Page 106 of Necessary Evil

Chapter 23

A MONTH LATER

Lucy slung her briefcase onto the couch after a long, high-pressure day in her new office. She hated being a prosecutor. The only reason she’d let Cynthia talk her into it was because she needed to get the hell out of Babylon. She couldn’t see Jenny’s desk without thinking of her, and then there was the chance that she might run into one of the SOBs.

New job, new apartment, new life.

She missed Evil. But she couldn’t bring herself to call him. And he hadn’t made the first move to call her either. Maybe it was for the best. Evil had been cleared of any wrongdoing. Bobby’s knife with her blood on it and the cuts on her neck were enough to deem it a justifiable homicide. She buried Bobby next to their parents in a small ceremony. Even though the Sentinels of Babylon were there in their Sunday best, she hadn’t talked to any of them. It had been cowardly to use Travis as her shield, but no one approached her while he was at her side.

Jenny’s death had been ruled a homicide when a draft of an email she had been working on surfaced on her work computer. She had been ready to admit that Bobby had given her his credit card and told her to buy whatever she wanted at the mall while he was home sick with the flu over the weekend—the same weekend that airport security camera footage proved that Bobby had been using his friend’s passport to travel to California.

Lucy poured herself a generous glass of Blanton’s with the intent of taking it out onto her balcony to enjoy one of the last days of summer. But when she opened the screen door, she looked up in time to see a spiderweb stretched across the doorway. She was eye to eyes with a garden spider the size of her thumb. The tumbler dropped to the floor and sloshed seventy-dollar bourbon all over her carpet. Walking backward, Lucy tripped over the coffee table and landed on her butt on the floor. She couldn’t take her eyes off the spider.

Breathe.

A whimper escaped her.

She tried logic. It’s not poisonous. It’s not even as big as the Australian ones.

But logic gave way to panic as a breeze made the web sway.

It was going to come into her apartment. It might even be blown into the room and land on her.

Lucy screamed and backpedaled to the couch. Fumbling through her purse, she pulled out her cellphone. But who the hell was she going to call?

She started to cry. Jenny was dead. Bobby was dead. Her boss would think she was an idiot. Travis would get the wrong idea. The cops she worked with would never let her forget this, and then there would be spiders everywhere. Shuddering now, Lucy rocked back and forth.

This is ridiculous. Get hold of yourself.

But she couldn’t. She scrolled to Evan and hesitated a moment. He wouldn’t laugh at her. He might not even answer if she called. But it was either call him or spend the night in a hotel. The spider crawled up the web and Lucy shrieked. She pressed the number to speed-dial him.

“Counselor.” His voice was wary, as if he was expecting a fight.

The tears came down harder now. Lucy couldn’t breathe or speak.

“Lucy?” His voice sharpened, with an edge of menace in it.

It broke the spell, and she took in a shaky breath.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Evil,” she said, unable to call him by his real name. Her voice shook. “I didn’t know who else to call. This is stupid. I’m sorry I bothered you.” There was too much baggage, too many things left unsaid between them. She’d figure out something. Maybe one of her neighbors could shut the door for her. Or she could drink the whole bottle of bourbon and run up and slam it herself.

“Don’t you fucking dare hang up on me.”

Lucy’s head jerked back in shock.

“Where are you?” he repeated. “I can have the entire Babylon police force ready to roll in five minutes.”

“No!” Jeez Louise, that was all she needed—twenty cop cars roaring into the neighborhood and storming her apartment for one spider.

“I’m not asking you again. Tell me where you are or I’ll call in every favor I can to trace your cellphone.”

Lucy wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. “Just you.”

“Fine.”

She gave him her new address. So much for keeping him out of her life. But now she realized that she didn’t want to.