Chapter 15
fifteen
JO
Ezra pauses his story. He paced the entire time he was telling it, his face paling slowly as he went. Now he looks as white as a ghost, and I can see his hands trembling. That was the moment that changed his life. That changed the lives of everyone in this room.
And it was horrific.
“What kind of questions was she being asked?” Harlow breaks through the shock first.
Ezra clears his throat. “They were about her girlfriend. Eva wanted Maverick to marry Gianna Delgado. Gianna was dating the woman in the barn, and since her parents weren’t assholes, they supported their daughter’s relationship and refused.”
“Get rid of the girlfriend and then Gianna is free to marry?” Harlow asks.
“Yeah, except Eva made a mistake. Probably the biggest mistake of her life, and one she’s about to pay dearly for.”
“What do you mean?” I ask Ezra. The look he gives me is quick but cold.
“Eva had never met Gianna. From what I’ve gathered since that night, she had only seen pictures of Gianna with her girlfriend, never alone.” Harlow and I gasp at the same time, but Ezra doesn’t pause. “Gianna’s girlfriend’s name was Noelle Price.”
My eyes widen, recognizing the name from the case Harlow wanted to cover. I can’t see her face on the laptop screen from where I’m sitting, but I’m sure it mirrors the shock on my own. A million scenarios race through my head, but one sticks out more than the others.
“Eva killed Gianna when she thought she was killing Noelle.”
Ezra nods. “Gianna never told her attackers who she was. She let them believe she was Noelle until her last breath.”
I can’t hold back the tears that slip free. That’s as beautiful as it is appalling. She loved Noelle enough to die for her.
“This says Gianna Delgado died in a car accident eight years ago.”
I lean over and look at Maverick’s phone, where he’s reading an article about the accident. It says the gas tank exploded and her body was burned almost to ashes.
Of course it was.
“They covered it up,” Ezra says.
“Where’s Noelle?” Kai asks.
“There was a second body in that car they couldn’t identify,” Ezra says.
“Jesus, Eva killed her, too,” Willa says, sounding as horrified as everyone is feeling.
The room is silent for a few minutes, everyone trying to process all the information we’ve been given in such a short amount of time.
I’ve always been good at this part, breaking down information while removing the emotions I feel about it.
It’s part of the reason I love investigating cold cases so much.
Getting through all the information, piecing together the puzzle, then giving families the closure they desperately need.
Something isn’t adding up. A puzzle piece is missing.
“I don’t understand why Gianna was so important to my parents.
I get whatever alliance we made would benefit them, but I’ve never heard her name come up, and the Delgados aren’t in their inner circle.
” Maverick is on the same train of thought as me.
He squeezes my hip where his hand has been resting the entire night.
I’m trying not to think too deeply into it, but it’s hard when I feel his warmth and see how angry it makes Ezra every time his eyes land on where Maverick’s touching me.
“Delgado was her mother’s last name. Her father didn’t want to be on the birth certificate,” Ezra explains.
“Who was her father?” Maverick asks.
“Malcolm Sinclair.”
“Anderson’s dad?” Declan blurts in disbelief.
“One and the same,” Ezra confirms.
I have about a million more questions for him, but my phone starts ringing. Considering everyone that would call me this late at night is in this room, I decide not to ignore it.
“It’s Harrison,” I say before answering.
“Jo!” he says before I have the chance to speak. He sounds like he’s out of breath. “Patrick is coming for you. You need to get out of there!”
Everyone leaps to their feet. Maverick pulling me up and tucking me behind him as he looks around the room.
“I’m not home, I’m—”
“I know where you are. We just found where Patrick is hiding at the same time we broke into his phone. Jo, his apartment is covered in pictures of you. He even printed out the texts you sent him when you thought he was Jon. The last ping on his phone was ten minutes away from Jason’s house.”
“Fuck!” Maverick yells. “We need to go!”
“Where is he now?” Kai asks. He’s blocking my right side while Declan is covering my left. I would tear up if I wasn’t so panicked.
“I don’t know. He must have realized we hacked his phone and tossed it. I called the cops, but you need to get out now!”
That’s the last thing I hear him say before I’m thrown across the room, hot air burning my exposed legs, ears ringing. I cough as I try to blink. My friends are scattered everywhere, along with pieces of what was the wall of the kitchen.
That motherfucker set off a bomb!
“Maverick!” I yell, finding him a few feet in front of me. Ezra is already on him, pulling him to his feet. The moment he sees me crawling for him, he grabs me.
“Get her out of here!” he yells, shoving me into Ezra’s arms.
“No!” I shout at the same time Ezra yells, “Come with us!”
“He wants her! He’s always had a weird thing for her. I have to stay and make sure everyone is okay. I can already hear sirens.” Maverick is pleading with Ezra.
“Maverick, please!” I beg, trying to reach for him, tears streaking down my face.
“Get her somewhere safe!” he tells Ezra. Turning to me, he cups my cheek and gently places a kiss on my forehead. “Please, angel. Go with him.”
“Fine!” Ezra barks, turning and running out the hole that used to be the back of Jason’s house. He expertly dodges hanging wires and debris.
“Maverick!” I scream again, fighting Ezra’s hold. His strong arms keep me in place and soon we’re far enough away from the house I can no longer make out Maverick’s form.