Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Nausea rolled around in my stomach. “That was the other reason I was calling you. Saul was shot through the heart with an arrow. So, we only have the lead Cupid guy out there now.”
“Sounds to me like he’s tying up loose ends,” Nick said. “Did you look at the second article?”
“No.” I scrolled through the article.
Oh, no. It was an exposé about me being at two of the four Cupid robberies and how suspicious it was—considering my wild past. Anyone asked to comment had refused to do so, except for Lisa Robinson. She’d said that it appeared to her that the sexy lead Cupid and I had some sort of familiarity with each other, at the very least.
I smacked my hand against my head. I could not believe she had said that. Sure, I’d left her tied up for a little while until the police arrived, but geez, she had thrown paint on me—among other things. Later on in the article, it mentioned that Lisa had once dated Richard Basanelli, whose body was found not too long ago with the main suspect being his son, a certain Nick Basanelli, to whom I was intimately connected.
Intimately? He was dating my sister. Not me.
Lisa had been asked about Nick or his brothers possibly killing their father, Lisa’s ex-lover, and she had declined to comment, but Jolene had worded the declination as if Lisa were afraid of somebody. That was complete baloney. Lisa Robinson hadn’t seemed afraid of anything to me.
I sighed. “It looks like Jolene is out to get you as much as she is me right now.” He had turned on her and scared her a little bit, which, if I knew Jolene—and unfortunately, I did—meant she’d be out for revenge. “I’m sorry about this, Nick.”
“It’s not a problem. We’ll figure out who killed my dad and Imogen. Remember, there were at least two DNA samples found at the scene. That’s the only reason I’m out via judicial review right now. Otherwise, Pierce would’ve had to keep me in custody, at least until I posted a pretty serious bond.” He cleared his throat. “Pierce also took DNA from my brothers, but mine would’ve shown a familial connection, so I think he’s just upping the pressure on them. None of us killed our dad.”
I cleared my throat. “Pierce hasn’t told us everything. There’s probably DNA on your father’s clothing besides yours, Nick. Neither of your brothers is a flight risk. We have to know more about where Ricky went that night.”
“We already know,” Nick said shortly. “Rick took pictures all the time back then, and I believe him. If he’d done anything to our dad, he would’ve told me long ago. Plus, the police don’t know that Rick left for a few hours that night, and they’ll never know. We’re under no obligation to incriminate ourselves.”
Yeah, but if a prosecuting attorney questioned Dom or Nick at trial, they’d be under oath. If Nick ended up being the defendant, he wouldn’t have to testify, but Ricky still would. So would Dom, for that matter. “There’s no privilege between the three of you that would let you keep that information out of the record.”
“Like I said, the police don’t know about that.”
I hated that he was being so stubborn. “If I were prosecuting a case against you, I’d subpoena your brothers, and the first question I’d ask was if you all three were together for every second of the weekend your dad disappeared. You and I both know you were not.”
“Like I said, nobody else besides our attorney, who is bound by privilege, knows that,” Nick said through what sounded like gritted teeth.
I shook my head. “I’m not arguing about this any longer.” All I needed was to deal with perjury charges against the Basanelli boys. “We’re a long way from any trial, and Detective Pierce knows what he’s doing. Hopefully, he’ll find the real killer soon.” Although the deaths had occurred fifteen years ago. Nick was, by far, the strongest suspect at the moment.
“Good. Pierce wants to call my mom in for a voluntary interview, and I’ve advised her to refuse. He has nothing to arrest her for, so I see no reason to let him scare her or get her to admit anything. Your thoughts?”
“At the moment, I agree,” I said. Sandrine was under no obligation to assist the police with their case against her son. Sometimes, silence was the best defense. I shook out my shoulders to release painful tension. “Okay, so that does give you more free time to handle your personal life.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not proposing to Tessa with all this going on. We’ll just have to shelve that idea for a while.”
Irritation clocked through me. “Nick, you’re not putting your life on hold, and neither is Tessa. You can’t let them win like this.”