Chapter
Eighteen

Noah’s fingers quickly pounded the keyboard. He was deep in the dark web, a place he preferred not to go for a lot of reasons. But at least he had state-of-the-art security protections. Because when you started nosing around the dark web, it was highly likely that your computer could be hijacked and locked down and a ransom demanded. He was confident, however, that his firewalls would hold.

He had a few sources on the dark web he relied upon. He wasn’t naïve. He knew they weren’t completely on the up-and-up, but he had also worked with them enough to know that they weren’t bad guys. And he needed them to open a few virtual doors for him to walk through.

He’d been at it for three hours straight when a new window popped open. He had received a message from one of his sources.

This might be what you’re looking for.

Noah cracked his knuckles and then opened the attachment. He knew he was taking a risk by opening the file, but he had to trust that his source wouldn’t start burning him now.

What he found as his eyes scanned the document were two cash deposits made by Morrow. One before and one after Chase’s death—totaling one million dollars. Noah whistled. That was a pricey hit. But this confirmed their suspicions. Morrow had definitely been hired to kill Chase and make it look like David did it. Whoever hired him had to have known about Chase’s uneasy relationship with David. The circle of potential perpetrators continued to shrink.

He logged out and drove over to Mia’s. She would want to know what he’d found. About half an hour later, he was sitting in Mia’s living room.

“What have you got?” she asked.

He explained the payments he’d found.

She looked at him. “Proof that Morrow killed Chase. Now we just have to find out where those payments came from. Is that something you can do?”

“I’ll try my best, but this guy covered his tracks pretty well. I had to go pretty deep to find what I did, and I called in favors from some less-than-savory characters.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

He shook his head. “These guys are no threat to me, but they don’t like law enforcement. They work with me because I’m private now. And I pay them like I say I will. At the end of the day, many of these hacker types are just capitalists at heart, trying to make bank.”

She took a deep breath. “I guess I owe you a big apology.”

“For what?”

“For ever pointing the finger at McDonald. I was so hurt and upset, and it seemed like a slam-dunk case. I immediately jumped to the easiest conclusion and refused to consider other alternatives, even when you told me I was wrong. I let my grief and anger get the best of me.”

“Mia, from the very beginning, you and I were both after the same thing—the truth. Making sure that the person who did this to Chase was brought to justice. You had every reason to believe that David was guilty. I don’t hold that against you. You were fighting for your friend the same way I was fighting for mine.”

She hung her head. “But I was wrong.”

He placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head back up. “You always told me that if you were presented with evidence of David’s innocence, that you’d consider it. That’s exactly what you have done. Now, in the face of all of this new evidence, I think we’re both on the same page.”

“I’ve been trying to think through everything. I believe Chase must have told the mole what happened with David. That’s the only way this could’ve worked out like this. Which means Chase saw him after the fight.”

Noah had come to a similar conclusion. “But he didn’t necessarily have to tell the mole. He could’ve told someone else at LCI who then told him, or he was in the same room during the conversation.”

“That’s a good point. We need to talk to Owen about it and see if we can figure out if Chase talked to any of them about the altercation.”

She twisted her hair and pulled it back. The dark circles under her eyes told Noah that she was struggling. But she hadn’t complained one time—not about the situation or the pain or everything she’d been through.

He placed his hand gently on her knee. “How are you feeling?”

She looked up at him. “I look awful, don’t I?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible. But you’ve been through a lot, and I know you have to be exhausted.”

Mia gave him a weak smile. “I haven’t been sleeping well. I guess that isn’t surprising. I keep waking up and thinking someone is in the house.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “Since you brought it up, I’m working on upgrading your security system.”

“That’s not necessary.”

He really wanted to do this for her. He also wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her. But that wasn’t going to happen. “Let me do it. I have the extra equipment. I can install it at no charge. Maybe it will help you sleep better at night.”

“All right. I guess at this point I’m not turning away any help. Also, the police called today. The culprit had wiped his prints clean, so we have no leads on who was responsible for cutting my brakes.”

“Yeah, but you already expected that.”

She pushed a stray hair behind her ear. “I guess I was holding out some hope, but that’s been shot down. And time is not on our side. This trial is about to start.”

“I understand. Let’s just take it one day at a time and deal with each day’s problems, then move on to the next. Ty is one of the best. He’ll get David out of this. I have confidence in the justice system. When all the facts are put on the table, a jury won’t convict. There will be reasonable doubt. We have to make sure of that.”

“I need to have a conversation with Anna ASAP.”

“Do you think it’s too soon? We don’t have anything concrete to present.” Given how hard-nosed the prosecutor was, he wasn’t optimistic that she would receive this information well.

“I need to get her thinking that this is a possibility. I was so hardline that she’ll be shocked that I’ve changed course, and hopefully that will make her rethink things.” She started to yawn.

Noah stood. “You’re beat. Let me get out of your hair. Lock up behind me and set the alarm. I should have the new security upgrade done in a few days.”

“Thanks again, Noah. For everything.”

He took both her hands in his. “I’m just glad that I’m here by your side.”

A moment passed between them as their eyes locked. He really wanted to lean in closer and kiss her, but he didn’t have the courage yet to do so.

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” Mia said.

He thought the exact same thing about her.

On Monday morning, Mia walked into the DA’s office to talk to Anna. She’d left Anna a message that it was urgent. Hopefully Anna wouldn’t flip out on her, but Mia had tried to prepare herself for the potential fallout that might occur.

