“Tava!”
I laughed on his mouth as Aleesa came skidding on her butt down the stairs.
Forty-One
Octavia
The following week, I had a few errands to run and didn’t want to take Aleesa out of the house too much. The paparazzi were being ridiculous, and it didn’t feel safe bringing her out.
I mean, who stooped so low as to show up at Aleesa’s ballet studio just to see if Javier was around? And the only reason I knew this was because the instructor and owner of the studio called to inform Javier. She said she’d kicked the stranger out and called the police on them for trespassing.
Javier figured he would pause Aleesa’s classes until things settled. That drop fromBobblehad created a massive mess.
My first stop was at a bakery, where I bought a box of cupcakes with vanilla frosting. The family needed a pick-me-up, and I damn sure could use something sweet to tide me over. Afterward, I stopped by a grocery store for more of those crackers Aleesa loved, then I made my way to the bank.
When I left the bank, I noticed a commotion across the street. My bank was in downtown Atlanta, almost in the heart of the city. Across from it was an ivory tower with police cruisers lined up in front of it. I walked to my car and got behind the wheel, but my eyes swung backto the busy building. That’s when I noticed someone coming out of the front doors.
No, there weretwopeople. One of them was awfully familiar and being detained by a police officer.
“Oh shit,” I breathed. Because this wasn’t just any person. It wasLuther.
I climbed out of the car, watching as the police hauled him toward the back door of one of the cruisers.
“They’re fucking lying!” I heard Luther yell as I jogged across the street. “I didn’t take shit! They’re lying!”
A crowd had formed, and I stayed in the back, peeking through the gaps between several heads. The officer shoved Luther into the car and slammed the door on him.
“He was a new hire, right?” I heard an Asian woman ask to my right. I noticed she was wearing a sky blue shirt with the wordCordTechstitched to the heart of it.
“Yeah,” a guy said over his shoulder. He wore trousers and a button-down short-sleeved shirt. “Frank was the one who hired him. Lucas—no, Luther. I heard that guy was really smart, but also really stupid apparently.”
“What did he do?” the woman asked.
“Embezzled money from one of the accounts. He should have known those things arealwaysmonitored. Doesn’t matter how good you are with coding.”
Wow. Luther had gotten arrested for embezzlement.
Honestly ... that didn’t surprise me. Luther was greedy—always wanting more money, flashy cars, big chains. The man in the trousers was right. Luther was very book smart, but very fucking dumb in all other aspects of life.
“Excuse me.” I stepped closer to the man as the woman walked away. “I couldn’t help overhearing. How long do you think someone goes away for something like that?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” The man shrugged as several people dispersed. “Maybe a good eight to ten years. I heard he was pushing out a few hundred a week, just enough to slip under the radar during biweekly evaluations. That probably accumulated to the thousands.”
“Wow. What an idiot,” I said.
“I try not to call people names, but ...” The man held up a hand, smirked, then dismissed himself.
I neared the curb just as the police cruiser Luther was in drove away. As it rolled by, Luther turned his head a bit, looking through the corner of his eyes out the window. He did a double take when he noticed me. His eyes became bigger, and his jaw dropped. Shame settled on his shoulders.
I lifted a hand and waved him off with my middle finger.
Good fucking riddance.
When I returned to my car, I sat for a moment. It felt wrong to smile about someone’s demise, but I did. I smiled because I had been worried forweeksthat Luther would show up, despite the restraining order I’d filed on him.
Every time I pulled up to the house, I was afraid that he would be waiting there. Or worse, that he would get through the gates somehow, like Rafael had, and corner me.
But now, I would be the least of his worries. And if he did get eight or ten years under his belt, a lot could change for me.
