Page 154 of High Roller

“I hate to ask you to do that, but we need this information as quickly as possible. Even just the names of everyone in the room would be helpful. I’ve got a binder of employee photos I can send you for her to flip through.”

“Send it. I’ll go talk to her now and call you back.”

“It’s on its way. And Victor?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad she’s OK.”

I end the call without saying anything else. Thinking about Lili not being OK is too much right now. The very thought puts my stomach in knots.

When the email from Owen with the pictures comes through, I pull it up on a tablet and go to the bedroom.

Grace is sitting next to Lili who is asleep on my side of the bed.

“She wanted to fall asleep with the scent of you,” Grace says quietly when I crawl onto the bed and sit next to her.

“Thank you for sitting with her. Sorry it took me so long to get back.” I kiss her gently, and tears stream down her face.

“Grace, sweetheart. Everything is going to be OK. Right now, we need to wake Lili up because Owen needs her help identifying someone.”

“I’m awake,” Lili says softly, rolling over to face us.

She sits up, and I pass her the tablet with Owen’s email up.

“He wants me to identify staff from the attorney’s office and see if I recognize the shooter?”

I nod. “If you can. No pressure. But you’re the one most likely to have seen the shooter before if he came from Phineas, and you were in the room with everyone at the attorney’s office today.

She scrolls through the images and identifies the three paralegals who were in the office.

“This one was a little anxious. Nervous almost. It could be nothing, but I would start with her.”

I text Owen the names while she moves to the photos of the shooter. Surveillance caught him climbing onto a nearby roof, and one of Hunter’s guards took him down, so there is also a photo of his dead body.

Lili’s hand flies to her mouth when she gets to that image, and Grace buries her face in my chest.

“I’ve seen him before, but I don’t remember his name. He’s been with my husband at the mayor’s office a few times. Former military if I remember right.”

“That would make sense if he’s a sniper.”

“How is Trinity?”

“Just going into surgery. Owen says it’s dicey.”

She blows out a breath. “I pray she’s OK. If she survives, I’d like to visit her.”

“If Hunter is willing. He’s pretty pissed at all of us right now. Feels like we put her in danger by not coming to him immediately.”

“He’ll come around. The man just watched his wife almost die, and if the tabloids are to be believed, that woman is the most important thing in his life. He would be willing to give up every last bit of his business to keep her safe.”

She reaches across Grace and picks up my hand. “This isn’t your fault, Victor.”

“I’m trying to tell myself that. But what if that paralegal didn’t make the call until she saw me coming to your rescue when you had the panic attack?”

“Lili had a panic attack?” Grace says, her voice going up an octave at the end. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Things got a little crazy, butterfly. I’m sorry.”

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