Page 80 of Hard Evidence
“They said you shouldn’t call Justin.I’m not Justin.”
“I guess,” she conceded, but I wasn’t confident she’d call.She was scared.We all were.
“And don’t let him in.”
“I won’t.I absolutely won’t.”She sniffed, and I fished the tissues out of my purse.“I just want this to be over.”
So did we all.
“Sophy wasn’t kidding about Saige’s crocodile tears.”Alexa rolled her eyes.“Fifteen thousand likes, twelve thousand comments, and you don’t want to know how many shares.”
We watched the full video, five minutes of sobbing with a link to a JustFundIt appeal in the comments to “help with the family’s expenses during this difficult time.”Folks had donated over three thousand bucks already.
“Ironic, considering she might have caused all this,” Dawson said.
“Ironic?”Violet was pacing the room.“More like infuriating.Should I post something on my socials?I have way more followers than she does.”
“No, because it’ll only draw more attention to the accusations.”Justin’s expression softened.“But I appreciate the offer.”
Earlier, Justin had called Saige to ask if she knew anything about the debt collector because if Sophy was right, then Saige was behind his visit.But Saige had angrily denied all knowledge of the man and responded with a BuzzHub post that strongly suggested Justin was behind Amie’s disappearance.Not strongly enough that Justin could sue her, Alexa said, but Norquist Construction’s server had crashed from the volume of nasty emails, and the company’s online reviews were tanking too.This was so unfair.He was the one who’d reported Amie missing.He was the only person who’d been looking for her from the start.
Shiro dropped a moccasin on my knee.He understood I was stressed, and he was trying to comfort me in the only way he knew how.
“Whose is this?”
“Alexa’s,” Dawson told me.“Can’t you tell by the size?”
Crap, there were teeth marks.“I’m so sorry.As soon as I have the money, I’ll replace them.”
Alexa didn’t answer, just kept on typing furiously.
“She doesn’t care about slippers,” Chase said, setting a mug of coffee in front of me.“I’ll buy her a new pair.”
Making the drinks was my job, but when I sat on the couch, Justin had tucked an arm around my shoulders, holding me in place as Chase took over.
Meeting Ridge’s friends had been awkward.The men were real friendly, but the women would whisper among themselves and then fall silent when I came near, and some didn’t hide their looks of disgust.It wasn’t my fault I didn’t have their polish.My mom had worked three jobs so we could eat, and I’d only been to college because I landed a full ride.Meeting Justin’s friends was a different kind of awkward.Dawson had raised an eyebrow, but apart from that, everyone acted as if this monumental shift in our relationship were nothing unusual.Tell that to my heart.It was beating in a wild staccato.
Violet checked her phone.“You’re still winning.Thirty-two thousand likes now.”
Saige’s post wasn’t the only thing that had gone viral in the last twenty-four hours.It seemed I’d underestimated how many people loved chocolate cake, and how many of my old fans also followed Saylor.BakeHub was going to bat for me.
“Good thing you’re dropping the Packer,” Dawson said, looking across at Violet’s screen.“There are a lot of Pecker memes being posted.”
Ridge had found the video too.He’d left a comment demanding I take it down, only to get pounced on by several thousand angry women.At least one of them had found out where he lived because she’d snuck onto the driveway, spray-painted a limp penis on his Mercedes using whipped cream, and posted a photo.
“Oh dear,” I deadpanned.
“Uh-oh, he’s threatening to sue.”Violet scowled at her phone.“What a douche.”
“What would he sue for?Everything I posted is factual, and the discovery process would be wild.”
Ridge’s favourite topic of discussion?Himself.I’d actually listened when he talked about various legal cases, and during the years we’d been married, I’d learned quite a bit.Enough to know that Ridge would never take me to court for defamation, although getting a picture of his inadequate dick admitted into evidence would be a high point if he was dumb enough to try.
“Okay, I’ve nuked Saige’s BuzzHub account,” Alexa announced.“But the problem is a bunch of true-crime fans already saw the video, and they’ve downloaded their own copies.One podcaster made the link between Justin and Blackstone House, and now they’re all reporting on it.”
“Oh hell,” he muttered.
“Yeah, this isn’t going to die quietly.Jessalyn, you said the guy you saw in the stairwell was wearing a leather jacket?”
