Page 92 of Sweet on You
Jeremy’s smirk lifted. “That’s the beauty of photographs. You take enough and even the most benign moment can look downright neglectful.”
Lex’s muscles jerked beneath my hand and as he moved to stand up, Lana held her hand out, stopping him. “So, we’ll subpoena the entire flash drive and prove just that. That the photos are benign. “You have nothing and you know it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be over here talking to us.”
“You and I both know a case like this can go on for months… even years. And it would be a shame for little Olivia here to go into the state’s custody while all this gets sorted out.”
Now it wasmyjaw clenching right along with Lex’s. Iknewwe couldn’t trust his ex. Sarah was bad news… even from behind county jail bars. “Then whatisit you want? Why are you here giving us this head’s up?” I asked. “Because you don’t strike me as someone to do so out of the kindness of your heart.”
Lex snorted. “Whatheart?”
Jeremy scrolled through some images on the back of his camera and showed them to us. I gulped. One was from just a few minutes ago and showed Olivia mid-scream while I was chatting with Elsa. Another showed the condoms in my hand. Another, the moment Olivia burned herself. “These are just from today,” I said. Admittedly, one bad day. I glanced nervously at Lex who ran his hand over my back in reassuring circles.
“Okay then,” Jeremy said, scrolling through more. “How about this day?” He turned the camera and showed us that day in the park. Lex and I were standing beside the sandbox snuggling while Olivia was playing at our feet. It looked like we were so engrossed with each other that we weren’t even watching her. Even though we barely took our eyes off of her while she played… he captured the one moment we did—when the little boy stole the toy out from her hands and it looked like she was having an altercation while we were kissing.
In another photo, Penny was barking with Olivia in her stroller right next to him. I knew that bark… he was barking at a squirrel or something. But in the photo? His face looked terrifying and aggressive. And with a baby right beside him? It looked bad.
I took another deep breath. “Okay, then I’ll ask one more time. What do you want?”
Lex’s jaw twitched. “I have a vague idea of Sarah’s finances,” he said. “She can’t be paying you much.”
“She’s not,” he said. “Which is why if you can double what she’s paying me, I’ll delete this whole flash drive right now. Right here.”
“Lex,” Lana cautioned, but he immediately cut her off.
“Done.” Lex reached into his wallet and pulled out some cash. I reached over, placing my hand over his, and instead pulled out my checkbook.
“Wait,” I said. “I want a record of this payment… not cash. And how do we know you don’t have these downloaded onto a computer somewhere? That as soon as you have our money you won’t send Sarah the photos anyway?”
Jeremy put a hand over his heart. “I’m hurt that you think I’d betray you like that.”
God, this guy was a dirtbag. I glared at him and he rolled his eyes. “Fine. Postdate the check and I’ll write you an email stating that you bought the rights to the photos for exclusive and private use.” He held out a hand. “Happy?”
I snorted. “Hardly.”
“How much do we owe you?” Lex asked.
“Five hundred.”
I hissed a breath as I signed the check and post-dated it for a week from now.
He grabbed the check and held it up to us. “If you cancel this before next week, I will sue you.”
“We wouldn’t do that,” I whispered, narrowing my eyes at him.
As his finger hovered over the delete button, Lex reached a hand out, covering it. “Wait,” he said. “Give me the memory card. Don’t delete them.”
“It’s another fifty bucks for me to buy a new one,” Jeremy said. Lex grumbled and slapped a bill onto the table, sliding it over to him as Jeremy handed him the memory card.
“Nice doing business with you.” Jeremy gave us a little salute, hiking his camera bag onto his shoulder.
“If I see you near me, Ronnie, or my kid ever again, I’m breaking the cameraandyour nose. Not necessarily in that order.”
“Oh, a threat.” He trembled in an exaggerated shiver. “Never heard one of those before.”
We watched in silence as he left the diner. Once the door shut behind him, Lana had her phone out. “I’ll have Brady work on getting you a restraining order against him.”
“Do you think he’ll double-cross us?”
Lana exhaled a sharp breath and took a sip of her coffee. “Only if Sarah can pay him more money.”
