She steps closer and takes the box from me and closes the lid with a soft click. She doesn’t put it on but doesn’t give it back.And that’s some fucking hope.
“This isn’t yes,” she states.
I nod. “I understand.”
She walks out and I let her. No more cages. No leashes. No binding documents. This time, she only comes back to me if she wants to. If she chooses me. It’s up to her.
It’s toward the end of the day when Casper knocks on my door and steps in, then shuts the door behind him and drops into the chair across from my desk.Finally.I’ve been waiting to catch up with him all day about the information he found, but almost every one of his back-to-back appointments ran long.
He gets right down to business. “Found him.” He tosses his phone on my desk, and I pick it up, staring at the screen. This can’t be right.
“Hospice?”
“Billy’s not our guy.” Casper sits back in the chair, getting comfortable. “I ran background, checked care records, there’s nothing. It’s a dead end.”
“You’re going to have to sell me on that one,” I say. “He could have somebody.”
He shakes his head. “I did a deep dive on that fucker. He’s an asshole, yeah, but he’s been in hospice for like six months. The dude is on his deathbed. That letter you got? I think that’s all it is. A letter. Amends. Whatever you want to call it.”
I scrub a hand down my face.No fucking way.
“I looked into Jason.”
My gaze snaps to his.
“I went over and talked with his neighbors, asked them if he was around the night those photos were taken.”
“What are you, fucking Dick Tracy?” The guy knows how to find out information, that’s for sure. Casper is skilled when it comes to digging up dirt, and his observation skills are unmatched.
“No, asshole. I’m just really fucking charming.”
I roll my eyes. He does have a weird way of getting people to talk.
“Anyway, they said he was gone on a work trip. They collected his mail for him.”
“So, it wasn’t him?”
Casper shakes his head. “Not necessarily. There’s a hotel straight out from you. With balconies. Guess what else the neighbors said? He has a fucking drone.”
Leaning forward, I prop both elbows on my desk and massage my temples. “Wait, Kelly showed a picture of Jason to Rosa. She said it wasn’t him.”
There’s a knock at my door. “Later!” I shout. Probably Frankie telling me she’s heading out and asking if there’s anything I need before she leaves. I’ve been waiting for this conversation all damn day, I don’t want any interruptions.
“Well, maybe Rosa didn’t get a good look at him! Maybe she doesn’t remember. The height lined up. The description lined up. Clean cut? At a tattoo expo? Come on, man.”
“Shit.” Kelly had it right. It was Jason. I’ve let her down a second time.
Casper kicks up his feet on my desk like he owns the place. He doesn’t, but he’s earned the right to act like he does after getting this info.
“But what’s his motive?”
Casper shrugs. “Revenge . . . What would you do if some asshole walked in and sabotaged your relationship with Kelly?”
I’d burn the world to ash.
Goddamn it. I chose the wrong guy and left her exposed to him. Vulnerable. I got so caught up in my own hatred toward Billy that I let it cloud my judgment. I swallow down some of the anger, but I can feel it climbing up the back of my neck like flames.
“You’re sure it’s Jason?” Figure I should double-check before I commit homicide.
