Page 36 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity
“Even though there was a note in his wallet that said this?” Cal handed him the paper, and he read it while trying to keep it from Sky.
“‘If I’m dead, Skylar Sullivan did it.’” Sky’s eyes rolled so hard that Reece feared they’d never return to center. “Lord, he was so dramatic,” she said between clenched teeth. “Tell me the cops don’t believe that?”
“They have to investigate it, of course, but as of right now, they have no leads. Not only are you incapable of that kind of killing physically, but you couldn’t transport himanywhere. Then we’re back to the idea of hiring someone, which would be difficult for you right now, considering you’re on the run from your other warrant.”
“That’s what the police think? That I’m ‘on the run’?” she asked, using air quotes.
Cal shrugged in a way that told Reece he was holding back a smile. “Well, no. The police think you’re hiding out at Secure One while we try to figure out who’s setting you up. They’re okay with pretending you’re on the run for a bit longer since they can’t find proof you have been in any of the cities with vandalized galleries or took out large sums of cash to pay someone else to do it.”
“That’s because I didn’t,” Sky said, her words tight. “Could they link Miles to any of them?”
“I don’t believe they were trying,” Cal answered.
“But we have been, and the answer is yes to several,” Iris said. “That’s what I wanted to bring to your attention today.”
Skylar glanced between all of them. “Do you think with Miles’s death the vandalism will stop?”
Cal lowered himself to a chair and leaned forward, clasping his hands together, his metal and plastic fingers clicking into place around his flesh and bones. Cal had lost half of his fingers on his right hand while in the service, but the prosthesis he wore was so perfectly fitted to him that he could use the prosthetic finger to pull a trigger with deadly aim.
“I’m going to be real with you here, Sky. Someone killed Miles, which means—”
“Someone else is pulling the strings.” Reece felt her heavy sigh all the way to his bones. “I should have thoughtof that. Even if Miles was doing the vandalism, that doesn’t mean the person behind his death won’t keep doing it.”
“Hey,” Reece said, rubbing her neck again to calm her. “You’ve had a lot thrown at you in the last few hours.”
“And you don’t do this for a living,” Mina added. “That’s why you’ve got us.”
“We’ve got you,” Iris assured her, still not making eye contact. “We may not know who is behind this yet, but we won’t give up until we do.”
“What she said,” Cal said with a wink. “We aren’t giving up. I was sorry to hear about your brother. I’m sure that wasn’t the kind of news you expected to hear during this time.”
“Thank you for your concern, but it’s a relief to know he’s dead and not out there hurting or abusing anyone else. My brother had problems, and he took a lot of them out on me. There was no love lost between us, and truthfully, I’m glad he’s dead and buried. That’s a part of my life I am happy to put behind me.”
You could hear a pin drop in the room, and Reece kept his hand on her neck to let her know he supported her.
“I’m sorry, that was dirty laundry I didn’t need to air.”
“No need to apologize to us,” Mina said with a shake of her head.
Cal turned to Mina. “Have there been any videos uploaded to the Facebook page today?”
“I haven’t gotten any notifications,” Reece said, pointing at his tablet. “I have it set up to alert me.”
Mina held up her finger and clicked around on her screen. After a few moments of silence, she let out an oof and leaned back in her chair. “There were no videos, but look.”
She clicked, and the screen on the wall mirroring hers lit up. It showed that the page’s owner had responded to every negative comment. “Those responses started about five thirty this morning and went until nine thirty.”
“Which means Miles wasn’t running that page,” Reece said.
“It doesn’t appear so,” Mina agreed.
“The IP address for the first few comments came up as overseas,” Iris said. “I’ll check these new comments to see if that’s changed, but I’m sure they’re using a VPN.” Anyone capable of taking control of Sky’s digital signature would certainly use a virtual private network to avoid detection.
“I agree.” Reece glanced at everyone in the room. “I feel like whoever is behind this just sent us a checkmate message with Miles.”
“From one security guy to the other, same,” Cal said.
“Maybe Camilleisbehind this,” Skylar insisted. “Miles was a puppy when it came to her. What’s to say she didn’t have other guys doing her bidding, too?”
