Page 120 of The Wicked

“What did he do?”

“Therein lies the question.” Luca blew out a long breath. “They arrested him for arranging the murder of your parents.”

All the air whooshed out of my lungs. “What?”

I was saying that a lot today.

“A week ago, a man walked into a police station in Roseburg and confessed to running your parents off the road sixteen and a half years ago. Said he’d recently found God, and he needed to get his sins off his chest. He claims EJ hired him for the job. Apparently, suspicions were raised at the time regarding EJ’s involvement, but nobody followed up until now.”

“And the man was…”

“Seth Harless,” Luca finished. “They’re both in jail.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Harless claimed EJ and your dad had a fight a couple of weeks before the accident. Is that true?”

“Yes, at Grandpa’s birthday party, but…but…”

“The Bad Samaritan moves in mysterious ways,” Luca said. “I need to go, but I expect you’ll get a call from the state police soon. I gave them your number.”

Holy smokes.

I hung up in a daze, and Garrett reached across the table for my hand. “Tell me.”

I repeated what Luca had said, and saying the words out loud didn’t make it any more real. EJ had hired Seth Harless to kill my parents? But what about the videos? What about Mandell? What about the letter from my mom?

“Do you believe it?” Garrett asked.

“No. No, I don’t think I do. What does this mean? Congressman Mandell gets away with everything?”

The waiter arrived with the champagne, looked at Garrett’s frown and then my tight expression, and hesitated with his hand on the cork.

“Sir, do you still want this?”

“Ask the lady.”

Harless was in jail. Itwasa victory, just a smaller one than I’d hoped for. And if ever there was news that called for alcohol, it was today’s revelation.

“Pour away.”

Once the waiter had departed, Garrett squeezed my hand and took a sip from his glass. “What does it mean? It means we have to be patient.”

* * *

With Harless out of the picture, we decided to return to Baldwin’s Shore. Parker had been left in the lurch at Baldwin Estates, and I agreed to help out in the office while he interviewed a handyman to replace EJ. The judge had deemed my uncle a flight risk, so he was still sitting in the county jail, awaiting trial on murder in the first degree for soliciting Harless to run my parents off the road.

Garrett and I moved into our little home overlooking the ocean, and I kept myself busy planning Kiki’s birthday party and a handful of other events. I didn’t need to worry about marketing. Plenty of people wanted to curry favour with the Dorsey family, and what better way to do that than to hire Garrett’s new girlfriend to plan their next shindig? It all felt slightly nepotistic, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to turn down work. Soon, I’d need to hire more staff, but for now, I was being picky over which clients I took on. No spoiled brats, no bridezillas, no frat boys. Today, I was working from the terrace at the Peninsula while I waited for Brooke, Addy, Blue, and Brie to arrive for lunch. Living the dream rather than the nightmare.

My phone pinged as I sifted through résumés and email enquiries.

Parker

I found a replacement for EJ.

When is he starting?

Parker

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