Page 73 of Justice for Samara

“And would you be willing to testify against him?”

“As long as he’s arrested before he knows I’m going to. I’m scared of him,” the voice said when she’d finished typing.

“I understand that completely. Listen, Brooke, thank you so much. I may have some questions for you later on, if that’s okay.”

She nodded, then typed something out. When she hit the key, Samara almost fell out of her chair. “He did it to you too, didn’t he?”

She closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Yes. He did.”

“I thought so,” the laptop said.

“Why? What was it that told you he’d done it to me too?”

She typed away, then gave Samara a crooked smile. “You knew the right questions to ask.”

When she’d told them goodbye and closed her car door, Samara sat there for a minute, totally overwhelmed. Her head had started to hurt, and she felt completely drained. But she had someone who’d testify. Maybe if Brooke would and she told the other victims that, they’d finally come clean and decide to do the right thing as well.

By the time she got back to the office, almost everyone was gone, even Michael. Anand was at the front desk. “You the only one here?”

“Nah. SheriffMelton’s back there.”

“Thanks.” Making her way down the hallway, she knocked on Carter’s door jamb. “Hey.”

“Hey. Any luck?”

“Yes, actually. One of the victims has had a stroke, but she was willing to talk and she identified him.”

Carter’s face lit up. “That’s awesome! Oh, Michael told me to tell you he’ll call you. I think he’s got a surprise planned.”

“A surprise?”

“Yeah, and I think you’re going to kill him.”

“Wha… Why?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

That was the moment her phone rang and she looked at the screen: Michael. “Yeah. Here he is.”

“Oh, god, I wanna see this,” Carter whispered as she answered the phone.

Samara answered hesitantly, “Hey, babe.”

“Hi, baby. So I’ve got a question for you. How do you feel about casseroles?”

Why did that scare her a little? “Did your mom make us one?”

“Yeah.”

“Why is this making me nervous?”

“Because I told her we’d come there to eat it so she can meet you.” Samara could feel her eyes bugging, and Carter was staring at the desk as he tried hard not to laugh.

“After the day I’ve had, you… Michael, what were you thinking?”

“It wasn’t me! She called me and told me she had food and I should come over to eat. I asked her if I could bring a friend.”

“Afriend? Is that what you just called me?” she barked into the phone, and Carter’s face was beet red from trying hard not to laugh loudly.