Page 31 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

Jon promptly whipped out his present from the stack and handed it over. Ah-ha, the mystery was about to be solved.

Brandon tore it open and then cackled. Looney Tunes kind of cackled. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing, then I laughed myself. Now that was genius.

Jon had customized a paintball ammo holder so that it held a dozen small tubes, but instead of paintballs, the tubes were filled with salt. Well, half of them were. The other half were empty.

Pointing at the empty ones, Brandon asked, “Water?”

“Yup. Tubes were also special made to not leak. You can insert them into the top, screw it right in next to the tanks, so you’re able to add either salt to the water or just add in more water. Should tide you over in a tough spot.”

“You guys, this is seriously thebestidea ever. I’m now looking forward to our next ghostly encounter.”

The present was very well thought out and executed. Bravo to the three men for putting this all together. I didn’t know how anyone else’s presents could possibly top them, but I hoped mine would be appreciated just as much.

Other presents were given, Brandon pausing to appreciate each one, and they were good ones. My gift was two tickets to see Josh Johnson, the comedian. He’d be here in Nashville next month, and I knew Brandon really liked him. Plus it doubled as a date for him and Mack, which, with their hectic schedules, was hard to pull off.

Then we got to cut into the delicious cake, paired with ice cream, of course, and just sat and enjoyed our family and friends. All in all, it was a truly excellent day. Which made me think, maybe we should do something more like this for our wedding? More of a party and less of a traditional wedding. We’d already been so frustrated trying to lock in the traditional wedding things; perhaps a change of pace altogether would work better. A low-key event, with all our nearest and dearest, sounded like the less stressful party to plan. Right now, if we weren’t at work, we were planning a wedding, which wasn’t sustainable.

Something to talk over with Jon, for sure.

11

Monday hit bright and early, as usual. Too early. Not-enough-caffeine-in-my-system kind of early. Ugh. Why, Monday, why?

I wanted to set a good example for Abby, truly, but coffee first.

Abby was one of those naturally morning people, so she followed me into the break room, a bounce in her stride.

“Jon, my dad’s offered to represent Dwayne if he wants.”

For a full second, her statement made absolutely no sense. Then brain cells chose to rub together for a second and I remembered Abby’s father was a lawyer. “Abby, that’s great. Let’s see if we can email Dwayne later with the offer.”

Now that Dwayne wasn’t in max security, he got an hour of computer time every day, so email was one of the easier ways to keep him updated. I hadn’t thought of legal representation yet, but Abby clearly had.

She leaned against the counter as I doctored my magic bean juice. “I told Dad all about him, and he was really upset. Said the law shouldn’t be treated like a bully stick.”

I snorted because her description was dead-on.

“So he said, if Dwayne wanted, he’d take the case pro bono and help clear his name. Also said he’d be happy to sue that bad detective.”

My hand stilled in stirring as a vision suddenly hit. Solomon. In court, being sued, because of his jackassery. Oh yes. I could absolutely get behind this. “We aredefinitelyemailing Dwayne later today because both those things need to happen. It’s about time someone took on Solomon.”

“From everything I’ve heard? Absolutely. The judge we saw really hates him too. Can we get her as a judge for the case?”

“If the heavens are willing.” Should I encourage stacking the odds against Solomon in court and rigging the system? No. Would I? In this case, yes, and I was not at all ashamed to do it.

“Cool. Then I’ll text my dad later about it.” Abby seemed quite pleased with herself.

Sho popped his head out of his office. “Jon, Abby, got a sec?”

Whenever he said something in that tone, one loaded with suggestion and possibly bad things, I knew shit was about to get interesting. “Yup, coming!”

“Conference room.”

I figured. That way I could be on the opposite end of a projector while he showed me things. Sho was very careful with his tech.

I gathered up coffee and apprentice and away we went into the conference room. Donovan was already there, so I sat next to him.

Abby was excited about her idea and relayed it to Donovan. “My dad offered to be Dwayne’s attorney. Can you help me email Dwayne later?”

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