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“I found a bunch of pictures of Swank in Andrew’s office, along with a detailed timeline of Swank’s movements. The shots look like surveillance pictures. I’m freaking the fuck out right now. That means Andrew is definitely involved! Why would he have those otherwise?”
By the time she finishes speaking, her voice is near yelling volume. Judging by her face, volume, and body language, she’s fallen into a pit of despair that I’m not sure I can pull her out of.
“Okay, wait a minute. Back up. You found pictures, but what was the timeline exactly?”
I don’t want to jump straight to damning Andrew by saying he was definitively involved. From what I can tell, all he’s done up till now is protect Christopher, and while I don’t like it, that doesn’t necessarily mean he knows everything and/or helped.
I want so badly to give my brother the benefit of the doubt, but it’s difficult in a situation like this where there’s so much pointing back to him. Still, I want to do my best to give him a fair shot, so that’s what I’m going to do.
“The timeline cataloged Swank’s movements. When he left for work, when he got home; things like that. There was even a list of known associates. He has one on Christopher, too. He laid out every personal detail, and I’m going to warn you now, there are things you won’t like in them.”
My eyes go wide with disbelief. “How could it possibly getanyworse? My fiancé most likely hired a hitman to kill a friend. To be honest, I don’t know that it can get much worse from there.” I sigh with exasperation and shake my head. “Where did you find them?”
Unable to stay still, I pace the room as I try to put the pieces together. When my eyes meet my sister’s, she gives me a loaded look. I groan, knowing that look means that it couldabsolutelyget worse.
“Everything I found was in his safe. It took me a couple of tries to guess the combination, but our brother is nothing if not predictable.” She pours herself another drink and mumbles, “Or, at least, he used to be.”
I sink down onto the couch, putting my face in my hands as I hang my head.
“Okay, what if Christopher mentioned he was being threatened, and Andrew was just being proactive? You know how detail-oriented Andrew is. He would want to know every angle possible. He uses PIs for his cases, so it isn’t so farfetched for him to ask to have Swank followed.”
She puts her drink down like she’s mulling over my words. “Yes, I could see that as a possibility, but why did he have Christopher followed, too?”
That part I don’t have an answer for.
“Show me everything you have,” I say.
She pulls out her phone and reluctantly hands it over. There is picture after picture of Swank during his normal day-to-day life. Nothing looks amiss to me, but I also know very little about the man, so I wouldn’t know if something was out of place.
The timeline is mundane. Work, gym, home, and the occasional bar visit. This wouldn’t tell anyone much besides his patterns.
Next, I see Christopher at work and out on his runs in front of our brownstone. My heart stops when I reach a picture of Christopher at a bar, though. I know exactly where he is because he’s taken me there on several occasions.
What makes my heart drop is the fact that he’s on the dance floor with his hands all over a woman who isnotme.
That son of a bitch!
There are several pictures of him with her and one of them leaving the bar with his hand on her lower back. The same place he always puts his hand to guide me in and out of doors.
I’m in utter shock.
When I thought we’d find evidence to help us, I never thought we’d find anything like this. Though I don’t know why I’m surprised. This is quite ordinary compared to the rest of the shit storm he’s involved in. Still, that doesn’t make it hurt any less. It stings fiercely. I want to rip his balls off and then go cry in a corner.
Addy looks at me with pity, and I can’t stand it. After everything that’s happened and the terrible way he’s treated me, this honestly shouldn’t even matter. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: he gets no more of my tears. It’s just one more nail in the coffin he kicked our relationship into and left to rot.
I sniff once and shake my head, shoving everything down. “Screw him. This just makes me even more determined to nail his ass to the wall.”
She has a look of pride on her face. “I totally agree, but what do we do about our brother? At the very least, this proves Andrew knew something was going on with Christopher and Swank. If this ever gets to the police, Andrew will have a hard time explaining it.”
Reality crashes back down, and a headache forms almost immediately. I haven’t even told her what I found yet. This just keeps getting better and better.
I take a deep breath and blow it out. “I found a burner phone in Christopher’s office.” Her eyes widen the moment I say it, but she doesn’t interrupt me as I continue. “He was communicating with two unknown numbers. Communication stops with one on the day Swank died.”
Unlocking my phone, I show her the text messages and call logs I took pictures of. I give her a minute to read through everything and process it.
Good luck, girl, ‘cause I’m still trying to figure it out.
“Wow,” is all she says before falling silent again.
