Page 131 of Hard Evidence
I let her words sink in.I’d fallen for an internet scam and accidentally stumbled into Dante’s Inferno.So many “what ifs” flew through my mind.What if I’d told Tiffany to get lost?What if the car had broken down a half hour earlier?What if Justin had sent me packing?
“Ten years,” Jerry said.“Levi’s been in prison for ten fucking years.”
“So what do we do about it?”Dawson asked.
“We work out what happened, and we fix it.”
But it wasn’t that simple.Justin had been locked up for two days, and I’d already heard the change in his voice.The fear.The hopelessness.He had all of us reassuring him, updating him, promising him we’d work until he was free.Who had been fighting for Levi?Nobody, not until Serafina came along.
If he truly was innocent, my heart ached for him.
And he wasn’t the only victim.
Ruby.
Amie.
Shiro.
“Did you find him?”I asked.“Shiro?”
They hadn’t brought him back to me, and I hated to think of his body out there in the forest.He’d died alone.He thought I’d abandoned him.
“Yeah, he got medevacked.”
“What?”
“I’ll be honest—he doesn’t look great.But we packed the wound with a haemostatic agent and winched him onto the helo.They’re taking him to a trauma centre.When we find out which one, Dawson can drive you.”
“The helo?”
Jerry pointed to the sky.“Helicopter.The big black machine that flies.”
“I’m not an idiot.Can they even do that?For a dog, I mean.”
“I just told them they were doing it, and they did, so… For fuck’s sake, don’t cry.”
“I c-c-can’t help it.”
“Try.”Jerry started walking toward the house, and the rest of us followed.“Nice shooting, by the way.”
“Uh, thanks?And thank you for finding Shiro.”
We had to walk past Ridge’s body to get home.The police had covered him with a sheet of plastic, but I still looked away.Even though he’d been a monster, I’d never wanted him to die.
Jerry glanced in his direction.“At least you don’t have to worry about a divorce now.”
A sob burst out of me, and Violet tried to offer comfort with an arm around my shoulders.
“Jerry…” Dawson warned.
“What?Someone had to say it.Guess that’s me, again.”
CHAPTER47
JUSTIN
Justin paused outside the detention centre and took a deep breath.The air smelled of freedom and…hamburger.There was a fast-food restaurant opposite.Two and a half days, he’d spent in custody, being herded between a cell and an interview room in cuffs and leg irons, and he’d discovered a newfound appreciation for the small things in life.Like shoelaces.
