“Come in, sit down,” Asher said, gesturing toward the recliner as he closed the door.
After they both sat, Jake leaned forward in his seat. “The DA hasreviewed the case and the evidence and dropped all the charges against you, Dylan,” he said.
“That’s great news, thanks Jake,” Dylan said, grinning as she clutched Asher’s hand.
Jake held up a hand. “You will, however, be receiving a summons in the cases he’s preparing against Randal White, Nicolai Barinov, and Brian Taylor.”
“Not a problem,” Dylan said. “I can’t wait to see those jerks onthe stand. So, did that paper from the box lead you to the money?”
“Yes. It was login information for an offshore account that held a little over six million dollars.”
Asher whistled. “Kirk was having himself a good ’ole time.”
“Not too good of a time. It doesn’t look like he spent any of it before Barinov and Taylor got to him. Speaking of which, Brian Taylor’s still in the hospital,” Jakesaid.
“He’s in the hospital?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
Jake chuckled. “Yep. It appears when Dylan swatted Barinov’s gun away, it went off, grazing her, and shooting Taylor in the chest. It barely missed his heart. He’s lucky.”
Dylan gasped. “He got shot! I had no idea.”
“Which is why Barinov didn’t come after you. He had no clue what to do after he shot his partner.”
KnowingDylan as well as I did, I turned to face her. “You are not allowed to feel sorry for that scum bucket. He held you at gunpoint. He deserved to get shot.”
“He’s recovering, though?” Dylan asked Jake, her tone hopeful.
Jake nodded, still chuckling. “They’re laughing about it down at the station. You didn’t even have a weapon and managed to take them both out.”
“That’s my girl,” Asher said, kissingher hand. “Lucky skills.”
“Hey!” Dylan elbowed him. “There’s still a few things that don’t make sense. Like what about Michelle and Bonnie? They were sure talking about something in the bathroom, and if they didn’t kill Kirk... what did they do?”
“Mrs. Miller wanted a divorce and was apparently suspicious that Mr. Miller was having an affair, so she was paying off his assistant to keep tabson him. The two of them had taken their evidence to a divorce attorney and already started the process.”
“What about Randal?” I asked. “Why did he kill Kirk? If Kirk was embezzling from his company, why not just have him arrested?”
Jake chuckled. “Because an investigation into the financials would have shined a light onto the money Mr. White has been embezzling from the investors.”
“It’s likeeveryone was stealing from everyone,” I said.
“Yep. It was always about the money. Barinov and Taylor weren’t even supposed to kill Miller. They were supposed to lean on him and force him to cough up the money. But he knew White was onto him and had sent the information home with you. So when he had the stroke, Barinov and Taylor panicked, broke into your apartment, and searched for the money.”
“While I was asleep?” Dylan asked, paling.
Jake nodded.
“I’m so glad you’re out of that apartment,” Asher said.
“That makes two of us,” I agreed.
“When they couldn’t find the money,” Jake continued, “they stole your knife and set you up, thinking they could find the money once you were locked up and out of the way.”
“Holy hell,” I said.
“Why Dylan?” Asher asked. “Why did Kirk put thebank account information in Dylan’s box?”
Jake shrugged. “We’ll never know for sure, but my guess is he panicked. After Dylan went to his boss, he knew they’d be onto him. He couldn’t keep the information at home, because clearly things between him and the missus were on shaky grounds. He wouldn’t want it stored in his phone or on his computer where we could access it. He probably figured he’dput it in Dylan’s box, then get it from her after the dust settled.”
