She related the information to her husband, who nodded thoughtfully.“So Ona is nervous about her big secret coming out. I wonder how many others are in the same situation.”
“They might all be in the same situation,” said Odelia. “Even my mom and dad were acting really weird, so they might have some secret to hide as well.”
“It all adds to Rocamora’s motive. The more secrets are on that laptop, the more valuable it becomes, and the stronger the guy’s motive for killing Isobel.”
It was a sound piece of reasoning, and because my belly was full, I wasn’t all that keen on disputing Chase’s train of thought. If he thought Rocamora was our guy, he was our guy.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
Alison Droba was having a bad day. Probably the worst day of her life. And she knew something about bad days. Seven years ago her dad had murdered her uncle—or at least was involved in Uncle Dean’s death—and had subsequently fled the country, afraid to be caught and sentenced to prison for manslaughter. It was something she’d had to live with for the past decade, and since the Drobas were such a prominent family, she hadn’t even been able toprocess what had happened and try to put it behind her. The internet was filled with theories about what exactly had happened that night, and sightings of Gavin Droba. It seemed like he’d been seen everywhere by now, from Tahiti to Belgium to the North Pole.
Which is why she’d decided to hire that detective and put the stories to rest once and for all. If her dad was out there, they’d find him, she was sure about it.
And now this. First two police officers had showed up, informing her that her mother had been killed. And about an hour later, they’d returned to arrest Jason, accusing him of murdering her mother! This was a nightmare!
“You can’t do this!” she screamed at the policewoman who was putting handcuffs on Jason’s wrists.
“It’s all right,” said Jason.
“You have no right!”
“I’ll be fine. Just get me a good lawyer, will you?”
“They can’t do this to us,” she said. “They just can’t!”
“Yes, they can. They’re the police, and I’m a suspect.”
“But you didn’t do nothing.”
“Exactly. The truth will out, sweetie. And they’ll have to let me go.”
“Oh, God. Why does this keep happening to us!”
They led Jason to a police vehicle and put him in the back. He waved at her, his hands handcuffed, and giving her a reassuring smile.
She waved back at him, tears streaming down her face. And to think that the last time she and her mom spoke she’d said such terrible things to her. Telling her she was the worst mom in the world. And how she was going to get back at her for doing what she did. And all because Mom didn’t approve of Jason. Of course she didn’t. Jason had done time, and Mom found out about it, and had thrown a hissy fit.She would have settled down eventually. All she had to do was meet Jason and she’d see how silly she was being. How great Jason was, and so much not a criminal at all. They were going to sit down like grown-ups and talk this through. But instead she’d yelled at her mom, calling her names, and walked out.
And now she was gone. She’d never be able to apologize. To make up. To tell her she understood. That she was simply looking out for her little girl. Not wanting her to get involved with someone she saw as this dangerous delinquent.
“I get it, Mom,” she said softly. “I get it now.”
But it was too late. Mom was gone. Forever.
CHAPTER 19
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
Jason Rocamora was a handsome man. I would have put his age at late twenties, early thirties, which meant he was a few years Alison Droba’s senior, as she was only twenty-one. He had a thick head of dark hair, a strong chin, and eyes that were almost black and stared back at Chase with undeniable defiance.
The two men were sitting opposite each other in the small interview room at the police precinct, with Odelia, myself and Dooley, and Uncle Alec watching on.
“I feel confident we’ve got our man in there,” the Chief growled. “Good work.”
Odelia didn’t seem so sure herself, judging from the frown marring her otherwise smooth alabaster brow. But we’d soon find out from the interview.
“I had nothing to do with this and you know it,” the reformed criminal opened proceedings. “I wasn’t anywhere near the place last night!”
“So where were you, Jason?” asked Chase.
“In bed, with my fianc?e. Ask her. She’ll tell you.”
“Oh, but we will,” Chase assured the man. “Tell me about this engagement with Alison Droba, will you?”
“What’s there to tell? We love each other, Alison and me, and we’re getting married as soon as the paperwork is done and the church is booked.”
“Marrying in church, are you?”
“It’s what Alison wants. Me, I don’t care where we get married. But I love her, and I want to do right by her. So if Alison wants a big church wedding, she’ll have it.”
“And what about Alison’s mom? She wasn’t too keen on this wedding, was she?”
Jason made a face.“That was just a misunderstanding. Alison was trying to get her to meet me so we could talk things through.”