Page 36 of Wicked Oath
“I came to show you this.” He takes a piece of paper out of the file and turns it toward us. It’s actually a picture.
“What is this?” Grandma asks.
“I managed to find an image taken from a nearby security cam from the night of the warehouse fire. I’ve been looking for the past couple of days now. I needed to find proof of who did it.”
“I told you before, it’s not James,” I can’t help but say.
Owen shoots me a look. “You’re right. The image caught a man fleeing the crime scene, and it’s not James. But I wanted to check in with you to see if any of you recognized this man.” He hands the photo to Mom first. She squints at it before shrugging and handing the picture over to Grandma, who takes a look and shakes her head.
Then it’s my turn to look at the photo.
A man has his face angled down, but I can see the side of his head clearly enough. A distinctive scar runs across the side of his face and up over his brow. I jerk. I remember this guy from the day I met James at the ring—the day we had sex for the first time. He spoke to a man with a scar on his face before sending him away.
I thought nothing of it at the time, but now that I’m staring down at this picture, I can’t help but wonder if they’re the same guy. It’s hard to tell since I can’t see the man head-on. My heart starts thudding fast anyway. Does this man work for James, and if so, what does that mean? Did James send him to start the fire? But why would he do that?
He married me to form an alliance between our families and gain power that way. What motive does my husband have for burning some of my father’s business?
I can’t think of any.
And besides, when I asked James about Owen’s accusation, he looked me in the eyes and told me he didn’t. I might not know a lot about James yet, but my gut tells me he wouldn’t lie to me. Or am I just so caught up in my lust for him that I’m not seeing what’s straight in front of me?
Owen notices my reaction. “Olivia, do you know this man?”
I could tell him it might be the man I saw with James, but I’m not one hundred percent sure it’s him. And I know if I tell Owen this, he’ll just set his sights harder on James and try to hurt him. James and I are married now. My duty is to him. I don’t want my brother interfering in my relationship.
So I shake my head and hand him the photo back. “Sorry, I don’t.”
“But you had a reaction. I saw it.” He looks around at the other women. “Tell me you saw it, too.”
Lucy nods, eager to please my brother. “Olivia, you did have some sort of reaction.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”
She crosses her arms. “I’m just telling the truth.”
“See?” Owen nods at Lucy, actually giving her some recognition. I can see the huge smile spread across Lucy’s face. “You reacted.”
I sigh. “The man scared me, is all. I don’t know him. Owen, stop reading into this.”
He flaps his hand at his side. “Am I the only one who actually cares about finding the criminal that hurt our business?”
“Of course not,” Mom says. “Your father’s been looking into it, but there are no leads.”
“This is a lead!” Owen holds up the photo.
“You can barely see the man’s face, sweetie,” Grandma responds, pity in her tone.
“It’s still better than nothing.”
“Fine,” I grumble, holding my hand out. “Give me the photo, and I’ll ask James if he knows who it might be. Happy?”
Owen hesitates. “What if he does, and it just gives him a way to warn this man?”
“Oh, for god’s sake, Owen! James is not your enemy! He’s my husband, and my duty is to him. You can’t constantly think he’s out to get you and our family.”
“Fine. Take it.” He practically stuffs the photo in my hand. “I have other copies. But I’m going to get to the bottom of this.” He storms out of the room without even saying goodbye.
After a moment of silence, Grandma says, “That was awkward.”
