Page 61 of Zero Divergence
“We’re back to questioning how Bonita Brothers knew the evidence was moving, and whether she acted alone or on orders from Humphries,” Sawyer said.
Royce nodded. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Ky, I know you and Blue were unable to find a connection between anyone employed at SPD, the DA, or Richmond Laboratories and Humphries or anyone named Parker, so I want you to run Bonita Brothers’s aliases against the visitor’s log from the county jail. Flag any females, especially ones with names starting with the letter B. This is starting to sound like a weird episode ofSesame Street,” Royce said, shaking his head while the rest of them laughed. “I don’t recall any other women visiting him except his wife and Vivian Gross, and Jonah and his software didn’t recognize her, but please triple-check for me.”
“You got it, Sarge,” Ky said.
“What about me?” Blue asked. “I want a task. I want a task.”
“Ass kisser,” Ky teased, elbowing Blue.
“If I can get a list of Bonita’s deliveries, I’ll put you in charge of scrubbing the list to find ones made at key locations,” Royce replied. “Maybe one of the individuals who received flowers is our traitor.”
“No problem,” Blue said.
“Felix, were you able to confirm Humphries is returning to work at South?” Royce asked.
“Yeah, it’s true. The board was divided, but not about Humphries’s innocence. According to my source, none of the board members believed he committed the rapes and murders, but many of them didn’t want to reinstate him due to the scandal it would invoke. They’re trying to keep their decision quiet for as long as they can.”
“Can you make sure it doesn’t happen?” Sawyer asked.
“Absolutely,” he said with a firm nod and wicked grin.
“Well, I hate to throw you all out, but Sawyer and I have witnesses we need to track down tonight,” Royce said, pinning Rocky with a look to remind him they had much to discuss. He wasn’t the only one Royce wanted to have a private word with though, so Royce shifted his attention to Jonah. The big man nodded. Message received.
“Yeah, sure,” Holly said drolly. “Why not just admit that getting close to solving the case is revving up your engines, and you need to blow off steam.”
“Get out, Holls,” Royce said affectionately.
“Fine,” she said, grabbing Jace’s hand and pulling him from the kitchen.
“We never even got to sit down,” Jace grumbled. “Our ma taught him better manners than to invite people over and make them stand around the kitchen island to eat.”
“It’s young love,” Holly replied.
Ky and Blue laughed, snagged some leftover pizza, and headed out too, leaving Jonah, Felix, and Rocky. Felix sensed a scoop but wasn’t dumb enough to ask probing questions or stick around after finishing the slice of pizza on his plate.
“See you around,” he tossed over his shoulder on his way to the door.
“Divide and conquer?” Sawyer asked Royce.
Royce nodded. “Which one do you want?”
Sawyer tipped his head to the side and pressed his forefinger to his lips for a few seconds. He wasn’t fooling Royce, so it was no surprise when he answered. “I’ll talk to Jonah in the study while you and Rocky work out your differences.”
“Don’t hold your breath, GB.”
Once they were alone, Royce opened his mouth to blast Rocky with his opinion about the PI’s moral character, or lack thereof, but the man held up his hand to stop the tirade before Royce could start.
“I reported the prison guard to the warden as soon as I became aware of the situation. I followed up this week only to discover the man is still employed and wasn’t reprimanded as far as I could tell, so I forwarded the details to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.”
“After you shared the information with Chad Schultz, who could’ve done God knows what with it,” Royce countered.
“Schultz hired me to do a job, and I did it. He wanted dirt on Vivian, and I gave it to him.”
“How in the world did they get videos?” Royce said. “There are no cameras in the attorney meeting rooms.”
“There have to be hidden ones because there’s no denying what I saw. I don’t feel good about it, and I deeply regret sharing the information with Schultz, especially if it resulted in her murder.”
“What about the photographs you took of Vivian and Humphries outside the motel? Why’d you frame them to look like they were sharing a passionate embrace?”