My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,60
this isn’t a surprise.
Quickly, I look back at Lamar, but I see nothing on his face to indicate that he knows that Devlin is one step ahead of him. And that, of course, means that Devlin wants Lamar to believe that he’s just as surprised as I am.
“This is crazy,” I say, which pretty much sums up all of my emotions. “Are you sure?”
“Tell us what happened. What’s your source? Is Christopher in custody?” Devlin steadies me so I don’t slide off the chair as he stands up. Then he heads to the bar. “I need a drink. Anyone else?”
“I’m on duty.” Lamar says, as Brandy shakes her head. I get up and go sit by her, and she reaches out for my hand.
“Well, I’ll take one,” I say. “Scotch. Straight up.”
Devlin brings the drinks back and nods at Lamar. “Well?”
“A few minutes ago, someone called the station asking where they could send evidence in Ellie’s hit and run. The sergeant gave him the email for the department, and a few minutes later a message came in. No text, no explanation. Just a photograph. Three photographs actually showing multiple angles, and all of Christopher in the car.”
He looks at our faces in turn as if to make sure that we’re paying attention. I can’t speak for Devlin or Brandy, but as for me, I’m completely rapt. “Could it have been Photoshopped?”
“Theoretically, but I doubt it.” He grimaces. “The sergeant forwarded it to me since I was working the case, and he knows that you and I are friends. He remembered what happened when you were almost run down.”
“So you’re digging into one of the foundation’s lovely desserts when you get a text with three images.”
“That’s pretty much it.”
“And he got the call from the sergeant when we were talking,” Brandy says. She’s wiped her cheeks with a tissue and some of her color is coming back. “Christopher was supposed to meet me here to listen to Devlin, but he didn’t show. I’d been calling and texting, but nothing. I was telling Lamar how worried I was getting.”
“Once Brandy told me he’d stood her up, I had a black-and-white go to his AirBnB. No one had been dispatched yet, since they didn’t have a positive ID until I saw the photos, and even then there was no way for LCPD to know where he was staying. Not easily. We got lucky, since I was with Brandy.”
“He wasn’t there,” Devlin guesses.
“No, he wasn’t. Nothing was. His laptop’s gone. Suitcases gone. The refrigerator was still stocked, but other than food, the place had been cleared of any sign of him. Mostly, anyway.”
“Mostly?”
“There was a note,” Brandy says. “For me.”
“He left you a note?” Devlin looks between her and Lamar. “What did it say?”
Lamar passes over his phone. “That’s a picture the officer on duty sent me.”
“That’s the email that distributed the leak,” I say. “Was that a password? Did you log in?”
“We did,” Lamar says, taking back his phone. “As far as we can tell, that’s the only thing that email account was ever used for.”
Brandy looks from me to Devlin. “That means he was the leak, doesn’t it?”
I nod, feeling miserable for my friend. “Yeah,” I say. “It does.”
“Why tell me?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “But I think it’s because he genuinely cared about you. He knows he has to run, but he wants to help you and your friends.”
“Who cares what he wants?” she snaps. “God, I wish I’d never met him.”
“I know.” I put my arm around her and look helplessly toward Devlin. I want to console her, but there are things to do and more questions to ask. And I know damn well that Devlin is itching to get them out of his office so he can contact Ronan and the other angels who are downstairs mingling this very minute.
“Thank you for letting us know,” Devlin says, his attention on Lamar as he starts to rise. “I assume you’re heading for the scene?”
“Actually, there’s more.”
Devlin’s brows rise and he settles back, then nods for Lamar to continue.
“As I was talking with the officer onsite at Christopher’s AirBnB, I got an email. This one wasn’t from the station. This one came from Joseph Blackstone’s email address.”
I look at Devlin, confused. Especially because by the time Devlin was making his speech, the team should have taken out Joseph Blackstone. Devlin’s face is still completely unreadable, so I turn back to Lamar for answers. “You’re