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“Really?” I asked, wiping my eyes.
“Yeah,” Gabe said. “Brent is his son. Born when Cromwell was in med school at twenty-five. When he was married. And the woman he had the baby with most definitely wasn’t his wife.”
I waited for more, but he didn’t say anything more.
“That’s it?” I asked curiously.
“That’s it,” Gabe confirmed. “That was what she was able to dig up. She’s still going.”
I rubbed my tired eyes.
“Luca didn’t kill that kid,” I said finally. “It may look like he did but… he really didn’t.”
Yesterday had been so horrible.
And everything had been so coincidental.
Luca went out for a run at seven. He came back at eight-thirty wet from his exertion from the run. He cleaned up in the shower and was just getting dressed when there was a commotion at the front door. That was when they arrested him, allowed him to get dressed in his sweaty clothes, and left, without caring that they’d just knocked the front door straight off the hinges.
When I’d gone to the police station, it was by an escort of two detectives who came by minutes after Luca had been taken away. They’d driven me to the police station where they’d questioned me for hours on what had happened. When I gave them the truth of events, they’d then informed me that somewhere in between seven and eight in the morning, Brent Cromwell had been murdered on the beach by a scarred man. They hadn’t been able to give the police any such information on build, hair color, or anything.
But, fucking Jessica had been on the beach with Brent at the time of the murder. She’d been knocked out cold and had only woken long enough to see a scarred man running away.
A scarred man that she immediately linked to me—and to Luca.
After asking some questions, and getting information from my friends, they’d found my house. After double-checking with the rental agency, and having it confirmed that a scarred man had been with the renter of the house, they’d then gotten a warrant for Luca’s arrest.
“It was really weird,” Cora said, sounding just as confused as I’d been yesterday. “I mean, every single person was quick to point fingers. I realize that there’s a really damning viewpoint here but… Luca’s not the only scarred man in the world.”
I’d agreed.
And it’d been something that I’d said to the cops.
I mean, shit.
It could’ve been anyone!
Luca wasn’t the only scarred man in the world. Plus, they’d only seen ‘scars,’ they hadn’t seen hair color, build, eye color. Or anything.
In fact, there’d been one on the boat that we’d ridden on… “Oh, holy shit.”
“What?” Gabe asked, his ears perking up.
“There was another scarred man that I saw on the boat we took a ride on,” I said. “When we were going fishing down at the pier, we passed by his boat on the dock. Cromwell—the boy, not the adult—caused a scene after Captain Mike tossed him into the water. He had thrown some trash into the bay. The captain didn’t take kindly to that, and elder Cromwell lost his shit. Threatened to sue later that evening when he texted me for the captain’s name.”
Gabe was on the phone moments later, talking to Janie.
I rubbed at my eyes and realized that I really needed to pee.
***
It was a little after noon, as I was pacing back and forth with my dad watching me silently, that Gabe came out the door that led into the kitchen.
“Do you remember treating Brent your first year as a resident?” Gabe asked bluntly.
I frowned. “Um, what?”
“Your first year as a med student, Brent Cromwell broke his arm playing soccer. He came into the emergency room to have it set and you were one of the med students that helped treat him. You and the doctor that you worked with the first year,” he said. “It was a long time ago.”
I was shaking my head because I had no clue.
“Um, yeah,” I said. “I don’t know.”
“He was about twelve at the time,” Gabe continued. “On his chart, it was noted that you were able to calm him down. Your name was mentioned specifically.”
I had no clue.
None.
“I don’t remember,” I admitted. “I’m sorry.”
Gabe nodded. “It gets worse, though. He’s been stalking you on social media. Your profile is the one he visits at least once a day on his computer.”
“His computer?” I asked in confusion.
“Yes,” Gabe said. “Janie’s hacked into his computer.”
Shit.
That wasn’t good.
“Shit,” I said softly. “What the hell?”
“It’s just another link,” he said. “But the reason it jumps out is that it shows that you had a connection to this kid much earlier than just this year. It shows that you’ve had one for years. And if that gets found out, this could be bad. Could be motive if Luca found out that he was basically stalking you.”
