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“I have to do something.”
That sense of duty, the urgency to help, she understood the desperation. To a degree anyway. Having lost her best friend and been plowed down with a vehicle, the need had to be stronger in Mila. But she wasn’t at her peak. Letting her run around in the world wouldn’t have positive results.
“You are doing something, Mila. You are. You’re getting better. That shows Bryan he won’t win. Nothing is more important than your health. Stephanie would say the same thing if she was here.”
Mila deflated. That action needed no translator. Eager to fight for her friend, the woman wanted to bring the man who harmed her to justice. You’d think that meant being always aware of Stephanie’s death. It didn’t. Every time the truth thwacked Mila, another piece of her would fade.
The door opened, whirling her around, and there was Lachlan, peering at Jagg.
“What you doing here?” Lachlan asked them both. “Witness tampering?”
“If we were, my guy wouldn’t have let you in,” Jagg said. “This an official visit?”
“Yes, it is.” Lachlan held up a file and went around her to Mila. “Can you look at something for me?”
“At what?”
“A picture.” Mila’s trepidation was so potent that even she gulped in anticipation of what Lachlan drew from inside the file. “Do you know who that is?”
Mila took the sheet, but the answer was already clear. After a quick blink, the picture was in her hands.
“Yes. Yes!” Mila’s agitation grew again, flooding her voice with anxiety. “Stephanie’s boyfriend. He hit me with the car. This is him, it’s all him.”
“How did you get this?” she asked her ex.
“It’s a screen grab from a movie,” Lachlan said, grave in the way he met each of their eyes. “And not a nice one.”
“A movie?” Maybe like the ones Strat mentioned Ludlow produced? “Where did you get it?”
Lachlan hesitated, which wasn’t like him. Though, in the past, when they had insider conversations, they were usually alone. This time, they had an audience, one Lachlan may not trust.
“Fire kept the Carlyle off-limits,” Jagg said, scrutinizing Lach’s profile. “To the public and the owners anyway. Did the cops—”
“One of the fire guys saw something sketchy and we got a warrant.”
“See something, say something, right?”
Oh, wrong road.
Lachlan didn’t appreciate his integrity being questioned. “It’s above board.”
Jagg’s sarcasm continued. “Yeah, you couldn’t let this chance pass you by.”
Was Jagg being an asshole? Why should he care if the Manzanis were in the firing line?
“Tell us about the movie,” she said. “Was it porn?”
“Why would you assume that?”
Once a cop, always a cop.
“Was it?”
“A…” Lachlan dragged it out, “specific variety of porn.”
She didn’t like him being cagey. “And now you’re looking for Bryan. Was there a woman in this movie?”
“All I need is a positive ID.” Which wasn’t an answer to her question. “Mila, are you sure this is the same guy you saw with Stephanie? Stephanie’s boyfriend?”
