Judson welcomed the interruption and figured the recording wouldn’t be nearly as gruesome as the dash-cam footage. At least he hoped it wasn’t. But then, Jennifer had accused her brother of trying to murder her.
“The lab has authenticated it,” he continued, reading through the info that Rory had sent along with the attachment. “It’s real, and they’ve confirmed it’s actually Jennifer and Shane speakingon the recording. The techs were able to do a voice analysis using the statements they both gave during their interviews.”
“When did Jennifer record this?” Addie asked.
Judson found that in the notes, too. “According to the time stamp, it was one week ago today.”
He adjusted the volume so it would be loud enough for them to hear but hopefully wouldn’t carry to the bassinets. When he clicked the play function, he immediately heard Shane’s voice.
“I repeat,” Shane snarled. “We have to do something to snap Mom back to her senses. She’s letting Trevor rule the roost, and if that continues, you and I are going to be flat broke.”
“It’s Mom’s money,” Jennifer replied.
“Yeah, but we’re her kids, and if we don’t do something and do it fast, Trevor will spend every last dime of it. If Mom was thinking straight, she’d want her own flesh and blood to have an inheritance.”
Jennifer huffed. “She’s got a blind spot when it comes to Trevor. She’ll never choose us over him.”
“She will if she has no choice,” Shane spat out.
“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked after some hesitation.
“I mean, we have to do something. If she starts using again or drinking, then we can have her declared incompetent. We can take control of her estate. It’d be easy enough to tempt her into going back to her old ways. All I need is you to back me up. Us against Trevor.”
Jennifer was silent for several seconds. “What are you saying, Shane? Are you planning on pushing Mom to use drugs or start drinking again?”
“It would only be temporary,” Shane replied, as if he were certain that something like that would be reversible and not just flat-out wrong. Or dangerous if Yvette overdosed. “And then after we have her estate under our control, we can give Trevorthe boot and get Mom into rehab. Once she’s free of Trevor, she’ll understand we did all of this for her.”
“You’re doing it for you,” Jennifer snapped. “So you can get her money.” She groaned. “I can’t believe you’d consider drugging her.”
“I didn’t say I’d do it,” Shane fired back. “But she could be…nudged in that direction. Maybe nudged into doing some other things that would help us get her declared incompetent.”
“You are truly despicable.” Jennifer added some harsh profanity to go along with that. “I won’t help you ruin a woman so you can get her money, and if you try it, I’ll tell her what’s going on.”
Now, it was Shane who cursed, and even though Judson’s phone vibrated with another incoming text, he continued listening to the recording.
“Right, go whining to Mommy about me,” Shane taunted. “You don’t speak to her for weeks. You shove her away when her emotions catch up with her, and now you want to protect her. Do it,” he stated like a threat. “And you’ll be sorry. I’ll come after you with both barrels and manage to convince Mom that you’re lying. She’ll believe me over you any day.”
“I can make her see what you are,” Jennifer said, but there wasn’t a whole lot of conviction in her voice.
“Do that,sis.” The word came out like the deadliest of venom. “Just remember, both barrels. I’m not going to let you get in the way of what I need to do to fix this mess she’s gotten herself into.”
With that, the recording ended, leaving Judson to wonder if it was truly the end of the conversation between the siblings or if Jennifer had only provided them with what she’d wanted them to hear.
The part that would incriminate her brother.
“This could be Jennifer’s way of getting Shane out of the picture,” Judson commented. “If he’s locked away for his mother’s murder, then he won’t be able to inherit any of her estate.”
He’d give that plenty more thought later, but for now he shifted his attention to the new text he’d gotten from Rory. Judson cursed after reading it. He had hoped this would be good news that could ultimately lead to an arrest.
“Rory got the results of the GSR tests,” he explained. “Jennifer, Elijah and Shane all tested negative.”
“And Trevor?” she asked.
Judson shook his head. “He didn’t show up at the station. Grace is having him tracked down.”
Blowing out a long breath, she sank down in the chair next to him. “You think he could be on the run?”
“Yes, if he’s guilty,” Judson replied.
