Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“I doubt it,” Cole said. “I know he was poking around in your father’s business.” He turned to face me again. “A few years after your kidnapping, around the time of that third contract with Chiapas Co., Ford changed. He distanced himself from your father.“
I wasn’t around to corroborate that, but Hope clearly remembered. She nodded at me.
“They still worked together,” Hope filled in, “but he moved out. There was a chill between them.”
“He took one of the suites at the Inn,” Royal said. “He kept his rooms here. Most of his stuff was here, but he lived at the Inn. I wouldn’t say we were close, but he’d come down for dinner a few times a week, and we’d have a beer once in a while. We never talked about Dad, though.”
“So there’s more,” Griffen said. “He never told you anything?” he asked Cole.
Cole shook his head. “I didn’t know the details of the will or what your father said about Ford screwing him over, and Ford never mentioned anything about it. Maybe he stirred something up, and one of Prentice’s enemies came after him, framing Ford to silence him.”
“Then why hasn’t Ford said anything?” Royal asked.
“Maybe Ford couldn’t find anything, and that’s why he hasn’t mentioned it,” Cole said, shrugging. “These contracts are useless if he was trying to bring Prentice down. Maybe that was all he had, and your father used the video will to throw out a red herring and fuck with all of you.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I said.
Silence fell again. We had too many questions and no answers. There was nothing else to say.
Griffen sat back, the file folders in his hands, his eyes on Cole. “I never asked why you’re here.”
Surprise flashed across Cole’s face. “I forgot. I walked in and saw that briefcase, and everything else went out of my head.” He cleared his throat. “It probably wasn’t worth the drive from town, but I was headed this way anyway. The DA who was pushing for Ford to get the maximum sentence left the office this week. She took a position in private practice in Raleigh.”
“Does it matter at this point?” Hope asked.
“Maybe,” Cole said. “She was the reason I encouraged Ford to take the plea deal. She has a real thing about speaking truth to power and putting the privileged in their place, and she was going to make an example out of your brother. Her media presence is powerful, and she could have created a narrative that would not have looked good for him. Ford isn’t your father, but he doesn’t have an abundance of friends either.”
“But Ford already took the deal,” Griffen reminded him.
“He did. And right now I don’t have anything I can bring to the new DA. The old one wouldn’t look at anything short of a smoking gun or a confession. This new one is a little more open-minded. It’s not a guarantee, or even a good shot, but be alert. If you can find anything that might undermine the evidence they have, we might be able to work something out.”
Not exactly good news, but better than bad news. Considering we didn’t have any evidence that supported Ford’s innocence, we couldn’t do much anyway. I knew West had turned over every rock in the hopes of finding something—anything—that would have proven who really killed our father and had come up blank. Griffen had put the best investigators at Sinclair Security on the case, and they hadn’t been able to find anything either. While it was nice to hear that maybe there was a chance of having Ford’s guilty plea overturned, unless someone tripped over new evidence, I wasn’t holding out much hope.
Cole’s eyes landed on the briefcase. “Unfortunately, that’s only going to hurt him. His notes on those contracts support the idea that he was working against your father. Still, keep your eyes open. We might have another shot at getting him out. It’s a very long shot. But that’s better than the nothing we had before.”
Hawk and Griffen shared a glance, communicating perfectly without a sound. Hawk stepped back into the doorway, his eyes locking on Cole. “I’ll see you out, Haywood.”
We all watched them go, an awkward silence settling over the room. Griffen looked at me like he had things he wanted to say. I wasn’t ready to hear them. Not yet. I needed a minute. Some quiet. Alone. I needed to think about everything I’d learned.
Ever the peacemaker, Hope looked between us and stood up, bracing her lower back with her palms and rolling her shoulders. “Do you have a few minutes, Savannah? Can we bring those bins downstairs and take a look inside?”
Griffen was immediately distracted. “You’re not carrying one of those bins.”
Savannah turned to me and raised an eyebrow, silently nudging me to take the chance to escape.