I’m on the farm again.”

  He admired his round-toed boots and the boot cut jeans.

  “No one will recognize you like this, and you’ll fit in with every other Texan driving a large truck around town.”

  “Good thinking. I guess it’s an added bonus that I look good.”

  “You look sexy,” she admitted.

  She bit her lip, trying to keep her mouth from saying what she was thinking. He looked good enough to eat, and she was wondering how much trouble they would get into if she ravished him right then and there.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s going to have to wait until my stitches come out next week.”

  “A week? I don’t think I can wait that long.”

  “You’re going to have to, Tiger. If I pull my stitches again, I’m going to be in trouble.”

  Lilly rolled her eyes and slung her bag over her shoulder.

  “Let’s go then. Adam is waiting in the car.”

  Jason followed her into the elevator. She caught his gaze and realized that he was laughing.

  “What?”

  “Were you planning on taking me right there in the hospital room?”

  “The thought had crossed my mind.”

  “Wow, you did miss me.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.”