Page 46 of Southie
Biting my lip, I contemplated how to explain what happened between me and Frankie, and how he was still harassing me almost a year later.
“I’ve been having some issues with an ex-boyfriend. When I moved to Boston, I hoped things would settle down, but they haven’t. He’s been harassing me. Excessive amounts of phone calls.”
I heaved a sigh and tried to remove my hand from Liam’s, but his grip tightened. I looked at him, and he dipped his head for me to continue. Detective Rizzo also nodded for me to continue.
“I was in an abusive relationship for almost four years. One night it got bad, neighbors called the cops, and I ended up in the hospital for a week. He lost everything, and he blames me.”
“Have they charged him?” the detective asked, scribbling more notes on the yellow pages of the notepad.
“Yeah. Since he was an athlete at UGA after the charges were filed, they kicked him off the football team.”
“The University of Georgia?” the detective asked.
I nodded. “Yes. Because of who his father is, it was a high-profile arrest. The State Attorney brought charges against him, but his father’s money is stalling everything.”
“Who’s his father?”
“Howard Scott.”
“The former NFL player?”
“Yes.”
“Wait…wait.” The detective’s brows pinched together. “Camilla Jennings, daughter of Roland Jennings, the former boxer?”
My head dropped. It was like a light bulb went off inside his head when he connected the dots.
“Yes,” I muttered.
“I thought you looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure if it was you. You said you recognized the car?”
Overwhelmed with relief, I sagged against the chair. He hadn’t asked me to go into further detail about my problems with Frankie. I was sure, like everyone else, he’d heard the details from multiple news reports, but it wasn’t something I wanted to relive in a police station to someone not connected to my case. I was sure the detective believed the news reports. Everyone else had.
Anyway, I wanted to talk to Liam about it first before I spilled my guts to a stranger about the worst time in my life.
“I just thought my mind was playing tricks on me because I’ve been on edge ever since the incident with Frankie and the harassment. I sensed someone watching me but again, I thought I was overreacting.”
“Is the car your ex’s?” Liam asked, squeezing my hand.
“I’ve never seen it before other than around my house and school, but I haven’t seen him in almost a year, so anything’s possible.”
“Did you feel like someone was there watching you that day?” the detective asked.
“Yes, but I just shook it off as my nerves getting the better of me. As I said, it’s been a stressful time with everything that’s been going on, but when I arrived it didn’t feel right to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“The closer I got to the house, the feeling of someone watching me got stronger. Even when Liam and I left after the police arrived, I had the same feeling.”
“Shit!” Liam mumbled under his breath. “Rizzo, when was the picture taken?”
“From the time stamp on the security footage, the car arrived around six-thirty and left after the police arrived at the scene. We don’t have footage of him entering your grandmother’s house, but given the time range of his arrival, Ms. Jennings arrival, and when he departed, he may be the one who committed the murder.”
“He was there when I arrived?” I asked.
He answered with a nod, and my heart sunk. Liam was right. I’d been so reckless and ignored my body’s instincts that danger had been around. He could’ve still been in the house and he could’ve taken me, or I could’ve ended up like Mrs. Daugherty.
I rubbed my temples and pushed down the bile that rose in the back of my throat.
