Page 70 of Cruel Riches

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because the woman in question is my sister.”

I swallowed hard. “Oh.”

“I introduced them. She was always interested in journalism, so I invited her to join us for lunch one day so she could pick Peter’s brain. I had no idea they’d start something up, but…” Jon trailed off and threw his palms up. “That’s what happened.”

Nausea rose in my throat. I couldn’t believe it. My father… the man I always thought was so wonderful and devoted to his family. He was a cheater?

It doesn’t make him a killer,a little voice in the back of my mind told me.

I gritted my teeth and sat up straight. “Okay. So your sister is the proof that he was innocent?”

Jon’s eyes darted around the bar before returning to my face. “Yes. The night they say Peter sneaked out to kill all those people and hang their bodies in the Blackthorne quad… he was with her. There was no way he could’ve done it.”

“You’re sure it was that exact date?”

“Yes. My sister was with him all night, until five-thirty the next morning when he sneaked back home to his family. Then he found the bodies at seven that same morning when he arrived at work. The forensics people determined that the bodies had been hanging there since three or four. So it couldn’t have been him.”

My earlier anger flared up again. “And you—or your sister—didn’t think to say anything about this when they arrested him?”

“You have to understand,” he said in a hushed voice, lifting his palms again. “We had to protect ourselves. When he was arrested, we knew what it meant. The people he was looking into had obviously framed him. Then they killed him. You know that, surely. It wasn’t just some random vigilante who broke him out of prison and murdered him.”

“You could’ve told someone he was innocent before they killed him.”

“No.” Jon vehemently shook his head. “We knew what was coming for us if we spoke up on his behalf at all. We would’ve been dragged into the whole thing and probably killed in the end too.”

I crumpled a napkin in my hand, treating it like a stress ball. “Right. So what’s changed? You’re suddenly willing to speak up now?”

“Not exactly. My sister and I want the truth to come out, but we can’t risk having our names mentioned at all.” Jon leaned forward again. “When I saw your ad, I figured you might be investigating the whole thing, and I hoped you’d be able to find some way to get the information out there while keeping our identities hidden. Is there any way you can do that?”

“I’m not sure. I’d have to think about it.”

“My sister isn’t willing to talk to you unless you can promise that her name will never, ever come up in anything you end up releasing to Peter’s family or the public.”

I hesitated as I considered it. This new information was gold. Better than gold. It could vindicate my father and restore his ruined reputation after all these long, horrible years. I couldn’t say no.

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” I finally said.

Jon was quiet for a long time. Then he stood. “I’ll call her. She might be willing to talk to you now.”

He strode out of the basement bar. Five minutes later, he returned to our spot. “She’ll talk to you tonight. But not for long,” he said.

“Here?”

He shook his head. “She’s too scared to talk about it in a public place,” he said. “Can’t blame her. She’s been scared for ten years now.”

“So she wants to talk to me at home?”

“Yes. Come with me.”

I followed Jon out of the bar and onto the street. Freezing wind was whipping through the air, sending chills up my spine.

“Lizzy lives too far from here to walk, but we probably shouldn’t drive there together,” Jon said, turning to look at me. “You’re a young woman, so I assume you won’t feel safe getting into a car with a man who’s essentially a stranger to you. I don’t blame you for that, by the way. It’s totally understandable. I wouldn’t want my daughters to get into a stranger’s car, either.”

“What are we going to do, then?”

“Why don’t I pull my car around, and you can follow me in yours?” he suggested. “That way, if you feel uncomfortable at any point, you won’t be trapped. You can just leave.”

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