Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41
PUZZLE PIECES
Omar
When Jules falls asleep, I slip out of bed. I get dressed and leave the house, not bothering to check the time. I don’t care if I wake the whole neighborhood up, but I’m going to let the Royales know they fucked with the wrong person today. And I don’t care who hears. Jules may want to be discreet, but I don’t.
The motion-detecting lights come on when I pull up to the front door of their oversized house. I hop out with the car still running and decide to forgo the doorbell in lieu of incessant banging.
The door flies open, and Noah stands there in nothing but his Iron Man briefs.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Solomon? You want to get arrested too?”
“Try it and I’ll make sure your mother’s name is in every tabloid I can find.”
His eyes narrow. “Your girlfriend broke into this house and terrified my mother.”
“Did your mother say she was terrified?” I ask.
He opens his mouth and then slams it shut. “I haven’t talked to her. But my father said she was screaming for help and when he got to her room, he saw your girlfriend running out. He chased her, but he’s an old man, and he was worried about my mother.”
“He’s lying. She wasn’t screaming, and he didn’t chase her. When she left, she was the one in tears. And your father wasn’t anywhere in sight.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Well, I have a recording she took of the entire encounter on her phone. But you have cameras all over this property. They’ll answer that for you. Have you looked at them yet?”
He narrows his eyes at me, but some of the fire and brimstone is gone from his expression. “No. I haven’t. But I will, right now. Come in.”
He turns and stomps off, leaving the door wide open. I follow him through the house down a wide corridor that runs the length of it. It’s eerily dark and quiet. And no one else has come to see what the noise is about. He throws a door open so hard it cracks against the wall behind it. Light from inside illuminates the hallway, and I step into a room with wall-to-wall screens.
The portly man who is sitting in the chair in front of them is sound asleep. “Is he dead?”
“No, he’s deaf.” Noah puts a hand on the man’s shoulder, and he wakes up with a start but is fully alert right away. He starts to sign furiously and then relaxes when Noah responds.
“Where’s the footage from this afternoon?” Noah speaks and signs at the same time. The man frowns and then signs something in response.
“When?” Noah asks, and the alarm in his voice puts me on alert.
“What’s going on?” I demand when he lets out a string of curses.
“One second,” he says and then speaks with the man once again. “Come on. We need to talk.”
I follow him for a few steps and stop. “Let’s talk here. Tell me what he said.”
He runs a hand over head and closes his eyes. “My dad called and asked him to erase all the video recordings from today right after he called the police.”
“I knew it. He’s hiding something. But why?”
Noah’s head snaps up. “What the fuck did she want? Your woman? Is she a journalist or some shit?” His voice is angry, but not at all as forceful as it had been when he answered the door.
“No. We came here looking for answers about her father’s death. Your mother knew him, and we thought she could shed some light on his final days.”
He frowns and cocks his head. “My mother knew her father?”
“That’s an understatement. Yes, she spent a year plus in England with him when you were a kid.”
“I think I’d remember if my mom lived in England for a whole fucking year.”
“Do you remember? You were maybe eight or nine when she was there.”
“No, she spent a year taking care of her mother in Mexico when I was kid.”
I laugh without any humor. “Double-check that story, too, maybe.”
“I don’t know what is going on, but if you can give me a few days, I’ll find out.”
“We’ll be here for another week. You know how to reach me.”