Do the police thinkthatis the murder weapon? My mind races. Blake hasn’t been near me in over a week. If someone used his gun, it wasn’t him.
Butterfly Man killed Gia with Blake’s gun and put it back in my dresser. If the police find it, along with the photos that prove Blake and Gia’s infidelity, and add it all up to the fight Gia and I had the last night I saw her, I’d be their number one suspect.
“What kind?” Jacob asks.
I stare at him, my pulse quickening. He’s bluffing—he has to be. In order for Butterfly Man to have used the gun to kill Gia, he must have entered the house to take the gun before yesterday. How is this possible?
But Jacob’s poker face is flawless. Is he using privileged information to shake me because he is Butterfly Man or has he found real evidence as a detective doing his job? “A Glock. I don’t know the exact model, but he’s always had the same gun since he was on the force. He was allowed to buy it after retirement. Can you please tell me what this is all about?”
He sighs, pulls a paper out of the file and slides it my way. “Ballistics report came. It identifies the weapon the killer used on the victim. It’s a Glock 23.”
I shrug at the paper. “I’m not an expert, but aren’t Glocks the most popular guns in the country?” For officers and civilians. Blake has one. Tristan, too. It was the backup gun he gave me the night my stalker was following me down the street. I’m sure there are more Glocks with the rest of the team as well as with other officers. “The killer could be anyone.”
“Actually, the weapon is modified.Policemodified. Precisely, with aMiami-compliant barrel. Wasn’t Blake Abel with Miami PD before he retired?”
CHAPTER 9
Tristan
“What did you think of Ms. Connelly, Mr. Morra?” Detective Douchebag starts questioning me.
I recall the last time I saw her and the conversation we had. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to know her that well, but she seemed like a kind lady.” Until I realized she betrayed Birdie, sleeping with her husband under her roof.
“Was Ms. Connelly and Mrs. Abel on good terms? Did they like each other?”
“They’ve been working together for so many years, so I guess, yes.”
“Have you ever felt that Ms. Connelly was jealous of Mrs. Abel?”
My gaze narrows. “Everybody is jealous of my client. Everybody wants a piece of what she has.”Like you.
He takes his time studying my face. “In your opinion, which piece did Ms. Connelly want?”
I shrug.
“Her money? Her fame?” He leans his head forward. “Her husband?”
“You think Abel was having an affair with Ms. Connelly behind my client’s back?”
“You tell me.”
“I’ll tell you what I know.” I clasp my hands and rest my elbows on the table. “Any man who cheats on Birdie Abel is a dickhead.”
He waits for me to say more, but I just smile. Infidelity and murder go hand in hand. If he thinks for one second he can spin off my words into a motive to use against Birdie, he’s in for a mighty disappointment.
“When was the last time you saw Ms. Connelly?”
“The day Katie Saldana was announced dead. Ms. Connelly was at the house until late at night.”
“Does she stay late at Mrs. Abel’s house often?”
“I think so. Mrs. Abel told me her assistant sometimes stayed over in the guestroom downstairs.” Where she fucked her husband.
“If they were that close, on a harsh day like that, don’t you think Ms. Connelly would have stayed over, especially if she was there at a late hour already?”
That was probably Gia’s intention, but she was upset Birdie yelled at her and left. I’m not stupid to give him that much, though. Birdie had a fight with Gia. Police can twistthatinto motive, too. “Maybe, but we turned the guestroom into the control room when we took the job, and all other rooms were occupied by the team.”
He smirks. “Convenient.”
