Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
I was beyond impressed…and also slightly scared of the woman.
Not caring what Harry’s reaction to my next question would be, I asked, “Now, how do we get this information into the right hands to get Connie out of prison?”
His head snapped toward me. “What’s this now?”
“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Laura asked sweetly. “He set mom up to take the blame for it all. As you can see, she never had any of the money, and we kind of have an idea why he dropped that bank statement in one of the boxes.”
I blinked and then looked at Eva, who was glaring at her sister. “How the hell did you find that out?”
Instead of giving her an answer, Laura just tapped the side of her nose. “Given that both of the emails I just sent have been opened, read, and forwarded onto people already to action ASAP, I don’t think we’ll have to wait long to go to a lawyer with the appeal information.” Rubbing her hands together excitedly, she squealed, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
This time when Harry looked at me, it was with respect and a healthy dose of amazement.
“She’s fucking awesome,” he mouthed, shaking his head, and looking back at Laura, who was now crowing about what was already being assigned to investigators and how quickly they were looking into the information she’d forwarded them.
His phone ringing in his pocket dragged Harry’s attention away from the excited woman who was explaining things on her screen to Eva.
“Hey,” he greeted, not getting up and moving away from us for privacy. “Yeah, I know. Connie Ray’s daughters have been sleuthing away today and found where he hid it, so they got it back for you.”
He was quiet for a moment and then said tersely, “Yes, her daughters. One of them has even sent everything they need to lock him up to the IRS and FBI.”
The women finally looked up from the computer, their eyes locked on him nervously as he listened to what the person I assumed was his uncle was saying now. “He set up Connie, she had nothing to do with it. Yeah, I think they’re taking what they have to her lawyer to appeal it, too.”
Unsure of what else was going to say, I pounced on the topic of the lawyer to distract them. “Okay, who’s your lawyer?”
“Jay Powell, he’s who handled Mom’s case the last time,” Eva replied, not looking all that happy about the fact, and with good reason.
“Jay Powell, the guy whose picture with him shooting the thumbs up at people with a glow-in-the-dark smile freaks people out when they pass the board on their way into Chicago?” They couldn’t be serious.
“He’s the only one we could get at the time,” Laura explained, the expression on her face matching her sister’s. “He did it for half of what all the other lawyers were asking, but that was likely because Mom had worked for a couple of them, and they didn’t want any bad press.”
“He’s a piece of shit,” Eva sighed, dropping her head back onto the cushion behind her. “He kept missing appointments in the lead up to the trial, and even then, I’m not sure there should have even been one. She confessed to it all aside from the safe-deposit boxes and the accounts in our names. Isn’t that meant to rule out the need for one?”
I knew just the man to ask about it all, but I didn’t want to raise their hopes in case he had a full workload. “I think it depends on the case, but there was likely a trial because of those two things.”
“He’s still billing us for her, you know,” Eva mumbled, ignoring the glare her sister shot her at the revelation. “Every month, he sends an invoice through for admin fees and hours he’s supposedly worked on the case. Like he’s going to do anything to change the outcome after almost thirteen years.”
Laura’s eyes widened. “He what? How much is he invoicing you for?”
Eva shrugged. “It averages around six hundred dollars a month.”
Her sister’s mind went to the same place mine had—attempting to add up the amount that came to in total.
Laura’s head shot around so she could look at me in amazement. “She never told me.” Then, turning back to her, she snapped, “Why didn’t you ever tell me? I tell you everything!”
“No, you don’t.”
Placing the laptop on the coffee table like it was crystal, Laura spun back and yanked a chunk of Eva’s hair, making her squawk. “I do, too.”
“What’s happening?” Harry whispered, obviously having ended the call with his uncle during the last minute.
I didn’t answer because the argument between the sisters got more heated, with both of them standing up as they poked and glared at each other.
“You don’t tell me everything. What about that scientist you dated last month? I had to find out about him by hearing about it from Nadine at work.”