Page 86 of Hard Evidence
“Still, he’d be dumb to show up at her fucking home.”
“Plenty of criminals are dumb.A guy tried to rob the AnyBet sports bar last month, and he wrote the holdup note on his hotel keycard wallet.The cops arrested him a half hour later in his room at the Nile Palace.”
“If someone snatched Amie, they were either incredibly lucky or incredibly smart.They had a tiny window to grab her while Justin got into his truck, and they managed to pull off the abduction without being spotted.”
“Or maybe Justin was the lucky one?Because if Jessalyn hadn’t shown up at his place with her dog, he’d be the prime suspect.”
The two women looked at each other, and puzzle pieces clicked into place.Fuck.
“He was supposed to be home alone,” Jez said.“Most nights, he was home alone.Even before he split with Melanie, she spent most of her time in New York.”
“Damn.I mean, it’s possible.Plausible, even.But isn’t kidnapping a woman to frame him slightly dramatic?And what would the real culprit get out of it?”
Jez nodded toward the screen.“I bet you ten bucks that when Amie shows up, she’ll be dead with a pentagram on her chest.”
The colour drained from Ari’s face.She might be Choir-adjacent, but she worked in a strictly investigative capacity.She wasn’t running around with a gun.In fact, she’d probably left her semi-automatic at home again.
“Are you serious?You think Levi hired someone to kill Amie so he could point the finger away from himself?”
“Come up with another scenario that fits.”
“I can’t,” Ari said finally.“But even if our theory is right, we’re still no closer to finding Amie.Or pointing the finger at Levi.”
“One of us needs to go back to Reverence and answer the next question—if Justin was going to hide a body, where would he put it?I’ll warn you now—he’ll get into a snit when we ask him.”
“Then you can go.”
“Let’s flip for it.”
Jez fished her lucky silver dollar out of her pocket.The coin had been a gift from her father, and it went everywhere with her.Light glinted off the metal as she tossed it into the air.
“Tails,” Ari called.
Jerry caught the coin.“Heads.Have fun in Reverence.”
Thanks, Dad.
CHAPTER32
JUSTIN
“Are you serious?First the cops more or less accuse me of murder, and now you?”
Justin scrubbed a hand through his hair as he paced the living room.Ari wanted to know where he’d hide a body?Fuck her.She was supposed to be a friend.
He’d spent Thursday morning at the police station being questioned again, this time by the state police.Two detectives, Rimer and Koch.His new lawyer—recommended by Grey, which meant he was an asshole, but the kind of asshole Justin wanted on his side—had suggested just…not going.But Justin worried that by refusing to answer questions, he’d look guilty.And he’d done nothing wrong.
So he’d sat through another interview, this time as a suspect rather than a witness, as the cops tried to pick apart his life in general and his alibi in particular.The woman—Special Agent Rimer—kept asking why he’d broken up with Melanie.Had she found out he was cheating with Amie?The lawyer jumped in to stop him from answering that question, but it was clear where their thoughts were going.
They’d been particularly interested in his visit to Ruby’s grave.The forty-five-minute drive to the cemetery, the half hour he’d spent talking to his old friend, telling her everything that had happened in the past year.The proposal, the breakup, the flame-haired beauty who’d knocked on his door out of the blue.He’d left out the one-night mistake with the blonde—nobody needed to hear about that.
The detectives had told him they’d be in touch.
Worse, they wanted to speak to Jessie again.He’d vetoed that idea because she’d already made a statement, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold them off forever.The lawyer described her as “fiery,” but at that moment, she was slumped on the couch, looking drained from the toll this mess was taking on her.
She’d had his back from the start, and now she was one of the few people left defending him.
Ari was voicing doubts.
