Black Jack (Advantage Play #5) - Kelsie Rae Page 0,61
“How? When?”
“There was a confrontation between him and one of the other cell mates. His throat was slit.”
As if my lungs have forgotten their purpose, I hold my breath and replay Embry’s words in my head over and over again like a broken record.
He’s gone.
The last of my flesh and blood is gone.
I really am all alone in this world.
“I’m so sorry, Bianca––”
“It’s fine,” I return in a hollow voice.
“You’re allowed to mourn your brother.”
Feeling his gaze from across the room, I reply, “And I will when I don’t have an audience. Is there anything else?”
“Actually, yes.” He clears his throat. “Can I be frank, Bianca?”
“I’d appreciate it if you were.”
“With Dominic’s death, I’m afraid that Reed’s chances of being set free are…”––pausing, he rubs his hands along his thighs––“higher than I’d like them to be.”
“What are you saying, Wallace?”
“I’m saying that I don’t think your relationship with Reed needs to ruin everything.”
“Too late,” I counter sarcastically.
He ignores my remark, and asks, “What do you know about Reed?”
Everything.
With my lips pulled into a thin line, I state the obvious. “So, that’s why you’re here. Your star witness is gone, and you’re looking for a new one.”
“I’m trying to keep a very bad man behind bars and throw a Hail Mary that could save Jack’s job at the Bureau.”
“What do you mean by keeping a bad man behind bars?” I ask, ignoring the part about Jack. I’m not sure I’d be able to say his name without breaking down and would prefer to keep my heartbreak to myself without a witness.
“Without Dominic, the prosecutor isn’t sure that the evidence we’ve collected will be enough. Reed’s lawyer is claiming that the video evidence your brother gave to the authorities is faulty.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not. There’s a chance it’ll be thrown out, and without Dominic to testify….”
“Reed will go free,” I finish for him.
“He’s been very careful to cover his tracks with the exception of the photographs that include you, the sister to the deceased witness. They’ve been submitted as evidence, Bianca. I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but I feel like you deserve the truth.”
The blood drains from my face. “Photographs?”
“Yes.”
I cover my mouth, fighting back another wave of tears. I was always so careful to avoid documentation of any kind during any encounter. It’s Prostitution 101. And apparently, I slipped up in a way that’s crippling. I don’t know what is in those photographs, but I can guess, especially when I consider Jack’s accusations involving cocaine and being bent over a desk. There are so many humiliating moments I wish I could erase in my life, and now, they’re going to be all over the media. Everywhere.
“You’ve ruined my life. You know that, right?” I choke out.
As if he’s been slapped, he shrinks back in the arm chair.. “If there was any other way, I’d do it.”
“Sure you would.”
“I like you, Bianca. My wife likes you. She’d probably kill me if she knew what I had to do today. But it’s the right thing. And sometimes doing the right thing, no matter how hard it is, is worth it.”
“Worth it for who?” I spit. “You? Getting to close a case without regards to who you have to run over in order to do so? Who you have to ruin? Because let’s forget about me for a second, shall we? You know this’ll ruin Jack. His new wife is connected to a despicable human being.”
Wallace shakes his head back and forth before reminding me, “You were already connected to despicable human beings. You’re a Castello, Bianca.”
“You think I don’t know that? That I wouldn’t erase my past, my heritage, if I could? Jack was the one thing that gave me hope to put my past to rest, and you ruined it.”
“I’m sorry, Bianca––”
“Ya know, you keep saying that, Mr. Embry, but I’m not sure you know what it means. You’re not here to apologize for the shitstorm you delivered onto my doorstep, despite how well you keep trying to sell it. Want to know how I can tell? Because you keep asking for things. Demanding things that I can’t give you––”
“You can, though,” he argues. “You have the power to fix this. To help us keep Reed behind bars and to help save Jack’s reputation.”
Jack.
His name is like a sucker punch to my gut. I chew on my lower lip until the salty tang of blood seeps across my tongue. “How would I do that?”
“You tell the world––and the