Bile comes up in my throat. “But you said the police don’t have sufficient evidence.”
“Yes, that’s what they will find, eventually. I couldn’t demand the charges be dropped without providing some evidence.”
I jump up and pace the room. “So why am I out, then?”
Carter grins. “Because your employer is very generous and paid your bail.”
I stop and turn to him. “Cowboy and Stormy paid my bail?” Shit. I might lose my new job over this. Who wants to take on a guy charged with murder?
Carter reaches in his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. “No, it was a Mr. Hawthorne from New York.”
Hawthorne? I wonder if Stormy refused. I can’t worry about that just yet. I run my hand through my hair again.
“I’m only out on bail?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus. Were you going to tell me that?” I snap.
“Of course.”
I close my eyes. “What’s the evidence against me?”
“Randy’s friends stated you threatened him at the university.”
My eyes pop back open as I stare at the man. He’s serious. “Fuck that. I simply walked in and told him I was Lucy’s boyfriend.”
“You asked for the evidence, I’m telling you.” He shrugs.
I put my hands up. “Okay, go on.”
“They found several of your hairs on the body, and an eyewitness states they saw you walking around Joseph’s place before the fire.”
I ball my fists.The neighbor.Anyone could see the garage was already on fire and I was runningintothe house, not out of it. Lawrence paid people off to lie. I’d bet on it.
I frown. “It’s my word against theirs?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“With all this evidence, how do you know I didn’t do it?”
“I met you before, remember? You struck me as someone who is always very much in control of their emotions, so the idea of you losing your temper on some kid, and at the house of the man you were hired to protect, well it didn’t sit right. And then I looked into those witnesses.”
Please say you found something.
“Randy’s friends posted some photos on social media. They were partying on a yacht two weeks after Randy died. You get one guess who the yacht belongs to.”
“No, Mr. Gardiner wouldn’t be that sloppy.”
Carter smirks. “Mrs. Gardiner.”
Lucy’s mother? “No, she never tried to get between me and Lucy.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Honestly, I haven’t seen her since high school. And thinking back, I can’t recall having a single conversation with her. At most, I got a smile here and there. I guess I took that as acceptance. But maybe I was wrong. Does she disapprove of me as well? Lucy’s never mentioned it. Does she know?
I swallow. “Are you saying that Mrs. Gardiner is the one who set me up?”
