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“Stop stalling, Van.”
“Well, I tried to find the footage anyway, because I figured you’d want to take a look, but it’s not in the police files.”
“What kind of incompetent fools don’t even bother to secure the video footage of a serious crime?”
I’m stunned. These guys had weapons. They terrorised my sister. She was lucky her boyfriend arrived and disturbed them before she was hurt. Blake Steel. I remembered the name because he sounded like a character from a superhero movie. He’s the only one I’m not pissed off about, because she’s the only one who hasn’t jumped into marriage and babies.
“Zoe told them there wasn’t any footage. She said they were fake...”
Confused, I replay the conversation we had when the cameras were installed. Could she have thought they were dummy cameras, just there to scare people off? Absolutely not. I showed her how to retrieve the footage myself.
“…and she tried to delete the footage from the cloud."
“Why would she do that?”
I’m not looking for an answer from Van. I know my sister better than anyone. Zoe’s so smart, nothing she does is a mistake. Everything is well thought through. She’s the one I’d trust the most to act rationally in any situation.
Yet she lied to the police when she tried to conceal evidence that could have helped their case against the two men who invaded her business. “Tried” being the operative word, Van will get it back. But still, there’s very little rationale for what she did.
Anger burns deep in my gut. Zoe didn’t just lie to the police, she lied to me as well. And that puts her on my shit list, too.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Van repeats. “I know you saw the other video, and your mind is jumping to all kinds of conclusions.”
The only conclusion that I’m jumping to is that she’s hiding something.
“You need to stay calm, Chase. You can’t… you know,” he warns gently, pulling me back out of my rage as the red mist starts to descend over me. I know all too well what he’s talking about. Van and Tripp are the only ones in the world who know what I’m keeping under wraps.
“Get the tapes. Goddamnit!” Hanging up on Van without saying goodbye, I feel like there is steam coming out of my ears. Zoe’s either covering for herself or someone else. It’s the only reason she wouldn’t have volunteered the footage.
I need to know for certain what she’s hiding.
CHAPTER 10
NATALIE
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”
Leah is dressed from head to toe in black, her pale corkscrew curls peeking out from under a black woolly cap, as we slouch low in Marie’s car, watching the entrance to Chase’s rental.
“He’s your brother. Can you not just talk to him?” I suggest one last time.
“Absolutely not. He left me a voicemail yesterday about meeting for a coffee and a chat, and it was the most terrifying thing I’ve heard in a long time. It was like he was inviting me to my own funeral. We need to keep him occupied until we can figure this out. The council is coming in a few days.”
Then they can tell him the truth, and I don't have to worry about keeping him distracted.
“Where does Rex think you are right now?” I ask, taking in her get-up and considering the amount of time we’ve been lurking here, waiting.
“Marie told him we were having a girls' night.” She waves a hand between the two of us and the junk food wrappers littering the floor around our feet. “And we kind of are.”
Scoffing, I let my eyes drift back to the windows of his small house, imagining him pottering around in here.
Is he having a shower? Sleeping? Reading?
God, he’d look so sexy in glasses. I can picture his serious face in my mind, and it makes my stomach flip. He was trailing me again today but disappeared when I went to the packhouse, his reluctance to spend any time with his new in-laws still apparent.
“Oh, oh, look! Here he comes!” Leah squeals, sliding further down in her seat.
The door opens, and he emerges, ducking down to clear the doorframe. His sharp gaze scans the dark space as he locks the door behind him, looking far from relaxed.
