recover after we did body shots but this feels so different."
"I'm okay," I said. "I didn't pee my pants."
"Well done," said Lily.
Solomon maneuvered me upright and held the glass to my lips. I drank small sips and breathed deeply. "I'm okay," I said again.
"We know," said Solomon.
"I was reminding myself, but I really am okay." I held out my arms, rotated my wrists and wriggled my fingers. Then I stuck out each leg and repeated the checks with my ankles and feet until I was sure nothing was strained, sprained or broken. I stood up and raised my arms to the sky. "I'm invincible!" I yelled.
"I think she's better," said Solomon. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't think Zach Gallo likes me butting into his life. He pushed me off! He's insane!" I squeaked, pulling a face as I remembered the moment he planted his palm in the center of my chest and shoved me backwards.
"What?" screamed Lily. "I thought you fell!"
"Don't question him again without me being present," said Solomon. "He tries any crazy stunt like that again and he'll get a bird’s sense of what flying really feels like."
"Not a problem," I agreed, "and I would like to see that. At least we got something today. I have a bunch of evidence to sift through." I patted my pockets, searching for my phone. Then my stomach turned. "I lost my phone."
Lily passed it to me. "You left it in the car before taking your Supergirl lesson."
"For a moment, I was worried I left it at the recreation facility. I thought I'd have to go back to get it," I told them, my heart palpitating. I opened the phone, called up my photos and scrolled through them, zooming in on the credit card statements. I missed it when I first looked but now I could see the dates the cards were opened and they were all after Sophie's marriage. "I think Austen will be interested to see that Zach opened credit cards in Sophie's name. That's fraud." I passed the phone into Solomon's outstretched hand. He scrolled and zoomed, his face impassive.
"You're sure she had no part in this?" he asked.
I took the phone back and zoomed on the statement dates. "Yeah. These statements were after she married Austen and I don't see her buying this kind of stuff."
"That doesn't mean she didn't open the accounts and forget to update her address."
"So why open them in her birth name and not her married name?" I wondered.
"Maybe she has credit issues?"
"I didn't flag any, but her name isn't exactly rare..." I trailed off. Had I missed something? If so, what?
"Anyone would have credit issues with balances like this," said Lily. "Everything is maxed out and it doesn't look like the latest bills have been paid. You said Austen was rich, right? Sophie could afford to pay these. He might not even notice."
"Not if she were hiding them from her husband. Maybe she doesn't want him to know she has a shopping addiction or that she planned to give money to Zach. It could be that he pressured her," I said but I knew it wasn't true. It just didn't feel right. With the exception of his small apartment, Zach appeared to be living beyond his means and I suspected he was using his sister's name to get the credit he needed for that. "I'll show them to Austen anyway and see what he has to say. I'm sure they're Zach's though. He pushed me off the platform right after I confronted him."
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" suggested Solomon. "You and Lily can chill here. Or go do something safer."
"I like that you specified 'safer'," I said, cracking a smile.
A small smile lifted the edges of Solomon's lips. "It seemed prudent," he said. "I have to go. This bank case is taking up a lot of manpower. Although we found and discounted the bank's fired employee, we're no closer to tracking down Thomas Mackleton's associates or identifying the item that was stolen. I'll call and check in on you later. I can make dinner if you don't feel up to it. Please take it easy, Lexi," he implored.
"Hey, you didn't even update me on the case! Was the list of the remaining property from the vault I left in the office helpful? What else is going on?" I asked.
"I saw the list, thanks. There isn’t much to tell. We're still chasing our tails on Mackleton. He's kind