Page 11 of Fearless Sinner

“If he’s screwed her over, too, there’s no way he’s going to show his face at the house. He’ll know we’re watching the place.”

“Of course he will, but I’m hoping he’ll go back there at some point. It’s something out of the nothing we have. More importantly, Harlan knows what Lance Polinsky looks like.”

Jaxon stares at me, realizing the gravity of that one key fact. That one little fact is worth holding on to. Right now Harlan is my only link to Lance.

“Then we just have to keep looking and keep our eyes open.”

“Yes.” I hate to say it but continuing what we’re doing is all we can do.

I speed down the road and my mind drifts to the beauty I left behind.

That picture of Chloe Ricci did not do her justice. She was more beautiful in real life even though I could see she’d been through something.

She possessed the type of striking beauty that would make a man bend his rules to claim her.And she poured out her heart to me, telling me things she probably would never tell a stranger.

She told me to look up the Nathan Ferrera case. I will.

She got me curious.

Women are women to me these days, pretty faces and bodies to indulge in, but that one got me curious.

It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t have the kind of money her mom owes to pay me back. So if I take everything her mother owns, she’ll still think of me as a monster.

That won’t change and I don’t want it to. Then we’ll know where we stand.

I gaze ahead at the open road and try to figure out my next step.

I make my way up the garden path of Virgo’s home.

Night has fallen again, ending one of the most horrendous days I’ve had in a long time.

My leads led me nowhere. All l got from my efforts was blood on my hands from the motherfuckers I had to kill when they tried to slice me up.

I also looked up the Nathan Ferrera case and, of course, I looked Chloe up as well. It wouldn’t be like me not to do that.

I found out she’s a ballet dancer. One who never seemed to fully take off.

That, too, was linked to the Nathan Ferrera case. The moment I looked it up, I saw exactly why she told me to find it.

Nathan is her ex. Now he sits in California State Prison for murder. He’ll be there for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole because of the way he killed.

Nathan was one messed-up motherfucker, but I got the impression that Chloe told me to look up the case for more than just information on where she’s been.

It was about her. She testified against him and sent him away. In the process of doing so, it came to light that he nearly killed her, too. One of his charges was for grievous bodily harm. On her. She spent weeks in the hospital with broken bones. He also literally held her captive. That explained why she didn’t know about her mother and Harlan.

What I didn’t get was her mom. Why didn’t she check on her? Their bust-up must have been huge for that to happen because I’ve met her mother. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman to disown her daughter. But you can’t tell what a person is like just from looking at them.

I tried to do that with Chloe when I met her earlier, and I think I failed.

She doesn’t look like the kind of girl who would be with someone like Nathan Ferrera. I guess perhaps I’m seeing a version of her who’s learned a hard life lesson.

Today was just too much hell to digest. I’m only at Virgo and my sister’s home now because I promised them I’d join them for dinner.

I open the door and walk inside the house.

The moment I turn down the hallway, I hear talking and laughter in the living room. Everyone is here. The loudest voice I pick out belongs to my sister, Olivia. Then I hear Virgo and my uncle Seamus.

They sound so much like a normal family. No matter what is going on, I know Virgo and Seamus will hold on to that semblance of normalcy for Olivia. And I will do it, too.

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