Page 109 of Saving Sophia

My heart swelled at his words.

Mr. Roscoe’s shoulders slumped, and he swiveled his head to blink stupidly at me as if he still couldn’t understand how his circumstances changed so quickly.

John, the woman, and her entourage of six burly men in dark suits walked further into the room.

“B-but, Valerie? You’re supposed to be in jail,” Mr. Roscoe stammered out.

“Oh, Tommy,” she said, pulling out a small, silver box from her pocket and retrieving a cigarette. One of her men held a lighter up before she even had it pressed to her lips. She took a long drag and walked closer to Mr. Roscoe. “You’re not the only one with good attorneys.”

Another of her men pulled the barely conscious moon-faced man up from the ground and onto his knees too. “It’s Lewis,” he said grimly.

She blew out a plume of smoke and glared at Moon-Face-Lewis.

His face was still bloody from my tray, but the utter horror in his eyes was crystal clear.

“This isn’t what it looks like, Mrs. Vasili,” he said, his voice quivering. “I was only here for recon. I swear I didn’t?—”

“Shut him up,” Valerie Vasili snapped. Wife of Nik Vasili, woman that Mr. Roscoe had framed for murder. I sucked in a deep breath at the realization. Her man stuffed a thick handkerchief into Lewis’s mouth, so his pleas became garbled.

Daddy left Mr. Roscoe kneeling in the blue shag carpet and held his arm out to me. I pressed in tight to his side. He pulled me close, his mouth resting against my temple now that the danger was past. “You okay, baby girl?” he whispered. “That was a hell of a swing you have there.”

“I thought he was gonna kill you,” I gasped out, barely able to speak my fears into words.

“Not a chance,” he murmured into my ear.

Valerie turned her attention back to Mr. Roscoe. “You’re also not the only one with an inside man, Tommy.” She drew a fingernail down John’s bulging biceps. “I knew about Lewis, but I didn’t know what else you’d been up to.” She turned a steely gaze to Daddy and me. “Until I got an interesting phone call from a long lost relative.” She took a drag and exhaled, sending smoke in a wave up to the ceiling. “This is the witness?”

Daddy nodded, his arm tight and protective around me. I trembled, but Daddy brushed his lips against my cheek, whispering, “I got you, baby girl. You can do this.”

“Tell me,” she commanded. “What did you see and hear the night Nikki was killed?”

I swallowed hard. “He was here. In this room. And they were …” I hesitated. Daddy gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“They were fighting over you – I guess – that you owed him something.”

Valerie snorted and waved for me to continue.

“And … Nik said …” I bit my lip. This woman looked like she wouldn’t take an insult well. I took a deep breath and continued. “He said you just thought you called the shots?”

Her eyebrow shot up and her eyes glittered dangerously.

I squeaked out the next part fast, anxious to be done. “Mr. Roscoe said Nik could help solve that problem. Then, I left, but … when I came back to get my shoes …” I hesitated again, but no one seemed to think I was foolish this time. “I saw Mr. Roscoe, holding the gun, and Nik was … dead.” I stared at the chair in the space where Nik had died. Where Daddy had sat just a few minutes ago.

“She’s lying Valerie,” Mr. Roscoe yelled from his place on the floor. “She’s a stupid little waitress trying to get revenge for me firing her.”

Daddy bristled but stayed with me.

“How the hell would a waitress know about any of that?” Valerie flicked the ash of her cigarette at Mr. Roscoe’s face. “John? Did you find it?”

He nodded and pulled a jump drive out of his pocket. “Once Griff told me what I was looking for, it was easy enough to find.”

Mr. Roscoe’s face paled. “Valerie, you don’t?—”

“Shut up,” she hissed. To John she asked, “It’s all there?”

He nodded. “The murder by Tommy and the clean-up by Lewis.”

I blinked, trying to understand. Griff knew John? Had he told him to check the security footage from the night of the murder? Of course. Mr. Roscoe had told us the statues were cameras, and they were everywhere. They would have captured everything.

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