I nod. “I just need to find her and get her to testify. Then its case closed. And those prosecutors can go find someone else to blame.”
“Nice. What about the evidence about him paying off a hit man?”
I sip my drink. “It’s all bullshit in my eyes, and there is no motive behind it. The evidence is so circumstantial they’ve quieted down on that front. I have no doubt this was done by a professional, but Phillips didn’t hire him. I’ve known the man for years and he is a scumbag and a piece of shit but he would never murder his family.”
“You’ve been working that evidence though. You know Bartlett is a beast. She will come at you out of nowhere.”
Grace walks over and plucks the scotch out of Owen’s hand, swallowing down the entire glass. “What the hell do you think I’ve been doing?”
I laugh as she hands the empty glass back to Owen and props her hands on her hips. “I have piles and piles of phone calls, texts, emails, and however the hell else people communicate. I am looking for any loose thread that can tie it all back to Phillips and I am burning those pieces.”
I smile at her smugly. She has been a fucking blessing to this case. She may hate law but her investigative skills are top notch.
“So are you taking Lionel’s advice and heading out to Wilmington?”
I nod. “I don’t have court until next week so I can spend a few days out there and find this woman he was apparently with.”
“Who’s Lionel?” Grace asks.
“No one important,” I say.
She looks between me and her brother before grabbing his glass and pouring each of them a drink.
“Do you have any idea where to start?” Owen asks me.
“Not really. I know the hotel he was staying at and the few places he frequented but I have no names. And knowing him he was smart enough not to bring some hooker or stripper, whoever the hell she is back to the hotel. He had to have been staying elsewhere and paying cash.”
“Some politician isn’t going to stay at a seedy hotel to get his dick wet,” Grace cuts in, as she hands a glass to her brother.
“How would you know?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“Did you forget I worked in DC?” She rolls her eyes at me. “They find ways. Whether it’s by dressing them in fine clothes a la Pretty Woman or by sneaking them in through a side entrance. Depends on the cameras. But the politicians I had dirt on always had the whores they kept around dressed to the nines. No one would know the difference when they walk in.”
I smirk at Grace. Her knowledge of shady politicians very useful in this case. “So I could just talk to security and see if they will get me footage.”
“Okay, Sherlock, that sounds legal,” she scoffs and shakes her head as she sips the scotch. “You need some finesse. Besides, you can’t use those tapes in court.”
“No, but if he finds her, he can get her to testify,” Owen tells his sister.
She purses her lips and shrugs. “True.”
I look at her with curiosity. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I don’t want to talk about my last article. But let’s say I found my way into circles quite easily.”
“As in the circles of women who get paid quite well to keep their mouth shut.”
She smiles at me deviously and I want to kiss that smile off her face.
“You are not going to Wilmington with him,” Owen says defensively, in brother mode.
“Why?” She looks at him like he lost his head. “It’s work. He’s my boss. If he wants me there, I’ll be there.”
Owen looks between us. “Two hotel rooms.”
“Eww,” Grace says and I struggle to hold in my laughter. “You really think I want to share a room with him? Gross.”
Owen looks at me in a way that tells me I better not fucking touch her.