Page 77 of Necessary Evil

“Sure, absolutely.” Hell, Lucy would have let her take it even if she hadn’t had the time. After Bobby’s issues and then Sentinel’s nonsense, Jenny had taken the full force of Albert’s anger at Sentinel storming into the office and throwing his weight around. Surprisingly, Albert didn’t care that Bobby had been accused of a double homicide; rather, the fact that Jenny’s ex and Lucy’s current boyfriend were what he called “dirt bags” was what caused the explosion. Lucy could only imagine the lecture she was in for tomorrow because she had basically told Albert to butt out and that she’d handle things. Then Jenny had to ruin that illusion by calling in the cavalry.

But they had been waiting for an excuse to raid the place. Interesting.

Angling the rearview mirror down, Lucy looked at her throat. There wasn’t a mark on it. Still sitting in the parking lot of The Blue Line, she dialed Travis’s number.

“Yes?” he said.

“I want to see the files you have on all the homicides you think were done by vigilantes.”

“And why should I do that?” He sounded amused, and her palm itched to slap him. All the violence from this afternoon must be still in her system.

“Because you want my help and I want to make sure that the SOBs aren’t behind this.”

Over the phone she heard footsteps and then the sound of a door closing. “If you know something, I can put you in protective custody,” he said quietly.

“I don’t know anything.” Lucy rubbed her forehead. “Nothing at all.”

“Come to my office tomorrow and we’ll discuss it.”

“It’s a date,” she said without humor.

After a few minutes, she put the car into gear and drove home. She refused to feel guilty about this. It wasn’t a betrayal if she looked at Travis’s files because they had nothing to do with the SOBs. She would ask Evan point-blank tonight, and then when he told her he wasn’t some Punisher superhero who went around slaughtering evildoers, she would prove it to Travis.

But what if he is?

Lucy snorted. Yeah, and maybe Bobby really did commit those murders.

That wasn’t as funny as she’d thought it would be. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t doubt Evan. If she had given her father the benefit of the doubt, maybe he wouldn’t have died a broken man. But what if Evan actually had killed those people?

As if her thoughts had conjured him, Bobby called. She activated the Bluetooth device and his voice crackled over the car’s speakers.

“Hey, sis. What’s up?”

“Not much,” Lucy said, not wanting to get into it.

“I gotta tell you, I don’t think you should see Evil anymore.”

What is this? A conspiracy?“Butt out.”

“He and his friends seem violent and dangerous. I don’t like how quick Sentinel lost his temper with Jenny. I don’t want that for you.”

Her heart warmed at his caring words. They were finally becoming a family again. She pushed her traitorous thoughts about his innocence to the back of her mind. “I appreciate your concern, but I know what I’m doing.”

“Well, I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to,” she replied.

He sighed. “All right, I’ll let the topic drop for now.”

“I appreciate that.”

“Guess where I am?”

“I can’t even begin to guess.” She turned into the parking lot in front of her apartment complex. Scanning it for Pyros, Lucy was relieved there weren’t any bikers.

“Atlantic City.”

“What? Why?”