Page 23 of An Eye For Illusion

“She tried, but she doesn’t qualify because this is a family law case. She’s too scared to use one of our attorneys because she thinks Tony can find her that way, and I can’t say I blame her because it’s happened before. It’s a mess, Jade. I wish there was more we could do to help her.”

“What do women in her position normally do, then?” I’m outraged that she doesn’t have any options. There has to be something the center can do.

“Most of these women don’t have the connections or money that Tony does. They usually show up unrepresented. With the countless police reports and documented abuse, it’s a slam dunk for the ladies, but Melanie will have to fight harder because Tony got some hotshot lawyer from a firm that specializes in getting ‘fathers the rights they deserve.’” She spits the last sentence with disdain.

I scoff. How in the world could this man have a chance of winning any kind of custody when he used his wife as a punching bag every day of the week?

Carol sees my distress. “I know, trust me, I know. There’s so much injustice in this world. All we can do is pray that tomorrow isn’t one of them.”

Oh, we can do more than pray.

I quickly say my goodbyes, with Thomas following close behind me.

“See you next time, my dear!” Carol says as I throw my hand in the air with a quick wave.

“You have a plan, boss?” Thomas asks as he opens my car door. He overheard everything and seems just as pissed as I am if his pinched eyebrows and squared shoulders are any indication.

“Of course, I do. I always do,” I reply as I slide into the back seat. He simply nods as he closes the back door and rounds the car to the driver’s side.

I pull out my phone, find the contact I need, and hit dial.

“Jade?” he answers after the third ring.

“Harvey, I need a favor.”

Chapter 9

Colin

“What the hell are you doing here?” I mumble to myself. No one is around to hear me, but I voice my question, anyway.

I followed Moore out of the restaurant and across town to a shipment yard. I’m parked at the back of the lot behind a massive shipping container that hides my car perfectly.

Moore came in and drove to the front of this lot, close to the water. His car is in plain view, so whatever he’s doing here, he isn’t trying to hide. That means he’s likely here often enough to be at least partially welcome.

There seems to be a night crew working, but not in this lot. I watch men come and go through the gate behind me. No one seems to notice either of us.

So far, all Moore has done is a lot of fucking nothing. He hasn’t gotten out of his car once, and from here, it looks like he’s been on his phone nearly the entire time. I can see the screen on his phone light up from here every time he checks it.

I pull out my binoculars. First, I look at the work crew across the way. Nothing seems out of the ordinary there. One guy has snuck off behind a shipping container to smoke, but other than that, nothing off to report here. I don’t think Moore is here to meet one of them.

I turn to look at Moore’s car and notice his head resting against the driver’s seat headrest. No longer on the phone now, his eyes are closed, and he seems to be in deep thought. I look down at my watch and note that we’ve been here roughly thirty minutes already.

I’m tired and confused as hell as to why he’s just sitting in a shipping yard. It could be for work, like he told Jade. Maybe he’s meeting a client who’s running extremely late. However, I have enough experience in situations like this that I highly doubt whatever is going on tonight is on the up and up.

The only reason you come to a dark and obscure place is to hide something. Moore has checked off every metaphorical box on the list of signs someone is hiding something from their significant other. He’s definitely keeping something from Jade; I just don’t know what yet. Util I have something concrete, I won’t tell her.

My phone silently vibrates in the car’s console. I place the binoculars on the passenger seat, reach for my phone, and then turn it over to see who it is.

Donovan.

Fucking finally.

I called him back right after leaving the restaurant, but he didn’t answer. I assume he was still tailing Vinny.

“Yo, you find anything else?” I ask instead of a formal greeting.

“Not much. I sat at the bar and watched them until Vinny got a phone call and left out the back. Some of his crew followed him, while the others stayed back at the bar.”

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