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Chapter Twelve
Andrew
Waking up suddenly with bright light coming through the window is too much. I groan and sit up quickly before remembering I’m at Andrea and Jack’s. I swing my legs off the bed and plant my feet on the floor. I’m still wearing the clothes I dressed in this morning before leaving Charlie’s.
I need to find Jack and make sure he slept off his morning shots. Thinking about it makes me chuckle to myself as I walk out of the guest bedroom into the hallway.
The sound of keyboard keys being typed away on comes from the living room. I find Jack with the coffee table raised up, his laptop sitting on it with a picture of Morales on the screen. When he hears me behind him, he turns to glance at me.
“‘Bout time you woke up, sleeping beauty,” he says with a laugh.
“Did you sleep at all?” I ask as I make my way over to the other end of the sofa.
“I closed my eyes for a bit.” His face is more serious now, focused on what he’s looking at on the laptop.
“Did you find anything new?”
I didn’t spend much time the other night clicking through the list of available links associated with his name. My private investigator will get far more than I can on the internet.
“Not really. His rap sheet runs the gamut. Drug charges, petty theft, perjury, but nothing in the same league as Christopher. That makes me wonder how he and Christopher are tight enough for Morales to lie under oath for him.”
Jack has a valid point. I know I have a picture linking him to Christopher’s attorney and Malcom, but I can’t use it yet. We’ll have to find another way.
“What about your PI? Has he found anything?”
I haven’t had the chance yet to check my email. I stand and stretch a little. “Let me grab my laptop, and I’ll check. It’s easier to check images he sends on there than to check on my phone.”
Jack gives me a nod but doesn’t take his attention away from the article he’s reading.
I go to the guest bedroom and retrieve my laptop before heading back into the living room. I set up beside Jack on the coffee table, turn it on, and open my email. There are a ton of junk emails I have to sift through before finding what I need.
Boom. A new email from Colin the PI. I open it and grow anxious as the message takes more than an instant to load.
Jack’s attention is on my screen now as he reads over my shoulder. A lot of the things listed are things Jack already found online. Morales is from Sacramento and has a weak criminal history at best. The last lines of the email Jack and I read out loud in unison.
“I cannot find any connection between Christopher Gates and Anthony Morales before the date Morales testified in court. Morales is not listed on any school records for any school Christopher has ever attended.”
Jack and I sit back on the couch and look at each other. This isn’t bad, but it isn’t good, either. It’s not the slam dunk I had hoped for.
“Our best hope now is Colton,” I tell Jack. I can tell he doesn’t like our only hope riding on his brother.
He makes a sour face. “He’ll get the message to him. I wouldn’t have called at all if I weren’t sure of it.” I want to ask what the story is about his brothers, but we have enough on our plates as it is. I’ll leave talking out Jack’s feelings to Andrea. “Have you used this PI before? Is he good?”
I know he doesn’t doubt my ability to vet someone. Ensuring I have the best person possible on the job for Andrea’s sake is his number one priority.
“Yeah, I’ve used him before.” I pause, glancing at Jack before finishing my thought. “I had him following Christopher.”
Jack looks at me, no surprise to be found. “And he was cheating on Andrea.”
I’m the one caught by surprise. “How did you know about that?”
My shock gives him a chuckle. “Andrea and Adalyn did a little private investigation of their own before Andrea came to Fraser. Andrea told me about the pictures of Christopher with that other woman.”
“So, you were testing me then? To see if I would tell you the truth.” Damn detective.
It’s not like I can really blame him. I’ve played both sides for so long, everyone feels the need to make sure I’m on the right side of things now. I’ll just have to keep showing them that I am. That I have always been.
“Yep. I wanted to see if you’d lie to me. I understand there are things you won’t say yet. I don’t like it, but I understand it, and I’ll go along with it…for now.”
