Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Eventually, that lawyer came. But only after I’d been sitting there so long that I was dehydrated, and I was sick with worry about my sister.
Speaking of sister…I really needed to figure out what was going on with her. She seemed sad lately, and I wondered if, possibly, it was me.
If I’d been out too much while she’d been at home.
Maybe I needed to take her to a ball game soon. She loved watching me play.
And even though I didn’t play all that much anymore—pickup games with a local softball team didn’t count—I’d bet my life’s fortune she’d still like to sit there next to me and watch a game.
“Now,” Sunny urged, “tell me when you realized that there was cocaine in the walls of your old house.”
“I won’t speak to you until my lawyer says that I can,” he grumbled in reply.
Sunny crossed his arms over his chest, then took a seat on the arm of the couch that Denny was parked in front of.
He tapped his foot for a few long seconds before he said, “Then you can listen to my theories. How about that?”
Denny’s mouth thinned into an unhappy line.
“I think that there are a few extenuating circumstances that you have going for you,” Sunny said. “First, you’re trusting the wrong woman.”
I frowned, wondering what in the hell was going on with that comment.
Was he talking about Greer?
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Denny grumbled darkly.
“Sure you don’t,” Sunny smiled. “But I’d just like to tell you, trusting Asia Ortiz is going to backfire on you.”
My mouth fell open.
Thank God I was in the shadows across the room, because my surprise, and the goddamn gasp that left my throat, would’ve put a damper on Sunny’s interrogation.
Asia.
Greer’s mother.
What the hell did she have to do with this?
“Would you like me to walk you through a time line scenario?” Sunny asked Denny.
I sure the hell would.
“Sure,” Denny sneered. But he also looked kind of shifty, too. As if he wasn’t sure if he liked where Sunny was going with this line of questioning.
Or would it be discussing?
“Asia Ortiz came into town like a tornado looking for her next fix,” Sunny said. “She went to her daughter’s house, took advantage of a daughter’s love, stole her car and then stopped by her daughter’s place of work to see if she could find anything else important there.”
Denny blinked.
I did, too.
Because I had a horrible feeling I knew where this was going.
“When she got there, she didn’t find what she wanted, and instead of leaving empty-handed, she decided to try to break into a safe in Greer’s boss’s office. Instead of being able to break into it, she found herself facing the owner. Herb. Herb, startled to find her in his office trying to break into his safe, reacted like anyone would. Defensively. So Asia reacted like any cornered animal would. She attacked. And killed him with a letter opener. Stabbing him eight times in the chest. She then went back to her daughter’s house, washed off the evidence, and inadvertently found your drugs when she went into a spare bedroom and found a closet with no clothes in it. Frustrated, she kicked the door closed hard, and something dropped out of the ceiling. Your cocaine from when you lived here last.”
My mouth fell open.
How the hell had he found all this out? Pieced it all together?
I stayed silent, even though it was absolutely killing me.
“I, uh, I…” Denny squeezed his lips closed, as if he was trying to will himself not to say anything incriminating.
“According to Asia, she called you and bartered with you. You go get your things out of her daughter’s house, and she’ll cut you a deal by not telling anyone it was ever there,” Sunny said. “In return, you share half the profits with her.”
Denny looked down at his lap.
“Am I getting warm?” Sunny asked.
Sounded like he was hotter than the sun to me.
“You’re making this all up,” Denny countered, trying to sound bold but coming off as scared and defensive instead.
“I’m not making any of this up,” Sunny disagreed, sounding almost sad. “Evidence showed that Asia Ortiz was the one who murdered Herb Greeza. Greeza was good friends with the Paranormal Society storefront across the street. They had video evidence of Asia Ortiz entering the building and exiting the building across the street where her daughter worked. From there, we were able to put a warrant out for her arrest. She was captured in Wichita Falls and extradited here two nights ago.” Sunny smiled. “And then sang like a canary in order to lessen her sentence. You were mentioned multiple times.”
Ho-ly shit.
Sunny walked over to the man that was still sitting on the floor. “I don’t necessarily need you to speak with me. Right now, we just need you to get down to the station.”