Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
"I wanted to talk to you about Nathan."
Just when I didn't think her body could grow any stiffer, she freezes completely. No doubt hearing his name twice in a few minutes is threatening to shut her systems down completely.
"The judge with the district court has set his bond very high, making his attorney fight for a bond hearing that they'll have next week," Kincaid explains.
"H-he can bond out?" Brielle stammers, and I hate the glassy look of her eyes telling me that she may cry with the news.
"He's never been convicted of a crime, and with no criminal history, it's nearly impossible for the judge to deny bail."
I keep my eyes on Kincaid when I feel Brielle scoot a little closer to me, and I have to fight the urge to wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer.
"I just wanted to update you, not scare you," Kincaid tells her, also reading the fear in her body language. "But that's not all we need to discuss."
I almost open my mouth to tell him that she's heard enough, but I know it won't go over well. At this rate, she may never want to leave the room again, and I hate the way I'm torn on how that thought makes me feel.
"Xan," Kincaid says. "No one has claimed his body. The coroner doesn't know what to do."
"Nathan should make that call," Brielle whispers. "I have no power to do anything."
Her refusal to help make plans to lay the man to rest increases my confidence in her, and it quiets that voice that keeps wondering if she's here for nefarious reasons.
"Nathan has refused to even acknowledge his son's death past swearing vengeance on whoever took his life," Kincaid says with a frown. "They'll hold his remains longer, but I just wanted to check with you since he's your brother."
"He isn't my brother," she snaps, making Kincaid pull back a little.
The man stands without arguing with her as he looks in my direction. "Let me know if you need anything."
Neither of us speaks when he walks away. He pauses in the middle of the room, pulling in a deep breath, before turning back around and retaking his seat on the coffee table.
"I know this isn't something you want to discuss, and normally I would give you as much time as you needed to heal, but Nathan is going to be extradited back to Ohio. The prosecutors there feel like they have enough to proceed with a grand jury indictment on him."
"Back to Ohio?" she asks, shaking her head. "That's a mistake."
"I don't control what the police do," Kincaid says.
"He has so many people in his pockets," she says, then immediately snaps her mouth closed as if she didn't mean to say it.
"It would be great to know who those people are," Kincaid urges.
"I don't know who they are," she says a little too quickly to make either of us believe her.
"Do you know what might've happened to Detective Andi Greene?"
Her jaw flexes and, at first, I think she's mad that Kincaid is still here asking her questions, but then her chin quivers.
"She's gone?"
Kincaid nods. "She disappeared a couple of months ago. No trace, just gone. We assume Nathan or Xan took her in order to find you."
I think if it were possible, Brielle would curl into a ball.
"Any idea where they might have taken her?" Kincaid prods again, not one to give up easily.
We both know he's skating a line between keeping her calm and trying to find out more information.
Brielle hasn't been very forthcoming. The prosecutor's office, as well as Detective Greene, have been adamant that she knows more than what she's saying, but I have to wonder if she isn't talking to protect herself rather than trying to protect her stepfamily.
We all heard the threats Nathan made. The man was so willing to put himself into a position to get caught just to get her back in his clutches that it's clear he's obsessed with either her or vengeance against her enough to make mistakes. Something he hasn't done much of his entire criminal career.
"They never told me where they keep the women, just that they had them," she says, and a part of me wants to believe her.
Kincaid nods before standing once again and walking away.
She's trembling before he even makes it around the corner into the kitchen.
Beth doesn't come through with Oracle, and I'm sure she's no longer in the right headspace to speak with the woman.
"Want to go back to the room?" I ask, and she stands as she nods.
Chapter 16
Brielle
I chew my nails in the darkness of the closet.
It wasn't long after we got back to the room that the lights were turned off.
I can't tell if the man is asleep or not. He hasn't had a nightmare that I've heard since I started leaving the closet door open. I wonder if that's because he can't sleep without that level of separation or if he feels more comfortable around me.