Found With Murder by Jenn Vakey Page B

insistence.
    Rilynne considered sitting down in one of the patio chairs next to it, but decided just to sit on the top step.  As she leaned her head against the banister, Ben sat down beside her and let out a pained groan.
    “I hate this,” she said.  Her voice cracked from the tears building in her throat.  “I hate lying to everyone.  Lori's my best friend and all I do is deceive her.  I try to rationalize everything by saying it's necessary, but it doesn't help.  Stuff like this just makes it harder.”
    “I know,” he said, running his fingers gently through her hair.  He was being sweet, but he didn't really know; he couldn't understand what it was like.  While he had also lied to everyone, his lie was one of omission.  It wasn't like anyone out right asked him how much money he happened to have stored away.  With her it was different.  She had to concoct stories to tell just so no one would wonder how she arrived at some of the things she did.  With Lori, she had to completely keep things that she knew, things about her missing child, to herself. 
    For the first time in her life, Rilynne found herself seriously considering telling everyone what she could do and what she had seen.  While she knew it could end up costing her everything, she wouldn't care as long as it meant they had a better chance of bringing Kim home.
    “It wouldn't make any difference if they knew what you had seen,” Ben said, as if he could read her mind.  “Everything of importance is being looked into.  The only things you're holding back are the things Lori never needs to hear.  If you told her what you saw while we were out at our spot, what do you think would happen the next time it rained?”
    Our spot.   Though there trips to the clearing had become more frequent, she had always considered it Ben's special place, to which she was an occasional guest.  What he said was right, though.  The only thing that would come from telling Lori that one particular vision was worry.
    “What about the other ones?” she asked.  “Don't you think it would help to shift the investigation if I could tell them what I felt from the man who took her?”
    “Rilynne,” he said gently, taking her hand into his.   “You may have felt what he was feeling, but you didn't see the reasoning behind it.  What if you did tell them and they decided to focus on sex offenders, being that it's the first thing to come to mind.  If there was another reason behind the feeling, it might be overlooked completely.  You know how to keep from being distracted or led by what you see; it won't be the same for them.  For right now, it's better that you can give them the idea to work with on their own.”  He smiled and gently pulled her chin up so she would meet his eye.  “If you decide that you want to tell everyone what you can do, I will stand beside you and support you one hundred percent.  This isn't the time to make the decision, though.”
    She pushed off of the banister and rested her head against his shoulder.  “You're right,” she said softly.  “There's so much going on right now that I'm not thinking straight.  It happens from time to time.”  She grinned as she thought back.  “The last time was when we found out that Nicole was behind the killings and she had you.”
    He turned to face her, raising a bemused eyebrow.  “You considered outing yourself to find me?”
    “Does that really surprise you?” she asked.
    “Well, being that we barely knew each other, yeah,” he said honestly.
    “We didn’t just barely know each other,” she responded.  “The feeling of excitement I would get around you notwithstanding, I still considered you a very good friend.  I completely shut down when I found that note on my door, not unlike Lori’s been these past few days.  It didn’t do anything to stifle Wilcome’s curiosities about us.  I actually think it was one of the main reasons he pushed to have the