Page 69 of Spark
Chloe held steady as Addison gave Esme just enough information for disclosure but not so much as to scare the girl any more than she already was.She sat beside Esme as Tara told her what would happen next, and when Tara was done, Esme pushed back against the couch cushions, her dark brows drawn together.
“So, I won’t have to go into the courtroom or see him face-to-face when I tell the judge what I saw?”she asked, and Tara shook her head.
“You won’t have to do either of those things, no.You’ll have to answer questions from his attorney, though, and they won’t be pleasant.He’s going to try to discredit you and make you sound unreliable.”
“He sounds like an asshat,” Esme mumbled, then pressed her lips together as she dropped her chin, just a fraction.“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Tara said, “you’re not wrong.The questions will be stressful, but we’ll do a lot of work to prepare you for them.”
Esme nodded.“So, once you arrest him, does he stay in jail until the trial?”she asked, and Chloe had to admit, it was an excellent question.
One that, if Tara’s face was anything to go by, none of them were going to like the answer to.“I’ll argue that he should be remanded, of course, but there is a chance the judge will allow bail.”
Chloe felt Esme’s fingers tighten beside hers, and she focused on the contact so she wouldn’t scream.Surprisingly, though, it was Tyler whose anger surfaced.
“This guy could make bail even though he murdered someone in cold blood, then committed an act of arson that put the lives of an entire squad’s worth of firefighters at risk to destroy the evidence?”
Tara shook her head.“I don’t like it any more than you do, and I’ll do my best to keep it from happening, but those are both things we have to prove for the court to consider them true.Until we have evidence that Navarro was behind the arson, even bringing it up is dicey.There are precautions I can request if the judge does grant bail—house arrest, an ankle monitor—but it’s something we should prepare for.”
Tom cleared his throat, looking from Tara to Addison.“I know the RPD will do everything possible to keep Esme’s identity protected, but maybe we should talk about an alternate housing placement with added security, given the circumstances.”
“What, like witness protection or something?”Esme asked, her gaze snapping toward Addison.“You said I’d be safe!”
“You will.Your identity, along with all of your statements and your testimony, will be protected by the absolute best surveillance expert in the entire RPD,” Addison said firmly, and Chloe had never loved her so much as she did right now.“I trust him with my life.That said, I agree that we shouldn’t take any chances, even tiny ones, with yours.Putting you on lockdown isn’t necessary, but moving you somewhere where we can keep a closer eye on things won’t hurt.Of course, your location will be as protected as your identity.No one will have access to any of it.”
The thought of Esme in danger, however unlikely, made Chloe’s stomach pitch.Nope.Not going to happen.“Moving you out of the group home is totally precautionary, and this way, you’ll have added support from a guardian.Think of it as a win-win.”
“Finding a suitable temporary placement, especially on short notice,isgoing to be challenging,” Tom said, blowing out a breath.“We’ll need a foster parent who has experience with at-risk situations.Someone we can trust with sensitive case details and who will support Esme as all of this unfolds.I can start digging, but I’m not sure we’ve got a lot of options.”
The fear and unease that had been forming like a hurricane in Chloe’s chest came to a stop with a single, striking thought.“I can think of one.Well, two, actually.But I know for a fact that they’re the perfect parents to help an at-risk kid,” she said, “because they did it with me.”
“You want Esme to stay with Lou and Carleen?”Tom asked, and fuck it, Chloe went with the whole truth.
“What I really want is for her to stay with me, but I get that there are rules that would make that impossible.Lou and Carleen are experienced foster parents, not to mention amazing people.My family comes with an army who would keep Esme safe, and if she were temporarily placed with Lou and Carleen, I could still be her advocate.”She paused, turning toward Esme.“As long as that’s what you want.”
Esme met her gaze with wide, unblinking eyes for just a beat before nodding.“Yeah.Yes.I mean, I still don’t need a babysitter, or anything, but it’s just temporary, so I guess that would be okay.”
Addison’s mouth twitched with a smile.“I’ve got to admit, this is a pretty good idea.”
“We’ll have to get a family court judge to sign off on it,” Tom said, clearly running through the process in his head, “but it does sound workable for the short-term, as long as Lou and Carleen are on board.”
Relief let Chloe exhale for the first time in what felt like hours.“I can call them right now.”
Tara sat back in her desk chair, a look of sheer determination taking over her features.“Well, then, if that’s settled, I guess there’s only one thing left to do.”She turned toward Addison, her voice steel-solid and loaded with certainty that Chloe felt to her toes.
“Go pick up Leo Navarro.We’re charging him with murder.”
22
Simon was going to murder his brother.Not figuratively.Actual murder, with a series of wildly painful and catastrophic injuries, rapid physiological breakdown, and the loss of bodily functions.You knew you’d done it properly when the person in your crosshairs pissed himself, when the stench of shit mingled in with the blood and vomit and pure terror.How arrogant would Leo be once Simon cut off his fingers one by one, he wondered?When he used a rusty scalpel to slice off his shit-talking tongue?When he gutted him over plastic sheeting and disposed of him like the waste he was, just as garbage should be?
You coward,hissed their mother, cold and sharp in Simon’s ear.Sitting there in my parlor, drinking tea like a pussy and planning the easy way out.You think you’re the smart one.Please.You’re nothing but a disappointment.You’rethe waste.
Simon stuffed the voice down, needing to think.He’d been so meticulous, so careful in his plans to destroy the DNA evidence Leo had left behind in that warehouse.He’d researched every blueprint and chemical that would be on-site.For fuck’s sake, he’d put on the HazMat suit himself to set the whole place ablaze, and he’d done it all to keep Leo from being arrested.It would have worked, too, if Leo hadn’t been so arrogant.So stupid.
And now Simon had to deal with him instead of cutting out his entrails.Therewas the real disappointment.
“Let me make sure I’ve got this right,” Simon said, placing his teacup down on its matching saucer very, very carefully so he wouldn’t smash it into Leo’s haughty, ignorant face.“Not only did you murder a business associate and leave your DNA on the body, but instead of disposing of the weapon—which wasn’t even properly wiped clean—you gave it to your girlfriend for safekeeping?”
