My stomach dropped. “The AG who went after my mom to hurt my grandma?”
Nolan nodded. Slow. Somber. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “That prick.”
“But…I thought he stepped down after my mom settled with the State.”
The power of our million-dollar lawyer, Robert Goldberg, flashed through my mind. The way doors suddenly opened when he walked into a room. The system was so fucked, rotten to the core, but that time, for once, it had worked in our favor.
“He did step down,” Nolan said. “The governor himself made sure of it. Quietly, on the outside. But it was a huge deal behind closed doors. Kara Belmont almost went down withHarlow. A few cops too. Then they decided it would be better to bury it all. To protect the so-called integrity of the State.” His mouth twisted slightly. “In the end, Harlow was the only one taking the blame. He was removed and started his own private law firm. It was shit, of course. When you cross the system, the system won’t take you back. You know how that works.” He shifted in the seat, the leather creaking, and stared out the window for a moment, like he thought he’d heard something in the woods. “Harlow tried for years to stay relevant,” he continued. “Did that interview for that crime show episode on Zach’s murder. The one that landed him in hot water with the new AG and your big-shot lawyer again. After that, things really fell apart for him. Bad job here. Bad job there. He sank low. Last thing I heard in the office gossip mill was that he had to sell his fancy house and file for bankruptcy. After that, he dropped off the radar. Quiet for years.”
“Until now,” I said.
“Until now.” Nolan nodded. “Gotta give the old bastard one thing. He’s stubborn. Apparently, he went down the rabbit hole with Zach’s case. Never let it go. Never gave up on his mission to destroy your grandma. All because she did the right thing with his rapist son.” He shook his head slowly. In disgust. “People are nuts.”
His words settled heavily in the car. I knew a thing or two about crazy people. The past pushed its way forward. Images stacked on top of each other. The hate from the people around us. The whispers. The bullying that followed us everywhere. My mom dying alone in jail. Months stolen from us. Time we never got back. My grandma fighting like hell for her until her body finally gave out and the stroke took her down. John Myers almost killing her. A broken nose. A shattered leg. Blood on the pavement.
People were nuts indeed.
My hands curled tightly in my lap.
I hated Myers. Just as much as I hated Thomas Harlow.
“So what does this all mean?” I asked. “If Thomas Harlow found John Myers, can’t you force him to tell you where he is? So you can arrest him?”
Nolan let out a long sigh from deep within his chest. “We tried. But Harlow won’t tell us where Myers is. He says he doesn’t know. He claims that Myers contacted him from a blocked number to make a deal with the State. Using Harlow. Of course Harlow is lying. He knows where Myers is. And Myers didn’t reach out to him. After all these years searching for him, Harlow found him. Maybe even blackmailed him to come back and reopen the case with him. To pin this on your mom somehow. Maybe with false testimony from Myers. A fake murder weapon. Who knows. This man is crazy. He didn’t take his downfall well.”
“False testimony?” My whole body shifted toward him. “To reopen the case?” The words came out hot. Exactly as intended.
“I know,” Nolan said quietly. “The new AG’s losing sleep over this. After the settlement, everyone just wanted all this to disappear. The State already looked like complete morons.”
I opened my mouth, ready to argue.
“Rightfully so,” Nolan added fast. “This case was fucked from the beginning. It’ll always be that one case that sits wrong with me. Always.” His jaw tightened. “But, right now, there’s a real chance another shitstorm is about to hit. And it’ll include your family again.”
His eyes locked on to mine. No sugarcoating.
“If everything gets dug up again,” he went on, “that means new documentaries. Crime shows tearing the case apart. Camera crews parked in front of your lawn and outside the station. Whatever Myers and Harlow are planning, it’s nothing good.” He exhaled hard. “Honestly, I thought the bastard was dead.Overdosed or stabbed in some bar fight. Who the fuck would’ve cared? God knows it would’ve been better that way. But, for some reason, the devil decided to send him back our way.”
“So why don’t you just put everything you have into finding him?” I demanded. “Finally do your damn job so my family doesn’t have to suffer all over again.”
Nolan let the insult slide. His gaze drifted out the window, toward the dark stretch of trees, as if answers might be waiting out there.
“I tried to find him,” he said. “I really fucking did. But nobody knows where Myers is. And Harlow won’t talk. Keeps lying.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “We talked to Billy Dustin and interviewed customers at the Seacoast Inn, where he used to hide out. But it’s not exactly the kind of place where cops are welcome or people feel like ratting. God. Maybe Myers isn’t back. Maybe Harlow’s full of shit and just wants attention before he dies alone, drunk in some piss-soaked alley muttering about the time he mattered.”
“You don’t believe that,” I said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
Nolan looked back at me and gave a small nod. “You’re as sharp as your grandma.”
“So, what now?”
“Well”—he straightened in his seat—“I want to offer your grandma and Amanda an undercover cop as protection.”
“That’s great,” I said, already dismissive. “But that won’t fix the real problem. How the hell are you actually gonna find Myers and arrest him?”
Something flickered in Nolan’s eyes. “Oh, believe me,” he said, his gaze hardening, “Iwillfind him this time. And I’ll make him pay with everything the justice system legally puts into these hands.” He lifted his palms, like he was weighing somethingheavy, then dropped them again. “But until we have him, I need you to be safe. And also…”
Ah. Here it was. The thing he’d been circling this whole time.
“Also what?”
