“But you don’t run it?”
“The idea was mine, but Charlotte took it and made it her own. I let her. She certainly knows what these kids need better than I do. She grew up here with no family and very little money or opportunity.”
Owen begins to walk, and I follow him, my head reeling. Can this man really be a murderer?
“This is what your father believes you’re throwing away the company's money on?” I ask, though I already know the answer.
He stops and holds the door open for me. As our eyes meet, he nods. “I don’t see it that way.”
“I don’t, either.” I’m not sure why my voice is so quiet or why my heartbeat has picked up.
Owen suddenly scrunches his nose in the most adorable way. “I think maybe I should get you a towel before you come in. You’ll leave muddy footprints all over the school.”
Glancing at my feet, I wiggle my toes.
The sound of Owen’s chuckle has my attention going to his mouth and lingering far too long.
He snaps me out of it. “Wait here.” Kicking off his muddy shoes, he disappears behind the door.
Sighing, I lean against the building, letting the sun warm my cold, wet body.
I’m definitely fucked.
Chapter 12
“Gray hacked into the security cameras. He found footage of meetings with the victims. No sound, of course, but he discovered something really interesting.”
I wait for Ella to continue and pace my apartment. Yet again, my palms are sweaty for reasons I can’t quite understand.
“Peyton Radd is present in all the meetings leading up to the third victim’s death,” she continues. “He seems to be acting like an intern.”
“For whom?”
“Unclear. No one speaks to him.”
“That’s strange.”
“Yeah.” Ella sighs and sounds exhausted.
“Can you have Gray try to hack emails sent between Mr. Mills and the third victim? The three months leading up to his death?”
“Sure.” I hear Ella typing furiously, likely taking extensive notes.
“Oh, and Ella?”
“Mmm?” she says, though I can tell her mind is already far away.
“Go home and get some sleep. Give that boyfriend of yours a kiss. This can wait.”
In reality, I don’t want to wait. Something feels wrong with this entire case, and it’s not just that Owen isn’t acting like the murderers I’ve put behind bars in the past.
She chuckles. “You have no idea how nice that sounds, but I have to finish up here. Sometimes I wish I could have Eagan help. We’d probably already have the evidence to convict this guy.”
That gives me an idea. A terrible one. “He might be able to help.”
Ella almost sounds like she’s choking. “What?”
“All of Mr. Mill’s charities and foundations are nonprofits. They are open to the public. That means Eagan can look at any information about them without suspicion being raised, even if he got caught.”
