“Wrong,” he said, pointing his finger in my face again. “It’s the people who own those private keys who’ll kill you.”
I sucked in my breath. “You know who they are?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You must know or, at least, have an idea, if you’re so sure they’re going to kill me.”
Alex shook his head. “Go ask your brother-in-law.”
“If Jake knew, those people would be dead already.”
“Maybe they are.”
“Enough with the riddles, Alex. Tell me what you know.”
“What I know is pursuing these people will not bring your family back. All it will do is get you killed too.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Well, I’m not.” Alex yanked Aaron out of the baby carrier and shoved him into my chest. Not surprisingly, Aaron began to wail. I tried to quiet him while Alex attempted to free himself from the baby carrier, but he got so frustrated with the complicated knot that he pulled a pocketknife out of his jeans and sliced through the fabric instead. The cotton wrapping fell to the ground in pieces.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I said, staring at the shredded baby carrier. Aaron was stunned silent for a moment too then started to bawl again. I rubbed circles on his back to try to calm him down as I shouted at Alex, who was walking away from us. “I’m going to find out the truth with or without your help.”
“Then stay away from my niece and nephew,” he called over his shoulder. “They don’t need to mourn your death too.”
Chapter 29
Janelle was at the office when I arrived late Monday morning. “I was wondering if you were coming in today.”
I dropped my briefcase and purse onto my desk and stuck my head in her office. “Sorry, did we have something scheduled? I didn’t see anything on my calendar.”
I almost hadn’t come in at all. I’d had to force myself to shower and leave the house today. It had been months since I’d felt this way. But since the fight with Alex on Saturday, I could feel myself slipping back into depression. I’d been elated when I’d finally cracked the password on Jonah’s flash drive, but now I wished I’d never found the damn thing. No one but Alex believed it had something to do with Jonah and Amelia’s death, and he refused to help. I had nowhere left to turn.
“No,” Janelle replied, bringing me back to the present. “I was just hoping to talk to you before I had to leave for court. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure,” I said, and flopped down onto her guest chair. “What’s up?”
“A couple things. First, they’re moving Maria to a halfway house later this week. I thought you’d want to know.”
“I heard,” I said. “Alex told me.”
“You still keep in touch with him?” She seemed surprised.
I was not going to explain to Janelle why Alex and I were speaking again. Although after Saturday I wasn’t sure if we were speaking anymore. “He took the kids to visit Maria this weekend.”
Janelle nodded. “Her lawyer called this morning. She’s petitioning to regain custody.”
That wasn’t a surprise. We all assumed she would. “You think they’ll give it to her?”
“Not right away. She’ll have to get a job first, a new apartment, submit to weekly drug testing. But in the meantime, the judge will likely grant her supervised visits. That’s where you come in.”
“Me?”
“I talked to MJ’s foster dad this morning. He told me they have a new baby—”
I nodded. “Aaron. I know.”
“He told me they’re a bit overwhelmed at the moment so they couldn’t commit to supervising the kids’ visits with Maria, but he suggested you might be able to.”
I was surprised Tim hadn’t asked me first. Although we both knew I had the time. I just wasn’t sure I was the right person for the job. “I doubt Maria will want me there.”
“Maria doesn’t get to choose,” Janelle said. “The question is are you willing? If not, I’ll have to find an alternative. Maybe a group setting.”
I didn’t like the sound of group setting. I didn’t think a Mommy and Me class was what Janelle had in mind. “I’ll do it as long as Maria’s okay with it.”
“Like I said, Maria has no say in this.”
“Then I guess it’s settled. Was that all?” I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be, I just preferred to wallow in sadness alone.
“No,” Janelle said. “Next week will be six months since we started working together.”
“Has it been six months already?” It didn’t feel like six months. Maybe half that.
“We said when we started, we’d give it six months and then decide.”
I glanced around the office taking in the mostly bare walls and acoustic ceiling tiles. We could paint and add some artwork, but there was no disguising this place was a strip mall office. “I’m not opposed to moving if you’d rather somewhere nicer.”
“Actually, Grace, I’ve accepted an offer from another firm.”
