Page 179 of Papa's Bébé
“Thank God you’re all right.” To her shock, Marlin walked over and hugged her.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, though. What are we going to do? Who did this?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“Vince did it,” Matthieu said grimly, looking up from his phone. “Brody just messaged me. He was caught on camera pulling off his mask before getting in his car. It was Vince who tried to kill you.”
Oh my God.
Vince. That bastard.
“Fuck,” Marlin said. “Vince? Are you serious?”
“Very serious.”
Marlin ran his hand down over his face. “You have video footage?”
“Yeah. We do.”
“Copies?” her brother asked urgently.
“Yes.”
“Good. Do not lose all of those. My father . . . he’s not going to believe this without seeing this proof. And . . . well, there has been some history on the force of crucial pieces of evidence going missing in certain cases. We do not want this to be one of those cases.”
“Oh, believe me,” Matthieu replied. “We are well aware of the corruption in the Billings Police Force. And how Vince is deep in that shit.”
“You are?” He shot his gaze to Maya. “Do you know why Vince might have targeted you like this? The other day you didn’tseem to want anything to do with him. Is there something I don’t know? I don’t see how he could be the person threatening our father. Vince is like a son to him.”
A throat cleared at the doorway and she glanced over to see Detective Reeves walk in. “Maya, I’m glad to see you’re all right.”
“Thanks,” she told him.
Marlin turned to him. “It was fucking Vince.”
Shock filled Reeves’ face. “You are fucking kidding me. I told that asshole that if he went near you again, I’d make his life a living hell.”
“Obviously, he didn’t believe you,” Matthieu said. “And now he’s going to pay.”
“By going to jail,” Marlin said.
Matthieu just grunted.
“We should all sit down and talk about this,” Reeves said. “Can you do it now?”
“Maya is exhausted. She needs to rest.”
“I know but the information will be fresh for both of you,” Reeves said.
“And Father is demanding a report,” Marlin added.
Her stomach was a tight knot. “Let’s just get it over with. I just want to check on my babies first.”
Matthieu eyed her for a long moment. “All right. We’ll go check on the animals and then give a report.”
“Good,” Reeves said grimly. “Meanwhile, I’ll send someone we trust to Vince’s house to keep an eye out for him.”
She figured that Vince wasn’t likely to return home. Then again, she hadn’t thought he’d throw a firebomb through her window, either.
“Let’s go,” Matthieu said.
