Samantha hesitated, but after a deep breath, she made her way over to the indicated chair. Setting her purse on the floor, she smiled and scratched Peanut’s notched ears when he came up to investigate. Then, figuring she’d stalled as long as she could, she straightened and folded her hands on the table. She made eye contact with every person in the room. When none of them spoke, she was forced to do the honors. “Okay, guys. Here I am. Whatever it is, let me have it. The wait is killing me.”
“Can I get you some coffee?” Emily offered.
“Am I going to need it?” Samantha countered. When Emily shrugged, she shook her head. “No. I’m jittery enough without it, thanks. Let’s get this over with.”
“By all means.” Becky grabbed the file folder in front of her and tossed it to Samantha.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and see for yourself,” Christian said.
After a long hesitation, Samantha did just that. Inside were a bunch of documents she couldn’t make hide nor hair of, but one thing stood out. It was a mug shot of a man with a bald head, beady eyes, and a neck tattoo that made him look positively barbarous. He seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place how or where she knew him. She shook her head. “Sorry. You’ve lost me. Who am I looking at?”
“That’s Victor Fisk,” Becky said. “The man who killed your father.”
Samantha’s heart stopped pumping. Her lungs stopped working. The whole room did a slow tilt. “Excuse me?”
“Ozzie and I have been doing some investigative work,” Delilah said. “Well, it was really just Ozzie.”
“He’s been laboring day and night for over a week,” Emily added.
“He hacked into…uh…well, freakin’ everything pertaining to that alderman you told him about,” Delilah continued. “But he didn’t hit pay dirt until he combed through the man’s accounts. Like I always say, you have to follow the money. Together, he and I were able to pinpoint a series of withdrawals from the alderman’s account that coincided with deposits in Fisk’s account. The one that was particularly interesting happened the day after your father was murdered. Payoff for a job done.”
Now the room wasn’t just tilting. It was spinning. White stars burst in Samantha’s field of vision.
“Fisk was a gun for hire for more than just the alderman,” Christian said. “He was apprehended while doing a job for another city official about a year after your father’s murder.”
“The public works director,” Samantha whispered, putting the face and the name with the memory of the news stories she’d read in college. That was why Fisk looked familiar. Donny had done a couple of pieces on the scandal and the ensuing trial for the Trib. They had always included Fisk’s mug shot.
“Right-oh.” Christian nodded.
“But…” Samantha’s mind was reeling. “H-how can you be sure?”
“Ozzie paid him a visit in the pen,” Becky said. “For five hundred dollars deposited in his commissary account, Fisk admitted to killing your father.”
“But…maybe he would have admitted anything to get that money.” Samantha tried with all her might to ignore the burning itch at the back of her nose.
“No.” Christian shook his head. “Ozzie never mentioned the alderman. Fisk was the one to bring him up. He’s the bloke what snuffed your father, Samantha. Ozzie sorted it out for you. It’s done.”
Could it be true? Could it really, finally be over? Thanks to Ozzie?
Something massive grew inside Samantha. A tsunami of emotion, of love, of regret, of—
“So we have a question for you,” Becky said.
“What’s that?” Holy shit? Is that my voice?
“Don’t you like Ozzie anymore?”
“L-like him?” she sputtered, glancing around the table. “I…” She stopped herself. Licking her lips, she tried again. “I…” Nope. Didn’t work that time either. “I don’t like him. I love him,” she finally blurted.
Saying it out loud felt like a benediction. The truth will set you free. Trouble was, it could also break your heart.
“I think he’s the best thing ever, the best person ever. I just…” She swallowed and shook her head. That thing inside her was continuing to grow. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold it back. “I can’t be his friend and part-time lover. I just can’t. I hope you understand that.”
“Why part-time lover?” Becky tilted her head.
“Are you serious? You know Ozzie.”
