Page 65 of Cause and Effect

“Morgan and I need to talk to you,” Laurel said as she opened my door. “Can you come down to Morgan’s office?”

“Sure.” I followed her. “What’s up?”

“I think it’s time you saw this,” Morgan said, typing on her keyboard.

I looked at the large monitors on the wall and saw footage of Georgina and another woman meeting at a park filled with children.

“Here’s your new identity, passport, and a one-way plane ticket to Thailand.” Georgina handed the woman an envelope. “The money has been deposited into your bank account, so you should be all set to live the life you deserve.”

“Thanks, Georgina. I appreciate this.”

“I should be thanking you,” she said. “You did something I couldn’t bring myself to do, and I will forever be grateful.”

“And what if the jury finds you guilty of murderingDerek?” she asked.

“They won’t. I have the best lawyer who believes my story. He will stop at nothing to get me off. This will all be over soon. Go and enjoy your new life.”

My heart raced out of my chest as I watched the video.

“That bitch!” I shouted so loudly that it caught the attention of my brothers walking past the office.

“What’s going on?” Roman asked.

“Watch this bullshit!” I shouted, turned, and stared out the window with my hands on my hips.

Morgan replayed the video for Roman and Parker.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe this,” Parker said.

“Something about that woman always bothered me,” Roman said. “You know what you have to do, right?” Roman walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Hold on a second,” Morgan said. “He can’t confront her yet.”

“Why not?” Parker asked.

“Because we have to play this very carefully,” Laurel spoke.

“Exactly,” Morgan said. “If you confront Georgina, she will know we were the ones spying on her.”

“You need to send the video to the ADA, let her come to us with it, and then we confront Georgina and try to get her to change her plea.”

“The ADA will know it came from us,” I said.

“No, she won’t,” Morgan spoke. “It’ll be sent anonymously with encrypted information that can’t be broken. Nobody but the five of us will know.”

“Who the hell is that woman?” I shouted as I pointed to the monitor.

“Obviously, the woman Georgina hired to kill her husband,” Roman said.

“No shit. But who is she?” I asked.

“I’m running a facial recognition now,” Morgan said. “Got a match. Mary Phillips. She spent five years in prison for the murder of her boyfriend and was released three months ago for good behavior and rehabilitation.”

“Real rehabilitated,” Parker sighed.

“I wonder how Georgina knows her,” Laurel said.

“You’re never going to believe it. Mary is Georgina’s cousin.”

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