She is totally losing me. “Do you have a video of the murder?” I hold my breath.
“Ug. You are totally not impressed with everything I did.”
I am but I don’t understand it all. “Ella.”
“Fine. So far, I’ve been able to fix the end of the disc because the virus weakened as the video continued throughout the day. Mainly, I have a recording taken outside the house after the murder. You’re going to want to watch it.”
The hair rises on the back of my neck. “Is Alexei on here?” I don’t want to see him committing a crime.
She pulls a laptop out of her backpack with one hand and plops it onto my legs. “We have a ways to go, so feel free. You need to see this.”
I flip open the lid and insert the disc. The video loads with a date stamp showing the day of the murder. The outside of a palatial mansion takes form. “The Fairfax backyard is beautiful.” I zero in on the small pond.
“Yeah, I know.”
There are several police officers wandering around and crime techs doing something on the deck. My heart starts to quicken. “What do you have?”
“Just watch.”
A young, uniformed officer moves toward the pond, and I see him take something from beneath his jacket and throw it in.
My heartbeat kicks up until I can feel the throb against my ribs. “Oh my God. That’s the knife. A police officer threw it in?”
“Not quite. Look closer.”
I click up to better see the officer’s face. He turns, glances at the deck, and keeps going.
“Holy crap.” I sit back, stunned. “That’s Hendrix Sokolov.”
“Yeah,” she says. “Alexei’s good old brother set him up.”
Adrenaline floods my system. It’s true. Alexei is innocent. The entire murder was a setup. “So he didn’t get a fair trial.”
“Looks like it. The question is, what do we do with this new information? We could sit on it and blackmail Hendrix. I mean, if we want money.”
I tap my bottom lip with one finger. “We could give it to Alexei, but I’m not inclined to help him right now. I do have an idea. It’s not a nice one.”
“Tell me.”
For answer, I reach in my pocket for my phone, only to find it empty. “I don’t have my phone.”
“It’s okay. You can use the laptop.” She reaches over and types something quickly. “Who do you want to call?”
“Alana,” I say quickly.
Ella types another code with one hand before focusing back on her driving. I marvel at her when the laptop rings like a phone.
“Hello?” Alana answers.
“Alana,” I say. “Hi.”
The sound of the ocean filters through the background. “Hi. Are you coming to visit?”
“No, we’re in the middle of something. However, how would you like to have one of the best social media posts of your life?” I ask.
“I’d like that a lot,” Alana says.
I smile. “I don’t know if you want to post it on Aquarius Social or Malice Media, but whichever it is, the stock’s going to gain value immediately.”
