Anonymous(43)

Sitting at the kitchen bar, I lay out all the papers and read through them. An hour passes by and I’m almost done with the paperwork, when my phone rings.

“Detective,” I answer.

“Jake,” he replies. “I’m calling to let you know that Bryan was released from the hospital this morning.”

“How is he?”

Terry sighs. “Not good mentally, but he’s determined. However, his request to join the case was denied, but we both know that’s not going to stop him. He’s been put on leave for a few weeks, until everything dies down.”

“I had a feeling that was going to happen. I wonder what he’s going to do now?” I sign the last of the contracts and slip the papers into an envelope. Terry’s car starts up in the background.

“I don’t know. I gave him some of my clothes, so he’d have something to wear when he left. He took his laptop and didn’t look back. His truck is still seized for right now, so we can search it for evidence. I have no clue how he’s going to get around.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

He clears his throat. “I was kind of hoping you’d reach out to him somehow, before you leave for Canada. He seems to be more receptive to you.”

Maybe it’s because I’m his tie to Ellie and he feels a need to prove his innocence to me. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s innocent, after everything I’ve seen. “Speaking of Canada, if that psycho bastard were to track my movements, where will it look like I’m going?”

“Washington. Nowhere near Quebec.”

Grabbing my jacket off the chair, I grab my keys and head for the door. “Thanks, Terry. I’ll drive around to see if I can find him. If I don’t find him today, I know where he’ll be tomorrow.” Samantha’s funeral is then. He would never miss it.

“Sounds good. I know I shouldn’t ask this of you, considering everything that’s happened.”

“It’s okay. I don’t plan on being the guy’s best friend, but if he can help this case, I’ll work with him.”

“Thanks again.”

We hang up and I throw on my coat. I doubt I’ll find Bryan, but I can at least try. When I get outside, I hop in my truck, but a car pulls up at the front of my house and I stop. Bryan gets out and slowly makes his way down my driveway, dressed in a pair of jeans, and a flannel shirt, covered with a brown leather coat. He looks a lot better than he has the past couple of days.

I step out and he stops mid-step, holding out his arms. “I know you probably don’t want me here, but . . .”

“Actually,” I cut in, “I was on my way to look for you.”

His brows furrow. “Why?”

I walk toward him and stop at the edge of my truck. “Detective Bradshaw told me about your request to join the case being denied. I thought maybe we could help each other. You need facts, and I have a lot of them. I figured I could give you some insight before I leave town.”

His gaze drops to the ground. “Are you going to Ellie?”

“I am.”

“I’m assuming she’s safe.”

“She is. Owen’s looking after her for now.”

“I should’ve known,” he says, lifting his head. “Those two were inseparable. He hated my fucking guts.”

“I wonder why. I hated your fucking guts. You drunk dialed her all the time. Not to mention, the week of our wedding, you tried to convince Ellie that you were the one she was supposed to be with.”

Sounding guilty, he clears his throat and sticks his hands in his pockets. “Not one of my finest moments, I’ll give you that. But that was so many years ago. She loves you and she chose you. I don’t think of Ellie like that now. We had a connection that I never had with anyone else, at least, not until Samantha.”

With a heavy sigh, I cross my arms over my chest. “Her funeral’s tomorrow. Are you going?”

He nods. “Her parents don’t want me there though. They still have doubts about my innocence.” His eyes close and he takes a deep breath. “I’ll be treated like an outcast, not as the man who lost the woman he loved and wanted to marry.”

“The truth will come out soon,” I assure him.

When he opens his eyes, they blaze like fire. “You’re damn right it will, once I expose the bastard who did this.”

“Speaking of him, he texted me last night.”

“What?” he exclaims incredulously. “You can’t be serious.” I pull up the text message and show him. “That dude has some serious balls. I’d be pissed the fuck off.”

I pocket my phone. “Believe me, I am. The detective didn’t have any luck tracing the phone numbers. The one from last night is the same phone number he used to text Ellie. There’s also another one that was used prior to this one.”

His brows furrow. “Do you mind giving the numbers to me, so I can trace them myself? I’m a little more advanced than the detective.” He hurried back to his car and grabbed a pen and small piece of yellow paper.

The numbers are ingrained in my mind; I recite them off and he writes them down, slipping it into his back pocket. “I’ll get right on that tonight. Does Ellie know about it?”

I shake my head. “I’m going to tell her when I see her. It’s one of the reasons we thought you were sending the texts. With having all that computer access, we knew it’d be easy for you to be untraceable.”