EPILOGUE

Lillian's heart pounded with excitement. She really needed to get that under control. It was all right to enjoy herself, but she needed to keep her cool.

West always kept his cool. Even when he was taking a life in his hands, he kept his cool. Gods didn't lose control.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Slowly, her heartbeat calmed. She opened her eyes and grinned. "Okay. Let's get this done."

She started the engine and pulled from the parking lot. She liked this car. It wasn't too fancy, but it was comfortable. The air conditioning worked, and the radio worked, and it was fast enough that she could drive it on the highways no problem. It was an older car, but that was fine. It wasn't so old that it would attract attention.

The owner of the vehicle slid to the side in the backseat. Lillian frowned and swore. She pulled to the side and parked the car, then quickly got out and crossed to the passenger side, glancing furtively around.

There were no cars around at the moment, but this was Philly. There was no such thing as a deserted highway here. Someone would come soon enough.

She opened the rear door and pulled the body to a sitting position. The body tried to roll out of the vehicle, and Lillian stumbled backward, nearly falling.

"God damn it, would it have killed you to eat a fucking salad once or twice?"

She looked around again, afraid someone would have heard her outburst. No one showed their faces in the somewhat distant apartment building behind her.

She quickly cinched the body down into the seat, tightening the belt and spreading the legs to distribute the weight so it wouldn't slide again. She rushed back into the driver's seat, cheeks burning.

Damn it, she had lost control again. Only for a moment, but she needed to stop that. One of these times, she would make a mistake and get caught. She couldn't afford to make mistakes, not until she finished with Bold.

"This'll be a good one," she said. The thought caused a grin to spread across her face. "Betcha dollars to donuts, this gets her attention."

She pulled back out onto the street, her embarrassment gone in the excitement of screwing with Faith "the Whore" Bold's mind again.

She couldn't wait until she could tell West all about what she was doing to Faith. She could imagine his approving smile, the admiration in his voice when he told her that she was the greatest woman he'd ever met.

"So much better than Faith Bold ," she said.

She began to bounce in her seat, unable to contain her excitement. This little message would be waiting for Faith when she got back from her case. There would be no way for anyone to claim that it was some robbers trying to throw the cops off the scent. Lillian would make it very clear that there was only one purpose for her actions.

She would break Faith Bold. She would do what West couldn't.

And when West learned of her victory, he would understand that the two of them were meant to be together.