“You know I’ve been looking into Cassidy’s death.” Kellie nodded while Marianne reached for her hand looking for strength. I couldn’t blame her. I’d been right where she was right now. “Well, I’ve had some friends helping me.”
“Friends?” Kellie probed.
“Other cops. Some in Chicago and some in Atlanta.”
“Oh.”
“And it’s taken time. Too much time really, but yesterday we finally got the breakthrough we’d been hoping for. The final piece of the puzzle.”
“What does that mean, Hayden?” Marianne asked as she looked at me.
Hayden continued to pace before taking a deep breath. Weighing his words, Hayden hit them with the truth. “It means, I know who killed Cassidy.”
33
HAYDEN
I heardmyself say the words and wanted to be sick.
“It means, I know who killed Cassidy.”
I knew this day would come. I’d hoped this day would come when we’d know who did it and why, but now it was here, I didn’t feel the satisfaction I thought I would. Instead I just felt hollow and sad.
But right now, it wasn’t about me. I’d had hours to digest the information and even though I was nowhere near done, right now I had to help Marianne and Kellie and even Skye get through this. They needed me to and I refused to let them down. I’d caused these ladies enough pain when I’d failed to keep Cassidy safe, I had no intentions of fucking up again.
“You what?” Marianne gasped.
“We know, Marianne.”
“Is he? Are they… have they been arrested?” Kellie asked as she struggled to wrap her head around what I was saying.
“No.”
“No? Why not? If you know who… who was responsible…” It was like Marianne couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Not that I could blame her.
Dropping down into the recliner beside them, I leaned forward. In my line of work, I’d had these conversations a million times before. I’d had to tell parents about their children's accidents and I’d had to tell children about their parents. This though, this was different. I was emotionally tangled with this one and I had to try and remember to stick to the facts without letting my own opinions and emotions get tangled in the mess. Something easier said than done.
“Let me start from the beginning. I promise I’ll tell you everything I know and answer any questions you ask. But please, let me get this out.”
Marianne’s and Kellie’s hands were knotted together between them and Skye hovered nearby, rocking baby Cassie back and forth. Knowing she was here for this moment was somewhat comforting but it didn’t make it any easier. I doubted anything would or could make it easier.
“Your father and ex-husband, Jeremy Cannon…”
“If he killed my little girl,” Marianne snarled and I’d never actually been so terrified of someone as I was in that moment.
Letting her comment go, I pressed on. “Jeremy Cannon lives in Atlanta. He was named on the lease of two different properties in different parts of the city. He’s not in a good way. We found out that the reason he’s contesting the will is…”
“Money. It’s got to be money,” Kellie finished.
“You’re right. It is. He owes one hundred and fifty grand to some, not so nice people.”
“I don't understand. Does he have a drug problem or a gambling addiction or something?” Marianne asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice.
“In a way. After some digging, we found out that Jeremy has been, for years, supporting Steven O’Neil.”
“There’s a fucking shock,” Kellie spat bitterly and after what Skye had told me about their relationship, I wasn’t really surprised.
“He’s been paying his rent. He’s paid for a couple of stints in rehab. Even paid off his debts to his dealer a few times. But to do that, Jeremy couldn’t exactly walk into a bank and take out a loan. So he looked elsewhere.”
