Page 56 of Gin & Jewels

“Yeah, but he’s already scared that I’m going to rat him out, and if I don’t keep this up, he’ll run.”

“I’m not letting you go back to your brother.”

“What if he runs again, and then I’m stuck being accused of this?”

“When I call Seth, I’m going to tell him that Micky was the shooter. He’ll arrest him.”

“But that still leaves me in the car at all the pawnshops.”

He sighed. “I know, but let’s not focus on that right now.”

“I really think that he’ll get spooked and leave again, or he’ll come here and drag me out the door.”

“Fuck,” Brad groaned and rubbed his hands down his face.

“I know.”

“Let me call Seth and see what he says. Maybe he can get the cops to pick your brother up now.”

“Okay,” I agreed. I didn’t like it, but I needed to think about myself and remember what Keith had done to me since our parents died. If anything, this was going to be payback for taking my life insurance money. “I need to eat real quick and get back to work.”

He stopped me from walking to the door and pulled me into his arms again. “I just want you to know that everything that has happened between us was real. I never thought you had anything to do with the robbery, and when I found out that you were missing, I was so fucking worried.”

“If I knew your number, I would have called you from one of the motels.”

“It’s okay.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anything happen to you again.”

I smiled up at him. “I know.”

And just like when we were dancing at the wedding and I was in his arms, Brad’s lips came down on mine, and everything around us disappeared.

It was just him and me.

While Cassie went backto work, I called Seth and told him everything she told me. “Okay,” he said, “let me contact the lead detective on the case and relay the info. I’ll have him call you.”

“Call me? Why?”

“Based on what I’ve heard about the case and what you told me, they don’t have the evidence to make any arrests. They’ll need to know the names of the pawnshops where everything was pawned at, and once they have what they need, they’ll be ready to contact local PD and make an arrest.”

“How long will that take?” I questioned.

“A day or two, maybe more.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. We don’t make it a habit to make arrests based on word of mouth.”

I rolled my eyes. “I understand, but I don’t trust her brother. He fucking drugged her and then drove her across the country. What if he does it again?”

“It might not stick, but for now, we can get him on kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and because drugs were administered, it’s an assault charge.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

“Cassie will need to report it. Is she willing to do that?”

“Maybe. She knows she needs to turn him in for the robbery.”

“You need to talk to her. In the meantime, I’ll tell Metro that there’s a lead, but I also need to know the cities where the pawnshops are.”