Shane straightened. “April,” he began.
“Goodbye, Shane.” She stormed off after her son, leaving Shane to watch her retreating figure.
Waylon looked at Elias. “You were saying something about buying a tux?”
Elias shook his head. “Okay, maybe not thenextwedding. Give it time, that’s all I’m sayin’.”
They sipped their beers.
“I listened to Kyla Lewis Dean interview Wren about medical bills and bankruptcy on thatUp She Risespodcast,” Waylon said. “Saw her photo essay that went along with the story, too. Man, she’s got talent. Those photos.” Waylon shook his head. “Heartbreaking.”
“The good part though, is that the lenders are now under investigation, too. Those people are gonna get their money back, one way or another.”
“Are Gina’s friends one of those ways?” Waylon asked.
Elias nodded. “Sure are.”
Waylon paused, then said, “Wren looked happy today.”
“Yup.”
“She doing all right?
“Yeah. She’s distracting herself from the trial with the wedding plans.”
“Think she’s gonna have to testify against Weisser in person next week?”
Elias shook his head. “They’re still saying she doesn’t, that her written statement’s good enough. They aren’t even releasing her real name. And she recorded the whole confession anyway.”
Waylon raised his eyebrows. “It’s admissible?”
Elias chuckled. “The one in his home office for sure. She told Weisser he was being recorded and he didn’t get it. We’ll see about the first meeting they had at Milestone. Plenty of evidence to convict him though, just from that second meeting. She left the recordings at the crime scene for the police to pick up, so the chain of custody’s preserved.”
Plus, she never did like those damn shoes.
“They’re trying to get him for attempted rape, too. Gina saw him slip something into her glass as he was pouring the champagne. It tested positive for one of those fucking date rape drugs.”
“Fucking hell. So maybe justice will be served, for once,” Waylon said.
Elias didn’t say anything, just took another swig of beer. It looked bad for Weisser, who was shouting from the rooftops about how he was framed. Nobody was buying that. He was looking at significant prison time.
Then again, Elias had seen bad men walk free too many times to have unshakable faith that Weisser would be convicted. The son of a bitchmightsee time, but then again, he had the money to hire an expensive lawyer who was doing everything imaginable to twist the law. The lawyer managed to convince the court that Weisser was not a flight risk or a danger to anyone, so he was under house arrest instead of rotting in a cell.
As for Senator Robbins, Gina’s friends told her what was going down and she passed the news along to Elias and Wren.
Robbins got a better deal than Weisser—withdraw his support from the proposed bills and table them, pretending to be shocked and appalled at how they could be abused, or be exposed and face charges for accepting numerous bribes, among other things.
Guess who tabled the bills?
“Only one of the many reasons why I’m happy to bemostlyretired,” Gina had commented. “Too many politicians get off scot-free.”
Kevin’s shouts coming from the direction of the parked cars took Elias out of his thoughts. They turned to see the boy running full tilt back toward the party, a huge smile on his face. His red-faced mother was trying to catch up to him.
“Oh Lord. Poor April,” Waylon said.
“It’s Wren’s drone! I saw it! I saw it!”
Elias grinned as he shook his head. “Kid’s as crazy about that thing as he is about dogs, man.”
