“He was an addict.”
“Did you ever notice he seemed more normal when he hadn’t seen his mom for a few days?”
“Ruby said that’s because he forgot to take his meds,” Alexa put in.“Oh shit.”
“What?”Ari asked.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”
“What?”everyone asked together.
“Levi filed…something.Not an appeal, because he tried that and lost, but three weeks ago, a lawyer filed…” Alexa’s gaze flicked from side to side as she studied the screen.“It’s a petition to release the police files relating to Ruby’s murder as part of…thatfucker.As part of an innocence investigation.”
A cold knot twisted in Justin’s gut.Not content with wrecking everyone’s lives once, Levi Sykes was trying to do it for a second time?
“I don’t believe this,” he muttered.“How the hell does he think he can get out?There was DNA evidence.A video showing no one else entered or left the house.Dawson lent him the knife he used to stab her.”
“I don’t know; I guess he found a lawyer who’s as crazy as he is.”
“What’s his name?”
“Her name.Raelene Holtz.”More clicking.“She works for the Justice Project in Richmond, Virginia.”
“So are they funding the PI?Where’s Linus Sykes?Is he driving this?”
“Give me a second…”
“How do you not already know the answers?”Brax asked Alexa.“You spy on literally everyone.”
“I do not.Levi Sykes is dead to me.Why would I want to keep up with the details of his life?”
“So that when he files an appeal, we hear about it?”
“Who expected him to file an appeal?On what grounds?He’s supposed to die in prison.Oh, wait… He almost did.”
“Almost did what?”
“Died in prison.There’s, like, a paragraph on a local news website that says he got shipped out to the hospital three and a half weeks ago.”
“Why?Is he sick?Is he trying to get released on health grounds?”
“No, he got knifed in a fight with another prisoner.Shame they didn’t finish him off.”
“I thought you hated blood?”Brax said.
“I should find out who did it and top up their commissary account,” Alexa muttered.
Justin would chip in, especially if Levi had anything to do with Amie’s disappearance.He felt sick.And angry, not just at Levi but also at Amie for taking that money.In the office, she was his right-hand woman.She had access to everything—his emails, his bank accounts, his schedule.How could he trust her with that information again?
Things were going to be mighty awkward at work if she came back.
And if she didn’t come back?Well, that would be worse.
Justin’s phone rang with an unknown number, and the first thought to go through his mind?Ransom demand.He almost hoped she’d been kidnapped because that seemed like the lesser evil right now.
“Justin?This is Chris Carlson.Saige said I needed to call you about Amie?”
Yeah, he definitely would’ve preferred the kidnapper.Telling a father his daughter had gone missing was a hundred times worse than handing over a pile of cash.
