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“Get rid of you, how?” Steele asked with a frown.
“Not killing me, but he didn’t want me hanging around. Although he wasn’t happy to find out I was leaving either.” She shook her head, feeling helpless. It was difficult to put those troubled times between her and Jake into words. “Looking back, I think he was angry about my leaving because it was my decision, not his.”
Steele nodded. “That would make sense.”
She appreciated him trying to smooth things over. “I’ve told you everything I know. I remember a text from Parrott; it only caught my eye because of the odd name. I knew Ellis and Jake were in business together, but I assumed it was legit.”
“Look, we believe you,” Steele said, shooting Brock a pointed look. “But any small detail you can remember could help us find the people responsible for shooting Starkey and coming after you.”
“I’ll keep trying, but I was focused more on my failing marriage than on what Ellis and Jake were doing with the business.” That was the truth. At first, she’d blamed herself, then realized she wasn’t responsible for Jake’s actions. He was. And that’s when she began scrimping and saving to leave him.
“You mentioned the last six months of your marriage,” Joe said. “Can you pinpoint anything that Jake said or did that might indicate he’d gone into a life of crime?”
Sitting back in her seat, she forced herself to remember those days she’d begun to realize Jake wasn’t the man she’d married. His attitude had changed, and he was quick to anger. A memory came to her. “I remember finding a wad of cash in his pocket. He’d left his jeans on the floor, and I was going to toss them in the laundry. Jake roughly grabbed the money from my hand, bending back my fingers in the process. We didn’t have a lot of extra cash, and we had a credit card bill that was coming due, so I asked him to give me some of the money to pay it. He refused, claiming he and Ellis had made a cash deal but that he owed some people for products that were about to be shipped, so the money wasn’t really ours. When I pressed further about the credit card bill, he said he’d take care of it. He did, so I let it go.”
“Do you know how much money he had?” Joe asked.
“No, but I saw a one-hundred-dollar bill on the outside of the wad of money. I assumed they were all hundreds, but he caught me before I could count them.”
“And when was this?” Brock asked.
“Maybe three months before I left him.” It was early January now; she’d discovered she was pregnant in August. “Maybe April or May? I honestly can’t say for sure.”
“Okay, that’s helpful.” Steele smiled reassuringly. “Just keep thinking back over that period of time, Harper. If anything else comes to you, let us know.”
Hadn’t she already promised to do that? She tried not to show her frustration. She knew the men sitting around her wanted to help. That they wanted to keep her safe.
She imagined Ellis being shot and killed and tossed into the dumpster. Her anger dissipated. “I will.” She reached into her pocket, belatedly remembering she’d left her phone behind at Steele’s house. “I—uh, should check in with my boss.”
“Again?” Steele asked with a frown.
“I can’t afford to lose my job,” she shot back. “I need to be able to support myself and my baby.”
“Here, use this replacement phone.” Brock handed her a small, cheap phone. “I wrote the number down for you.”
“Thanks.” She rose to her feet, then moved into the connecting room for some privacy. Maybe she didn’t need to call in, but the fact was that she craved some sense of normalcy. Her job was important to her. She hadn’t been kidding about needing her job to support herself. She dialed her boss’s number, but he didn’t answer. No doubt because he didn’t recognize the number. She left a brief message, letting him know she’d lost her phone and was using this number temporarily.
She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths. It didn’t seem fair that Ellis was dead while Jake was alive and being protected by ATF agents. In her heart, she wished it was the opposite. God would want her to forgive Jake and to let go of her anger and resentment.
She silently promised to do better. Really, as long as Jake wasn’t a part of her life, she didn’t care what he did with his second chance at freedom. Hopefully, he’d learn from his mistakes.
When her phone rang, she startled badly. So much for trying to relax and remain calm. Every sound had her jumping out of her skin. She answered the phone, recognizing her boss’s number. “Hi, Trent.”
“Harper, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you!” He sounded agitated, as if she’d lost her phone on purpose to inconvenience him.
“I’m sorry. You can reach me at this number from now on.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said absently. “I called because I need to find the witness file on the Otterson case. I’ve looked all over but can’t find it.” There was a hint of panic in his tone. “You didn’t lose it, did you?”
“No, of course not. I’ve been keeping all the Otterson files in the bottom right-hand drawer of my desk. It’s locked, but you have a key, don’t you?” She frowned, wondering if her boss was losing it. He was the one who’d directed her to keep the Otterson files under lock and key. She’d done exactly as he’d asked.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Hang on, let me see if it’s there.” She could hear rummaging sounds, then the snick of a drawer opening. “It’s here. I found it.” Trent sounded almost giddy with relief. “Thanks, Harper.”
Before she could say anything in response, he disconnected from the call. She lowered the phone to her lap, frowning at the strange call. Maybe Trent was struggling because she helped keep the office running smoothly and efficiently when she was there. It was one of the things Trent had complimented her on. Under normal circumstances, she’d have been there, handing him the files he’d need for the day according to his schedule. As things changed throughout the day, she anticipated his needs then too.
Yet it still seemed odd that he hadn’t thought to check the locked desk drawer for the witness file. Neil Otterson had been their top-paying client over the past few months. She’d noticed the increasing billable hours, which made sense as they were preparing for trial.
It occurred to her that she’d never asked what crime Neil Otterson had been charged with.