Noah had stuck close during the weekend, which was nice. Not only because of her fear of being targeted again, but because she really enjoyed his company. The craziest part of the weekend was going to church with him on Sunday. She’d only ever been to church with Sophie before, and Noah went to a different church. Mia had been incredibly nervous about the whole thing, but he’d put her at ease. Everyone was super friendly, and the pastor spoke in a way she could understand and that made her think. That hour and a half had been a welcome respite from the craziness that surrounded her.

Being with Noah felt so natural. They were falling into a rhythm with each other, but they hadn’t spoken at all about their feelings. She was sure that he felt something too. The way he would touch her or look at her—there was no way she could be so wrong about that. It was no longer just a friendly touch or glance. It had crossed over into something more. A lot more, where she was concerned. But she wasn’t in any hurry to have “the talk” about feelings or what their status was. She was fine with letting their relationship grow slowly and organically.

Anna walked into the lobby to greet Mia. She looked confident in her black power suit. “Come on back.”

Mia followed Anna down the hallway, making the now-familiar walk to Anna’s office.

Anna shut the door, and they took their seats. Anna leaned forward at her desk. “You said it was urgent.”

Time to put it out there front and center. “I don’t think David McDonald is guilty.”

Anna blinked. “What? What do you mean?”

“Some things have happened to me to make me believe that someone else is responsible for Chase’s death.”

Anna raised an eyebrow. “You have to do better than that. I need details.”

And that was exactly what Mia couldn’t give her. “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you everything I know. I’m restricted by attorney-client privilege.”

Anna threw up her hands. “Okay. You have completely lost me. We need to rewind and start from the beginning.”

Mia had to engage in a delicate dance here. “I have a thorny issue with one of my clients—a case that Chase worked on. I think Chase discovered what was going on, and I believe that someone related to that issue is who murdered Chase.”

“Are you serious?” Anna asked, clearly trying to follow the leap in logic.

“Deadly.”

“Let me get this straight. What type of issue are you referring to?”

“I can’t get into that.” She couldn’t breach the attorney-client privilege. That was nonnegotiable.

“Because it’s your client and you’re worried about maintaining the privilege?”

“Yes. I can’t reveal that information. You understand how important preserving that privilege is and what ethical duties I have.” She was banking on Anna getting how critical this was.

Anna studied the corner of her notepad. “I fully get the ethical obligations you have to live by,” she started slowly. “I’m going to do the best I can to read between the lines here. There’s something shady going on at your client. This client was also a client of Chase’s. So far so good?”

“Yes.”

“All right. Whatever it is that you can’t tell me is bad. Chase discovered whatever it is. And what?”

“I think he was killed for what he found out.”

Anna pushed further. “You’re saying someone at your client is a killer?”

Mia couldn’t respond to that, so she sat silently without making any facial gestures. While she needed Anna to understand, she did take her ethical duties seriously.

Anna started nodding again. “Sounds like you might need to withdraw from your case under those circumstances.”

“It’s a lot more complicated than that.” If only Mia could explain how complicated. “There is something I can tell you about.”

“Go on.”

“While jogging in Piedmont Park, I was attacked by a man who I believe is the same man I saw at Chase’s apartment the night of his murder.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Did you tell the police?”

Mia nodded. “Yes.”

“And what did they say?”

“They aren’t convinced it’s the same guy, but I know in my gut that it was. All of these connections, Anna. I know I can’t tell you all the pieces in play, but I know enough to question my original position. That’s why it’s so important that you don’t go through with McDonald’s trial right now.”

“What do you want me to do?” Anna asked.

“Give me some time to dig into this. Can’t you ask for a continuance? The trial doesn’t have to go forward as scheduled.”

“I’ve been pushing my luck by speeding this thing along and keeping everyone’s feet to the fire—largely because of you and your passion about this case. Now you come in here and want me to do a full stop with no evidence to support your theory? I’m not buying it. Sorry. Something sounds fishy here, Mia. I’m not sure what it is, but I have to trust my gut.”

Mia had expected pushback, but this was even worse than she’d expected. “It’s your job as a prosecutor to make sure justice is served. You’re right that I was all about McDonald being the one who did this, but now I have facts that tell me otherwise.”

“And I don’t have those facts,” Anna shot back.

“My brakes were cut.”

“Huh?”

“I’m on to something. I think Chase was too. They tried to hurt me, but they killed him. I ran off the road and into a tree, but I could’ve wound up dead too.”

A frown pulled at Anna’s glossy red lips. “I’m beginning to be concerned about you, Mia. Are you sure you’re really okay? Do you need to talk to someone about your grief?”

Great, now Anna thought Mia was having a nervous breakdown. “You can talk to APD yourself if you don’t believe me. They’re investigating what happened to my car. I’m not making this up or delusional. Unfortunately, this is all too real. Another reason I’m more determined than ever to make the right person pay.”

Anna sat there, not saying a word.

Mia was convinced that Anna thought she was crazy. But she had to ask. “I’ll take any time you can give me to try to get answers. Right now the trial is only a week away.”

“Let me think on it and get back to you. Okay?”

Anna was probably going to talk to APD. It would actually help if she did. “Thanks. I appreciate it. I want justice for Chase, and I need to make sure it’s actually the right person who did it. The last thing I want is for an innocent man to be convicted.” She couldn’t allow that to happen.