Page 44 of Protecting Christina

“When can I talk to her?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping I will get some information in the next few days. In the meantime, I will keep an eye on the house and figure out if there are specific times Simon is away, so we can go in.”

“You’re going to break in?”

“Maybe. Don’t ask any questions you don’t want to hear the answer to.”

“Fine. But you have to keep your end of the bargain, as well, and keep me updated. I need to know everything.”

I knew she liked to be in control, but I hadn’t realized that a lot of it stemmed from trust issues. “Agreed.”

She sat in the seat and stared straight ahead. I wanted to ask her so many things. What had Simon done to her? Why did she not trust anyone? But I knew she wouldn’t answer any of those. Not yet, at least. Instead, I asked something else that was on my mind.

“Have you had any luck with Faye’s case?”

“A little.” She turned to face me. “It’s been challenging because there isn’t much evidence in terms of abuse. So, I’m looking at positioning it as neglect. According to Faye, he hasn’t once taken the kids anywhere, he doesn’t know their routines, let alone help with them. I doubt he even knows the name of the preschool they attend.”

“Is that enough for Faye to gain sole custody?”

She ran her fingers through her hair. “Probably not. But I’m still working on it.”

Her mouth tightened, and she looked tired. She probably had enough on her plate from her regular job. “Why do you do it?” I asked again.

She shrugged and looked out the window, avoiding my eyes. She didn’t say anything, but sighed. “I told you. Someone has to.”

There were plenty of divorce lawyers in the city, but not many who would kick someone in the balls because of what they did to their wives.

I was expecting her to ask me the same question again, but she didn’t. Usually, I’d be thankful for not having to explain my past or lie to avoid telling it. But for some reason, this time, I wanted to share a part of myself with her. Not all of it, of course, but maybe a little. Before I could say anything, Christina grabbed her purse and secured it over her shoulder. “I should get back to work.” Then, turning back to me, she said, “Don’t forget to keep me posted.”

I smiled. “I won’t.”

Then she climbed out of the van and walked over to her car parked several houses away. She was smart not to park in front of Simon’s house. Those kinds of instincts weren’t natural. They developed from necessity. Christina had been through a lot, and not all of it was on the file we had stored on our computer. No. There was a lot more to her past to make her the woman she was. I wanted to know everything about her, but I also knew it wouldn’t be easy for her to tell me.

But I would be patient and wait.

***

Over the next two days, I listened to the audio feed from Simon’s house. I kept the earpiece in all day and night, only taking it off to shower. I was not going to miss anything in that house. At first, it took some time to sort out the names with their voices. Once I had a handle on those, listening became easier.

On the second day, Jager figured out a way to tap into Simon’s security cameras at the front and back doors. The footage was being uploaded to a cloud, so it wasn’t too difficult for Jager to hack it.

That also made it a lot easier to sort out which voice belonged to whom.

I hadn’t seen Christina’s sister, Donna, on camera yet. Which meant that she hadn’t left the house in at least two days. Something told me it had been much longer than that.

I called Christina earlier today to ‘update’ her. She simply responded with, ‘All right. Keep me posted.’ It would have been the perfect response from a client if I didn’t want her to be more than that. But I would take it for now and be thankful she hadn’t shown up at the house again.

Something was going on in there. Different people came in and out each day, and today someone mentioned a new shipment. Was it drugs? Or guns?

I was pouring myself a cup of coffee later that afternoon when I heard a woman’s voice through the earpiece.

“Simon?”

She sounded confident, if a little groggy.

“What are you doing out here?”

I rushed to my laptop and looked at the security camera feeds. A woman stood at the back porch while Simon sat on a chair outside smoking a cigarette.

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