Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
God, I should be so angry at her for being here, but damn.
She pulls a Ziploc out of her backpack and carefully places the cup inside and hands it to me.
“Why don’t you take it to Blake?” I say. “Ralph and I need to have words.”
“Jason, he’s not going to admit anything to you.”
“Oh, he will. I’m going to get him to admit everything.”
“How?”
“His Achilles’ heel,” I say. “Lindsay.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Angie
I leave at Jason’s insistence and take the cup to Blake’s office. He promises to take it to the lab right away to get dusted for fingerprints, and he’s going to talk to the DA about the handwriting.
Of course, none of this absolves Jason. And all the evidence so far about Ralph murdering Lindsay is circumstantial.
We have a long way to go.
I’m not sure where to turn until I realize Henry is probably still in town. I give him a call.
“Hey, Ange,” he says into my ear. “Great timing. I just got out of a meeting. What’s up?”
“I need some help,” I say.
“Anything for my little sis. Though I’m due in another meeting in fifteen. What do you need?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Can you abbreviate it?”
“Sure. Say a guy has been beaten up and is framing another guy for it. How do I prove he paid someone to inflict the damage?”
Henry pauses. “Security footage is the best way.”
“Except I don’t know where it took place.”
“So this isn’t a hypothetical?” His tone adopts an edge. “Ange, is everything okay? Are you safe?”
“I’m fine, Henry, but we don’t have much time. Just answer my questions. I’ll tell you the whole story later.”
“Okay.” He sighs. “Promise me that you’re safe.”
“Yes. Completely safe.”
Probably a lie, but I don’t need Henry freaking out. I especially don’t need him freaking out our parents and the rest of the family.
“All right.” He pauses again. “Are you sure it wasn’t a random attack?”
“I mean, it could have been, but that would be a little too convenient given the circumstances.”
“Not too many guys would just let themselves get beaten to a pulp.”
“A narcissist would, if it meant he got what he wanted out of the deal.”
“A narcissist?”
“Yeah. I mean, I sat through a psychiatry lecture about narcissistic personality disorder yesterday, and this guy—”
“Wait, wait, wait,” he says. “I think you’re going to have to tell me the whole story, sis. And don’t leave out any details. Start with how you’re involved in something like this.”
“But your meeting—”
“Can wait. You’re more important.”
I smile into the phone. My brothers would move the world for Sage and me. We Steels stick together. Family is first and family is everything.
And I’m beginning to think of Jason as family.
I’m not sure if Jason wants me telling his whole story to my brother, but I make an executive decision.
My family has connections. Henry has connections. He’s in town, and he can help. He will help if I ask him to.
So I pour out the whole story.
When I’m done, he’s silent a moment. Until—
“You’re sleeping with your professor?”
“Christ, Henry, that’s what you got out of all that?”
“No, and of course I’ll help. I don’t want to see an innocent man go down for something he didn’t do. We need to find out if there’s any security footage around this guy’s building.”
“He lives in an apartment in Boulder. Jason was at his house a couple of nights ago. That’s how we found out that Ralph is actually this Ronny Burgundy fellow.”
“That doesn’t really tell you anything. Not unless the fingerprints match. The address could’ve just been wrong.”
“Seems a little too convenient, doesn’t it?”
“I admit it does,” he says. “I just don’t want to get your hopes up. The good news is that most apartment buildings, especially in the Boulder area, have security cameras, so while we may not be able to see what happened inside his apartment, we should be able to see who came in and out.”
“I’m sure Blake Haywood has thought of that.”
“I’m sure he has, but in case he hasn’t, let me make a few phone calls.”
“What kind of phone calls?”
“To a judge who owes our family a favor. Here in Boulder County. I can secure some warrants for any security camera footage.”
“You can? What about Ralph’s apartment? Can you get a search warrant?”
“No. Everything is circumstantial.”
“What if the fingerprints match?”
“Well, if they do, and with testimony from the handwriting expert, I might be able to grease a few wheels.”
“Okay, good. But in the meantime, we can at least look at security footage, right?”
“Yeah, that shouldn’t be an issue at all.”
“Can you make the call today?”
“Yeah. It’s getting close to five o’clock, but I have the judge’s private line.”
I look down, sighing softly. “Sometimes it pays to be a Steel.”
“Angie, it always pays to be a Steel. Don’t ever forget that, and always be grateful for our connections.”