Naive by Charles Royce (world best books to read .txt) 📕

“Turns out I was right.”

“Jesus, Shawn, that’s not the point.”

“I get the point, baby. She’s not going to ask, mostly because of exactly what you said … what I did to her during the trial.”

“But if she does ask, you said you’d defend her. That’s concerning.”

“You don’t think the company was behind this? Listen, Jenna didn’t do this alone.”

“Not the point.”

“I mean, come on. Jenna Ancelet, a murderer by choice?”

“You still don’t get it. Another trial like that could go on for months. And if you’re personally involved again, well, I saw what this one did to you. Now we have the baby to think about, Shawn.”

“Honey, I know I got wrapped up in this trial. In winning. But now? Baby. Sweetheart. Something changed in me, I can feel it. I just haven’t gotten the chance to show you. And it has everything to do with this baby we are having.” Shawn puts his hand to her face. “I love you. If I have anything to do with Jenna’s defense, I promise it’ll be different.”

Haylee looks down. She just needed reassurance, but now she’s embarrassed. She nods in agreement. “We got this.”

Allen taps on the glass and mouths, “That’s not all.”

Shawn opens the door. “Yes, Allen?”

“Just had another call from my contact. Get this. They also found many, many email exchanges between her and Ghost about setting up the camera and shit. Plus, Jenna’s emails show receipts for a wireless camera and African wooden boxes. Internet search history shows that she researched how to build a bomb, how to frame someone, everything she needed to know about stab wounds and paralysis so that someone would suffer before dying, some serious fucked-up shit. Plus, she has the same set of knives that Micah and Lennox have! They’re testing them right now. She’s been planning this for a very long time, and was pinning it all on Ghost.”

“Dear God,” Shawn says, turning to Haylee.

“Coulda snapped. Psychotic breakdown?” Haylee offers.

“And the final blow?” Allen continues. “A red gown, black overcoat, and long black gloves were found in a plastic bag in Jenna’s closet with blood all over them. They’re testing to see if the blood is Lenny’s.”

“A red gown?” Micah asks. “Maybe it was— Shit. I was wondering why she didn’t wear that one. She was supposed to wear it the night of the event. A big red oversized Halston gown with these ridiculous flared sleeves. But she didn’t wear it. I even asked her where it was. She said she couldn’t find it.”

“Dear God.” Shawn’s phone rings. “Hold on, guys, I need to take this.” He walks back outside and closes the glass door. Micah takes advantage of the interlude to pull Haylee aside.

“Congratulations,” he says.

“Congratulations?” Haylee’s voice is hushed. She pulls him away from Allen. They move to the corner of the living room while Allen walks to the kitchen and pours himself another shot.

“Don’t worry,” Micah says after a few moments of silence. “I won’t say anything. But given all this, I’m really happy for some good news.”

“Micah, this is all good news. I know you loved Jenna, but it really looks like she did this. We finally know who killed Lenny now, and your name will be cleared completely.”

“But at what cost?”

Haylee places her hand on top of Micah’s. “Thank you for the wishes. I’m more than happy to be the bearer of some good news. That is, for about seven more months.”

She laughs. Micah smiles.

The glass door opens and slams shut.

“So that was Detective Penance,” Shawn announces. “They found the letter, a digital version of the letter that Lennox wrote, which led them directly to Ghost’s place. Remember Lily, Detective Penance’s right-hand gal? She was basically crucified and left for dead right inside Ghost’s front door.”

Everyone stands aghast.

“Crucified?” Micah asks after a moment of silence, remembering how good Lily was to him that horrible night at the police station.

“Yes,” Shawn says. “Turns out she took the information I gave her and found out where he lived. Stupidly, she went there before backup arrived. Ghost surprised her, ended up putting a knife through each of her hands—she was literally pinned to the back of the door. It would’ve been too painful to move, and she was gagged so she couldn’t scream, much less warn the police when they finally arrived. The door was thick, so they had to burst through with a battering ram. She’s banged up pretty bad, lost a lot of blood and is in and out of unconscious. But she’s alive. They think she’s going to recover. Haylee, baby, the main reason for the call is that Lily told him about you seeing Ghost at the carwash, so we gotta go down and make a statement tomorrow, show them the photo you took of Ghost.”

Haylee nods.

“I don’t understand,” says Micah. “What would make Jenna do this? Put this in motion? Why would she do this to us? To Lennox?”

He looks around the room.

Shawn steps up. “Everyone’s still reeling from this convoluted mess she made. Framing you, framing Ghost, using company tactics to throw off the scent. Detective Penance still seems to think the company is behind this. In fact, they’re combing Ghost’s apartment as we speak to see if they can find that missing hard drive. Remember? The one stolen from evidence?”

Micah shrugs.

“They’re still looking for that goddamn hard drive,” Shawn says. “And I bet it’s with Ghost, or got blown to hell with Jenna’s apartment. I agree with the detective. My guess is that Jenna hired Ghost to help carry out some sort of financial cover-up for Élan, which might explain why she did all this. Why she killed Lenny. And trust me, if any of that’s true, that company will feel my wrath.” He winks at Haylee.

Shawn turns to Micah. “Buddy, nobody is forgetting about this, about Lenny. Justice is coming. Finally.”

“Cheers to Lennox!” Haylee raises her glass.

Shawn and Allen lift their glasses. “To Lennox!”

“If you’ll excuse me.” Micah places his