“Why? Are you—”
“No. I’m not interested in women, men…nobody. I’m just focusing on me at the moment.”
“I get that. My money is the only thing that makes me cum right now.” She offered me a warm smile. “So, what do you say? You wanna hang out sometime? We can take it slow—maybe go out for lunch at work. I get the feeling you aren’t too trusting of people.”
I hesitated for a moment. She read me right. The only people I’d trusted in ten years outside of my aunt and uncle were locked behind bars. I knew I had to learn to trust other people on the outside at some point. Londyn seemed nice. I’d make sure to ask my uncle about her, but what could it hurt being friendly?
“Okay,” I said softly.
She clapped gleefully. “Awesome! Don’t worry. I’m gonna make sure you’re comfortable here. Let me give you the rundown on everybody.”
My lunch hour seemed to fly by listening to Londyn talk. I mean, she never stopped talking, but she seemed like a genuine person. I’d just have to get used to her. When lunch came to an end, I headed back to the office with Charlene. My uncle stopped me to check in, and I told him about lunch with Londyn. When I mentioned Theo, the frown on his face told me that maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.
He walked me to the office and told me he would take care of it. What did that mean?
“You had a good lunch?” Charlene asked.
“It was okay.”
“Well, I hope you’re energized and ready to jump back in.”
“I’m ready.”
We were about to get started on the next task when a slight commotion out front caught our attention. Charlene peeped through the blinds, and we saw that my uncle had Theo out front giving him what looked to be a stern talking to. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he had his finger in that man’s face and a frown on his own.
Theo raised his hands in surrender and shook his head frantically. The only thing I could make out was Uncle Clive saying,“Don’t fuck with her.”He left Theo standing there rubbing the back of his head. Charlene closed the blinds and sat back down.
“I wonder what that was about.” She shrugged as she signed into the computer.
I didn’t say anything. I just hoped I hadn’t opened a can of worms.
Chapter 8
Killian
“Ms. Thompson, my name is Killian Lake, your defense attorney. How are you today?”
“I gotta get outta here. I didn’t do anything.”
“I understand your concern—believe me, I do. Right now, I just need to get your side of the story. In order for us to have the best defense, you have to tell me everything. Can you do that?”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“Good. Now, before we begin, I must emphasize that everything you say to me is protected by attorney-client privilege. It’s crucial that you don’t discuss this case with anyone else. Anything you say outside these walls can and will be used against you. Do you understand that?”
She nodded. “Yes, I understand. Thank you for taking my case. My mother had to put her house up to get me a good lawyer. You have to help me.”
“I’m gonna try my best. You just work with me.Now, can you walk me through what happened on the night of July 7 when Mr. Owen Davis was found dead?”
Ms. Thompson sighed heavily. “I was at home most of the night. I did go out around eight-thirty to pick up some groceries. It took me a little longer because there was an accident, and I had to drive around it both ways, but I was back by ten.”
“Do you always pick up groceries so late at night?”
“I’m a nurse. I go to work eleven at night and get off at seven in the morning. Sometimes I work a double shift, so I don’t get off until three. I’m tired. I go home, shower, and try to get some sleep. I get whatever errands I can get done when I wake up.”
“Did you see Mr. Davis at all that day?”
She nodded slowly. “He asked me to come see him. We had lunch and ended up having a very heated argument. There were witnesses, and I might have said some incriminating things to him, but that doesn’t mean I killed him. I didn’t even know Owen was dead until the police showed up at my door the next morning.”
