Page 123 of The Good Girl

“What can I do for you, Pres?” he grunts at me.

“I’m actually here to ask Lil a favor. You mind sitting with Dice for a bit? He’s asleep now, but with Hannibal gone he’s alone over there.”

“I don’t mind. I’ll take my Kindle over and some snacks. Don’t worry, I’ll look after him.”

“Thanks, darlin’.”

I see G waving me down. “You okay here for a minute? Looks like G wants me for something.”

“Sure. I want to see how Amity’s shoot went anyway. Come find me when you’re done.”

She heads off to find Amity as I walk over to G, who nods to my office. I don’t say anything until he closes the door behind him.

“What’s up?”

“Two things. I managed to pull some footage from that camera the day your tires were slashed.”

He holds his phone out for me to see. From the angle of the camera, you can’t get a clear shot of the bike, but you can see a man on his own and a couple holding hands as they walk past where it was parked. One of them might have seen something. “I vaguely recognize the homeless looking guy as the one who I sometimes see hanging around the diner. I not sure about the couple through.”

“The blond guy is Clem Abbot. He’s a realtor who is relativity new to the area. The red-haired woman is Angela Hannigan. She’s a barfly with a reputation of going home with anyone who buys her drinks. Clem is married, but not to Angela so whoever we send to question them should keep in mind that they’re likely to lie to save their own skin.”

“I’ll send Toot. I have a feeling; he’ll get what he needs out of Angela at the very least. That’s assuming they saw anything at all. I figured it was a long shot anyway. What else?”

“The comments on Nevaeh’s social media posts are getting worse. They’ve used the shooting as a way to draw others to their cause.”

“Her personal page?”

He nods.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s only a handful of people and one ringleader, one of the guys I was already watching. They are pretty much saying Nevaeh is the reason that so many people got hurt at the signing. They’re saying she should kill herself and other nasty shit. The ringleader mentioned what he would do to her when he gets his hands on her. Then went on some rant about making them pay for fucking everything up.”

“Them?”

“You, Dice and Capone? Each of you were photographed at the event and seen arriving with Nevaeh. The only other them could mean the shooters. But as there were no credible witnesses, nobody has linked them back to Raven Souls. Not to mention, how would he know it was a them and not a solo shooter?”

“Unless he was there at the signing.” I rub my hand over my face.

“Might be time to call the cops in on this one. Nevaeh is too high profile, and the comments are already gaining traction. People who were at the signing have come to both Nevaeh’s defense and yours. There is even a photo doing the rounds of you carrying the girl who was shot in the leg to safety. Most people are backing Nevaeh and you, but that seems to only make this small group even more pissed.”

“Nevaeh see any of this, you know?”

“I swiped her phone and disabled her social media apps so they won’t open for her. Once she notices, she’ll get me to look at it and I have to turn them back on. I just wanted to give you a heads up so you can tell me how you want me to deal with it.”

“Can you trace who these assholes are?”

“Maybe. It depends on what kind of setup they have. Average Joes do little to hide their online presence. Someone with more knowledge might use a VPN, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Do your digging first. If I need to call the police, I will. But they’re unlikely to do much unless there is a real possibility of a threat to Nevaeh’s safety. For all we know, these people could live halfway across the world and be all bark and no bite.”

“I hear you. Leave it with me, and I’ll see what I can find. Just make sure she has eyes on her wherever she goes.”

“With Driller on the loose still, that’s a given.”

“Any signs of him making an appearance yet?”

“I told Hannibal he could stay in my house. It makes sense, as Lola was still living there. He told me the place had been trashed, so Driller has been back at some point.”

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