Evil Never Dies

That’s when a man came into view. He was dressed in a dark fitted suit, and he stood directly in front of the girl, his back to the camera. He handed her a drink. They couldn’t see his face, but he had the same salt-and-pepper hair and big ears as Wayne Be

“Are they talking?” Salma asked.

“It’s hard to tell at this point,” Hayley said. “But I already sca

The man caught on tape walked out of the room, leaving the girl sitting alone on the couch once again.

“I’m going to fast-forward through part of this,” Hayley said. “The girl basically sips the drink as she looks around, her eyes darting from side to side. She definitely appears to be concerned about what’s happening. It won’t take long before you’ll see a change in her demeanor. I think it’s pretty clear she’s been drugged.”

Hayley moved the cursor on the bottom of the video, speeding through the video. When she stopped fast-forwarding, the young woman was slumped back onto the couch. The back of her hand went to her forehead. Her other hand grasped at the arm of the couch as if she was trying to pull herself upright.

The man with the salt-and-pepper hair entered the room again.

Only this time he was naked.

As he did the first time he’d entered the room, he came to stand directly in front of the woman. They appeared to be talking because you could see the woman using her hands as if she was explaining something to him. Her fingers then grasped the edge of the couch, and she again tried to raise herself to her feet. At that moment they had a clear shot of her face. She said the word no more than once and then tried to push him out of her way, but she looked confused and dizzy, clearly losing control of her motor skills.

The man placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down on the couch. He then used those same hands to grasp the back of her head and pull her to him.

“Oh, my God,” Salma said, “he’s not going to—”

The woman was struggling now, still trying to push him away. She used her fingernails to claw at the back of his thigh, drawing blood. His right hand curled into a fist, and he drew back and punched her in the face.

Salma gasped and then scooped her baby out of Tommy’s arms and hurried away.

The woman in the video was lying on the couch, crying. Wayne Be

Hayley stopped the video there. “I think we’ve seen enough. I need to call Lizzy.”

Kitally hung on tightly to the grab handle and prayed for her life.

Gus could drive about as well as he could walk. He’d already gone through two yellow lights and had been honked at by three drivers. By the time they pulled into the Shady Oaks parking lot, she was just glad to be alive.

Kitally climbed out of the car and waited for Gus to do the same.

The trunk popped open.

“Don’t just stand there,” he said. “Get my walker.”

“Make up your mind,” she muttered.

“What’s that? Are you being difficult?”

She pulled out his walker, unfolded the metal legs, and made sure it was ready to go before she placed it in front of him. “I’m not being difficult, Mr. Valentine. I just think you need to decide whether you want help or you don’t want help.”

He grunted. “Right now I want help.”

“There you go.”

The way he shook made her wonder if he had the onset of Parkinson’s. Her phone vibrated. She pulled it from her pocket. There was a text from her mom asking Kitally to give her a call when she had time.

“Just what the world needs,” he said as he took short, gingerly steps.

“What are you talking about?”

“Those contraptions that young people hold so dear to them. Everyone is attached to machines all day long. Nobody wants to stop and enjoy the sun in their face or sit on a bench and just look around for a bit, maybe do a little people watching. People need to take a minute to breathe without worrying about that Internet nonsense.”

“It’s sort of fun being co

“It’s nothing more than a tracking device. They’re watching you. Right now. Everyone knows what you’re doing.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Kitally asked him, trying to change the subject. “You do have one, don’t you?”

“We’re going to use the oldest trick in the book.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to distract them while you run into the room where they keep the files and get whatever it is you need.”

Kitally walked ahead and opened the door for him. “We need to talk to Betty first,” she said as he walked inside without so much as a grunt or a dirty look. “She’s the one who needs to tell me what exactly I’m looking for.”

“Fine. We’ll get the old badger first, but if she starts flirting with me, I’m go

“Well, you are an incredibly charming man,” Kitally said.

“Is that sarcasm I’m noting?”

“Are you kidding me? If I were thirty years older, I’d be chasing after you myself.”

He chuckled at that.

Kitally followed him inside and let the door swing shut behind her.

Two hours after Hayley had called Lizzy with the news that they had video images of Wayne Be

The man was short, with fiery-orange hair. His suit was wrinkled and his face was pale, probably due to too many hours behind a desk.

Grady shook Lizzy’s hand with a strong grip, then gestured for her to take a seat in the leather chair in front of his desk.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice.”

“Not a problem,” Grady said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. When I was told you had some damning evidence against Wayne Be

“You sound passionate about this case,” Lizzy said.

“And you sound surprised.”

“I guess I am. Be

“I think it’s safe to say I was as pissed off as you were when I got the news that the bastard was released on some absurd technicality.”

Lizzy decided she liked Grady Orwell. “Let’s get to it, then.” She handed him a file along with a flash drive. Then she set up her laptop on his desk and played the video.

Together they watched Wayne Be

“I do. It’s all in the file.”

“I am assuming you obtained this video illegally.”

“The file was left at my doorstep, and so, of course, I have no way of knowing how the video was obtained or who is responsible.”