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“You have come to the end of your agreement with my client. He wishes to make restitution to you for all you’ve been through during your time together. He has purchased the vacant store you and your roommate were contemplating. This paperwork confirms the whole kit and kaboodle have been transferred into your name. The keys are there for front and back, windows, alarm code, it’s all there.”
“Hunter bought me the boutique?”
“You seem to be struggling to grasp this. Am I not wording it succinctly enough?”
“But why would he do that?”
“He didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask. It is yours. Go make of it what you will.”
I look down at the keys on the desk. Do I pick them up or ignore them?
“And if I don’t want to be bribed by him?”
“It’s not a bribe. He wants nothing from you. In fact, he’s leaving the country for good in a couple of hours. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say. Pick up the keys and go and take a look at your new property.”
“He’s leaving for good?”
“Got the two twenty flight to Rome all arranged. Taking Alicia and making a fresh start in Europe.”
“Really? What about the police?”
“Well, that was an interesting one. Let’s just say the authorities no longer consider him a suspect in any crimes.”
“So I’m guessing he managed to bribe his way out of it?”
“Not at all. I wasn’t supposed to tell you but seeing as he’s leaving for good, I don’t suppose it matters anymore.”
“Don’t suppose what matters?”
“Ernesto Lombardi was responsible for the death of Sofia Ivanov and Oswald Lewis.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“There’s a recording of him talking to Detective Brody, confessed to the entire thing, and then shot Brody. He’s in custody for the crimes as we speak. I doubt he’ll be getting out before he’s toothless and hairless, if ever.”
“So Ernesto killed Oswald?”
“He did.”
“And he killed Sofia?”
“No, not directly. He hired Brody to deal with Sofia because, back then, he had no hope of getting married. Thought Hunter would inherit early due to his marriage, so wanted Sofia dead.”
“So Brody killed her?”
“Nope. He gave a drug dealer the address and let him off the leash.”
“A drug dealer? Who?”
“You sure you want to know?”
“I need to know.”
“Oswald Lewis.”
The truth hits me like a freight train to the face. All those nights Oswald went off in his car and wouldn’t tell me where he was going. The money that seemed to appear from nowhere. At first, I was impressed by how he’d splash the cash on me. I could almost ignore the way he’d speak to me. At least, at first.
He never seemed to work, yet he always had cash. Of course, he was a drug dealer, just like my father before him. Boy, do I know how to pick ’em. Of course, he killed Sofia. I’m just lucky I broke up with him when I did, all thanks to Ursula’s strength and courage, sticking by my side as I went through the hell of telling him it was over.
