Trust Me by Ryan Hank Phillippi

Author:Ryan, Hank Phillippi [Ryan, Hank Phillippi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary, Adult, Crime
ISBN: 9780765393074
Amazon: 0765393077
Goodreads: 36680369
Publisher: Forge Books
Published: 2018-08-28T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Crisis averted. After our Ristretto détente yesterday, we agreed to start in earnest. No more coffee shop. I’ll transcribe what she says each morning, then craft it into the book while she goes off and sunbathes or watches TV or whatever. I’m happy she won’t be breathing down my neck as I write. I’m at the desk, laptop open. Somehow we’ve both decided to wear jeans and T-shirts this morning. Mine is white and hers is black, which is hilarious.

“Ready?” I ask.

“Go for it,” she says.

We’re talking about a dead child, and she’s acting like it’s some celebrity interview. But this’ll be over soon.

She’s appropriated the big wing chair in the study. Where Sophie and I used to read together. I’d put a blanket over it, the ombre pink one Sophie’s Grandmother Emily crocheted, to convince myself it’s a different chair. Ashlyn’s put her second mug of coffee on the mahogany side table. With no coaster. It’s that kind of stuff that makes me nuts. She’s—careless. But maybe I can use that.

I start with the big one.

“So, Ashlyn? Let me ask you again. And we can figure out how you want it to go in the book,” I lie. “What happened to Tasha Nicole?”

She stops, her mug halfway to her lips. Her eyes widen. “Well, that’s the whole point, Mercer. Right? I mean, I don’t know.”

Pants on fire. “Really?” I say. “That’s so—I don’t know—kind of incredible. Like, you have no idea? At all?”

“No.” She shakes her head, and I see tears. She closes her eyes briefly. Opens them. “Can we start with a different question?”

Right. And give you time to come up with a story? Sure, she had plenty of time in that cell to make up something, but maybe now she’ll have to work on a new version of reality. Now there’s been a trial. There’s evidence. And every bit of it has to match.

“Okay, sure, and I hope this gets easier for you as we go,” I say, trying to look sympathetic. “I know it must be tough. But it’s all for the book, right? A good cause. So … when was the last time you saw your daughter? Was it in Logan airport? And why were you there together, by the way?”

“We never were in Boston together,” she says, shaking her head.

My turn to close my eyes. I flap down the laptop, trying to hide my annoyance. This is how it’s gonna go? Pulling teeth?

“Oh, gosh, really?” I pull open my file drawer, flip through the green hanging folders, pull out the manila file labeled Rogowicz.

“You know Detective Rogowicz,” I say.

“Asshole,” she says.

“Anyway, this police report he filed says he found surveillance tape of you and Tasha in Logan Airport. Just off a plane from Chicago. In some newsstand, playing with a puppy.”

“Where’d you get that?” She makes no move to see it.

“Research.” I flip through it, seeing Rogowicz’s sentences typed on the gridded police form. “So if you say you weren’t in Boston together—I mean, I’m so sorry, Ashlyn, but readers will wonder about that video.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.