Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 85876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
“My client will not be speaking with you this evening,” his lawyer says, standing to greet us.
“We have proof he raped a girl tonight,” Miles says calmly, but knowing him I don’t miss the edge to his tone.
“Can you prove she was raped?”
“She knows what was done to her,” I bite out, not as good at hiding my emotions as Miles is.
“That was nothing more than two people caught up in the moment and the girl later having regrets after fearing what her parents might think about her having sex before marriage,” he weasels, and my hands ball into fists to avoid wrapping them around his gangly little neck. “Until you can prove he raped her, it’s his word against hers.” He looks between us again with a slimy smile. “I think you both know how this works.” He turns to Steven. “Let’s go.”
With my teeth gritted, I watch Steven get up. As fucked up as it is, he’s right. All we have is Livy’s word against his, and no judge is going to allow us to hold him on that alone. And I do not want us to fuck ourselves before we get the rape kit back. If we can prove he had been with Kristen before her death, chances are he will be going away for a very long time. If we rush this, we might blow everything and lose our chance at putting him behind bars.
So with my hands at my sides and Miles gritting his teeth, the two of us watch Steven walk out the door with his lawyer.
“I swear to God, when it comes time to arrest that motherfucker, I’m going to be the one putting the cuffs on him,” Miles growls low.
“Not if I get to him first.” I look over at my brother. “Livy is not going to be able to rest easy until she knows he’s behind bars.
“Yeah, and neither am I.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
miranda
With my hair still wet from the shower, I tie the silk robe Tucker bought for me around my waist and open the door to the bathroom. When I find Tucker in bed shirtless, with his back to the headboard and his eyes on the computer sitting on his lap, I bite my lip. For the last two weeks, the case he’s working on has been eating away at him.
His easy smiles are a thing of the past. I don’t know what to do to help him get them back, and I hate feeling helpless to help him.
After padding across his expansive bedroom, I put one knee onto the bed, and his eyes come to me. The soft smile he gives me is familiar, but it’s still not the same.
“Hey.” I move toward him on my knees, and when I’m close, he closes his laptop and sets it aside. I fall against his side and rest my head on his shoulder. “Were you working?”
“Checking email.”
I slide my hand over his stomach and prop my knee on his thigh. “Are you getting any closer on your case?”
“Still waiting on the testing to come back. Even expedited, the backlog of cases is fucking ridiculous.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hurry up and wait is the way these things go most of the time.” His hand slides down my thigh to the back of my knee. “I didn’t get a chance to ask about Carrie’s application. Did she get it turned in?”
Yesterday, Carrie came over to my apartment after school, and I helped her fill out the application for the college Nikki works at after she assured her that she wouldn’t have to pay a penny to attend. Between financial aid and a few scholarships Nikki found for her, she’ll actually be getting paid to go to school. And with it being local, she won’t need to find money for a dorm.
“She did, and I hand-delivered it to Nikki this afternoon.”
“Good,” he replies quietly, and I know he actually means that. He hasn’t told me everything about what is going on in Kristen’s case, but he has let me know that Carrie is no longer on his radar as a suspect or otherwise. I knew she wouldn’t be, but I’m happy to know I was right.
“What time does Kingston get home tomorrow?”
“In the morning. Patty is dropping him off here before she goes back home.” I tip my head back to look at him. “She told me when she called today that Naomie is no longer around and that Bowie let her know she and him are done.”
“Since she’s moving back to Colorado, I assumed as much,” he says, and my brows drag together.
“She’s moving?”
“When you walked out, I was reading over an email from her lawyer. She wants me to either buy her out of the house we owned or to put it on the market next month, because Naomie informed her today that she is moving.”