I caught Larkin's expression shift into something odd, and pressed him for more, "What is it?"
He hesitated before dropping the bombshell, "One of the guys who attacked you that day confessed. He claims he's the one who offed Evan Dawson!"
Hearing this, I was gobsmacked, my voice rising in disbelief, "No way! He's lying, he's got to be lying! That's just not possible!"
Hannah spun towards Larkin, urgent curiosity in her voice, "What does he look like?"
"Well, he's resembled a little of Jerome—height, build, even his penchant for loafers," Larkin detailed meticulously. "Plus, his story about when and where it all went down checks out, down to the nitty-gritty of what he said to the kid."
"That can't be right," I argued stubbornly. "If he killed the kid, one thing's for sure—it doesn't add up how the kid would know him. Unless the kid knew him and he knew the kid, how else would the kid cling to his neck and not let go? And where did he pick up the kid from?"
My questions came out in a rapid-fire as I turned to Larkin, "We're not going home, we're heading to Dalton's!"
Fury bubbled up inside me, "This has got to be Jerome's play to take the heat off himself! Don't forget, they've had plenty of days to cook up a story to feed the cops."
"Miss, keep your cool! The police aren't that easily fooled," Larkin tried to soothe my frayed nerves. "The truth will out, and until the cops have it nailed down, they can't lift the warrant on Jerome—he's still got to hide from daylight."
"This is total baloney!" I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Any fool can see, he's trying to flip the script, to exonerate the Dawson family. That means he’s desperate!"
"He probably didn't see Medsafe Liyah Inc.'s disaster coming," Larkin added. "The boss has pretty much snapped up the shares from those stakeholders. Just one last straw to break Jaylan's back."
After a moment's contemplation, I grabbed the phone, "Then let's bring on that last straw."
Dialing Elbert, I got straight to the point, "File for divorce, Mr. Elbert. You've got one day. I'll compile all the evidence I have tonight and send it over. The day after tomorrow, I want a press conference first thing in the morning!"
Next, I rang up Ronan. He answered immediately, concern lacing his voice, "Allie, you okay?"
"Did you heard about what just happened?" I asked, even though I was pretty certain he already knew.
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