But here I was, this was where my obsession had led me and there was no way I could simply give it up now. I had to think of it in a positive light. Jessica was in danger. The cops had her and I was sure they could get her on something. There was no other choice but to get her out. After all, it was sort of my fault that she was there.
“If I overheard right, you’re planning to escape me,” Grace said as she shuffled into the room.
I let out a huffed laugh and gave a small shrug with my good shoulder. That was about all I could do at the moment. Which meant that this escape she thought was coming wouldn’t be without a little help from her.
“I don’t think I’ll be slipping out without you noticing,” I told her with a small smile.
“Are you going to tell me your plan or just leave me hanging?”
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I said with a sigh.
“I want to know what happened. Who are you? And what’s your connection to Jessica. I might not have known her long, but I know a good soul when I see one.”
My jaw clenched with frustration. It was hard to be mad at the old lady, but she was really trying my nerves at this point.
“You killed him, didn’t you? And that was your intention when you went into that place.”
I blinked at her to-the-point statement.
“What would happen if I were to tell you yes?” I asked because I was pretty sure she hadn’t made up her mind on if she was going to turn me in or not.
“I’d say good riddance.” She gave a firm nod of her head. “But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. I have to know that you aren’t going to harm her too.”
“Well, in that case, take a seat. I have a story for you.”
-16-
Jessica
What felt like hours later, the detective entered the room again carrying a bottle of water and a bag of chips. Once he set them on the table, I made no move to touch them.
“How about you tell me what you do know about Mr. Ramos?”
I looked blankly at the detective.
“I met him when I was working in a bar. His bar, as it turned out, but I didn’t know anything about him until he came in one night to check on the place.” My fingers came up and I rubbed circles on my temples. “He offered me a job at one of his other establishments and I found out it was nicer than the place I was at. I honestly had no idea about him. I took the job and not long after that we started seeing each other.”
“And the whole time, you didn’t suspect something?” he asked like I was the dumbest person on the planet.
“No, I didn’t,” I told him with the truth in my eyes. I didn’t until I overheard something, anyway. “He was always sweet and caring. Sure, he worked a lot and sometimes he traveled, but I didn’t think anything of it. Should I have?”
He tossed a folder in my direction and I hesitantly flipped it open. There were pictures and more pictures. Dead bodies and surveillance images of Ray. Him at his restaurant. Him having lunch with some older woman. Him walking with one of his bodyguards.
“That’s his wife, in case you were wondering.” His finger landed on the image where Ray was eating with the older woman.
She wasn’t that old, I guess, but it was kind of hard to tell from the shot. Maybe in her early forties.
I was still getting over the shock that he had a wife. That part I hadn’t figured out. I must really have been a true blonde because I did not see that coming. Not even after everything that I’d found out about him.
“You’re telling me that you didn’t know that yourboyfriendwas one of the biggest heroin suppliers in the state?” I shook my head and shrugged. “A woman like you…”
I looked at him with shock on my face. What the fuck did he mean by that? I mean, okay, sure, I hadn’t had the most sheltered life. Far from it really. But how did he know how bad things had gotten for me?
“You have a rap sheet that’s not all that short.” He slid another folder in my direction. I didn’t even open it because I knew what was in there. I lived through it, I could even remember most of the dates and circumstances that those papers held in there.
“As you can see from that, I haven’t been in trouble in over ten years. And all of that I did to survive.”
“I guessed that, but it still tells me that you aren’t all that innocent either. So how am I supposed to believe anything you tell me?”
