Page 26 of Tangled
“Okay, so we need to find out if she pissed him off somehow or knew something he didn’t want her to know,” Scarlett said. “Was there anything in her phone?”
Sabina flashed her an arch look. “Funny you should ask. Were you aware that the device was tampered with?”
Scarlett frowned. “I scrolled through her pictures and texts and didn’t notice anything off. I didn’t find any emails, but I don’t think she had an account.”
“You saw what was left there. I found significant gaps in the memory indicating deleted files and images. I was planning to ask Ava to have a look at it today.” As Sabina spoke, she glanced at Ava, who nodded.
“You think someone killed her, then wiped her device of any evidence that pointed to their motive?” Cody asked.
“Howdidshe die?” Mitch asked.
“Accidental overdose, according to the coroner’s report,” Kara said, holding up a paper file she’d pulled from Sabina’s bag. Sabina shot her a look, but Kara grinned. “Don’t even pretendyou didn’t want me to see it. You left the file sticking up and facing me.”
Sabina snorted, then smiled at her sister. After the murder of their mother, the two had spent almost two decades separated. They’d only been back together just over two years. Neither took the other for granted.
“Scarlett, you said she told you in her message that she had a reason to get clean this time?” Kara asked. Scarlett nodded. “I think I know what it was,” she said, handing the file over.
Brad couldn’t see the contents Scarlett scanned, nor would he understand it anyway. After a beat, she raised her head. “Gracie was pregnant.”
“She was,” Kara said, taking the folder back. “About twelve weeks, judging by her hormone levels.”
“Any chance the Wolf was the father?” Ryan asked.
“I think the first question is whether Gracie would have wanted the baby or not,” Tia said. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, Scarlett, but the father was probably one of her clients or the Wolf. And ifshedidn’t want the baby and he didn’t either, there’d be no reason to kill her.”
Sabina nodded. “But if she wanted it and he didn’t—”
“Assuming she knew,” Ava said.
“At twelve weeks, it would be hard not to,” Kara countered. Ava considered this, then nodded.
“So if she wanted it and he didn’t, then that could be a motive,” Scarlett said. “It also means that while the Wolf may be a viable suspect—for a few reasons—he may not be the only one.”
“Wouldshe have wanted the baby?” Ryan asked. An awkward question with two pregnant women in the room and Ryan’s wife expecting any day.
Scarlett took a moment to consider her answer. “I think she would have. When we were kids, she always wanted a family. Life wasn’t kind to her. I don’t know if you figured this out, butshe was abused. Both physically and sexually. And at seventeen, she was all but sold to the head of one of the gangs. To be fair, I think she went semi-willingly. Well, not really. The gang threatened her family. She had a thirteen-year-old sister that they said they’d take instead. Gracie agreed to go, but it was hardly a free decision. Before that, though, she’d always dreamed of a family. A healthy one. A safe one.”
The room fell silent, and Cody reached for Tia’s hand as Mitch brushed a kiss on Ava’s shoulder.
Kara let out a small sigh. “I’ll call the coroner’s office tomorrow to see if they kept any samples of the fetus. If they did, which they should have, then we can run a DNA profile,” she offered. “It might not point to a father, but if he’s in the system—any system—it might.”
“Can I back this up a little bit?” Tia asked. Sabina nodded. “Aside from the weirdness with her phone, do you have reason to believe her deathwasn’tan accidental overdose?”
“The phone is enough for me. That wasn’t a normal download that cleaned those files out,” Sabina said.
“And she died of a fentanyl overdose,” Ryan said.
“Which is, unfortunately, not uncommon,” Ava interjected.
“Agreed,” Ryan replied. “But she had healing track marks on her body, leading me to believe that injection was her primary method of intake. I know there’s an argument that maybe she tried to go clean and couldn’t do it, so she experimented with something new. And maybe that’s what we’ll find. But between the type of drug that killed her and the technology issues, I’m not ready to let it lie.”
Sabina shook her head. “Neither am I. In addition to her relationship with the Wolf, she probably also had a pimp who, I’m guessing, wouldn’t want her to leave the business to raise a child. And according to Scarlett, she was a high-end call girl, so we can’t discount the possibility that the father is someonepowerful. Someone invested in ensuring she didn’t have the baby.”
“Which gives us at least three suspects,” Mitch said. “Wolf, the pimp, and the baby daddy. Assuming they aren’t one and the same.”
“We have oneactualsuspect—the Wolf—and twocategoriesof suspects—the pimp and the baby daddy,” Ava corrected.
Mitch rolled his eyes. “Then maybe you should get to work and see if you can narrow down those categories to real people?” Ava elbowed him.
