Page 107 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

She pulled it out and noticed the DA calling her. “Troy, I’ll be right back,” she said.

She answered the phone and walked to her office and shut the door.

“Hi, Justine,” John Bloom said. “Sorry it’s taken me a few days to get back to you. Between the holiday, some time off, and speaking with the detective on the case.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m assuming you’re calling about the cameras in the house that we discovered.”

“I am, fill me in on what you know.”

“Not much,” she said. “We aren’t getting anywhere. I sent the company everything they asked for to show that I could access the footage. I’m not even sure how far back it goes. I’m hoping for more than six months at this point. A year would be great. Longer more, but if we could get something for the period of time that Elise shot my father, that works.”

“It does,” John said. “But I have to be honest with you. I don’t have the manpower to go through that much footage right away. There is a good chance once they find out the will is being contested that you’re not going to be able to get the information anyway.”

She wanted to cry hearing this. “John. If my father hadn’t been murdered and was medically not able to make decisions, I still had power of attorney and Jordan the medical proxy. Would Elise be disputing that?”

“Most likely,” John said. “We don’t know and it’s hearsay. If this company declines to release the footage, then we’ll have to get a subpoena, which I have no problem doing. I’m sure it will be granted, but things take time. Then again, viewing the footage. If it’s only back six months, it doesn’t matter.”

“So you’re telling me you’re not even trying?” she asked.

This was heartbreaking for her.

“I’m sorry, Justine,” John said. “It’s not what you want to hear. We are trying, but things take time. Your case isn’t the only one on my desk. Elise’s attorneys keep pushing things back and in our office, we are fine with it right now. It’s not like she is some serial killer on the street.”

Which didn’t make the death of her father any easier to handle.

“My father was a prominent man in the community. His name is being slandered because of her.”

“I know and, again, I’m sorry,” John said.

“If I get my own attorney, will it go faster?” she asked. “To get the footage and have someone go through it.”

“Probably,” he said. “A cost you’ll have to incur and it might just be another dead end. I want to say to let the process work.”

“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t sit back and wait. It’s been almost seven months already. I want this done.”

“Let me know what you decide to do,” John said. “And keep me posted if you get the footage.”

“Thanks,” she said and hung up the phone.

She wanted to call Jordan but couldn’t unload on her sister.

They didn’t have enough facts and maybe the security company would release it to her in a few days. No reason to get worked up over anything just yet.

But an hour later she got an email from the security company saying that they couldn’t release the footage due to the will being held up.

She felt her eyes fill with tears.

There had to be a reason her father went to these lengths.

She’d never heard of something being this tight before with security measures.

That just told her there was more going on than anyone could know or guess.

She texted Garrett saying she had a bad day and wondered if he had a minute to talk.

She hated to bug him, but she needed someone right now that understood what she was going through.

Her phone went off with a reply five minutes later that he’d come down around twelve thirty when he went to lunch.

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