I stared at the window aimlessly the dark scenery illuminated slightly from the car lights. We'd been driving for an hour with only the sound of radio drifting in the background. I fell in and out of sleep as the white noise of the tires on the rough highway combined with the gentle lulling of the car urged my lids shut. Lyle's head sat in my lap and though her eyes were closed I knew she was wide awake.
"What are you thinking about?" Lyle asked shaking me from my blurred mind as I refocused on her.
Her eyes were open and I couldn't help but smile at the way she looked at me even though her face was filled with concern. I brushed a piece of wavy hair behind her ear and sighed.
"He was talking about my mother," I recalled Monroe's chilling words that pierced my heart.
"Don't let anything or anyone get in your way."
The words played over and over in the back of my mind.
"Beth, Ivy, you, me. He had to be. We know what he's capable of, how could others not see? I mean he was bragging outright." I felt breathless as I let my emotions go. "I'm not upset that we went - you know I'll do anything to bring justice for my mother and Beth and Ivy but I didn't expect any of this. The trophy, the gun." I fell speechless and looked away from Lyle's gaze.
She rose and scooted herself to sit next to me. Bringing her hand to my head I allowed her to hold me as she recounted what had happened to Frankie. How we found a gun in his desk drawer, how Monroe boasted about the media outlets presence during next week's big announcement and the terrifying advice he gave to his underling.
I didn't cry though I knew that any normal person should, but I couldn't find the energy. Not for crying. I needed to focus on something else. Like whatever was on the flash drive we downloaded off Monroe's computer. In one week he would be assuming the official title as the head of the company and I worried that once he accrued that much power it would be even harder to bring him down.
"We found something else." Lyle flipped her phone open to the photo of the lily pad trophy and handed it to Frankie as she explained its significance.
"And you think-"
"We don't know." Lyle finished.
"We have to go to it." I mumbled into Lyles chest before drawing away.
"May." She warned but I ignored her.
"There could be something there, a photo, someone who remembers-"
Lyle struggled with my reasoning and her response came out bluntly. "It's been over twenty years."
"That's what we thought when we went to his office." I countered.
"It was dumb luck. We almost got caught. You're talking about going to a public place during the day when we can't be sure Monroe or his other cronies are or are not there."
"So? What if we get lucky again? Is there some kind of rule against that? Christ, the universe owes me two strings of luck – it owes us."
She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "I don't want you to get your hopes up, ok? Monroe is smart. Even if we find something that ties him to your mother that isn't evidence he killed her. Frankie will look through his finances and we can catch him." She took my hands in hers. "This is a safe bet."
"I don't want a safe bet." I shook my head. "If we somehow manage to get him for fraud or bribery or whatever that won't put him away forever. He has money, he has lawyers. He is a fucking snake I know he can slither out of anything that isn't concrete. We are the only ones who know what he's done. What he's done to Ivy and Beth, to us, and to my mother. We need more than one plan. Frankie should keep looking but I am going to the Lily Pad Place." I didn't realize my voice had raised until I was full on yelling.
My hands retreated and I folded them over my locket. There was no way I could hold off from following my mother's story to the very end. No matter how much I learned I needed closure and in the pit of my stomach I felt that the Lily Pad Place could give that to me.
Lyle and I shared a long look and I could see the fighting inside of her. She wanted to protect me from what I might find but on the same hand she knew I couldn't let it go. I needed to follow my mother's path like a painter needed a brush.
Her jaw tensed before softening as she answered. "I'll be there with you."