“Yes, we will. Whatever you need, baby. I’m here.”
“And I love you for it.”
Earlier, Hollis’s lawyer had said if anyone admitted to knowing the will had been changed, I might have a shot at getting the land back. It was a long shot, but I kept hoping.
“How are you holding up?”
That was the question of the hour. “I don’t know. I’m hurt, but not surprised. I’m relieved, but sad. It’s like there’s an opposite emotion for everything I’m feeling. But I’ll sort through it. And I want to know what’s going on. I mean, if they figure out we really don’t have any hard evidence, they’ll go free.”
I wanted justice for what had been done.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Drake got up. “Let me see who this is.”
I looked at the clock; it was late. Way too late to have visitors. Drake greeted whoever it was warmly, which meant it was a good visitor.
Travis walked in and I shot up. “Is now a good time? I wanted to give you guys an update in person.”
“Come on in. Have a seat.” I motioned to the empty chair.
A knot formed in my stomach, and my heart beat double time. Travis took a seat in the big overstuffed chair. “Alexa, how are you doing?”
“I’m processing.”
“Understood. Well, I wanted to update you—off the record, of course. It’s been a shitstorm at the station.”
Is that good or bad? It was hard to read the situation. Drake took a seat beside me. The warmth of his body comforted me. “What happened?”
He took a deep breath. “Chazz turned on Dixon, confessing to everything in exchange for immunity. Raquel corroborated his story—at least the part she was aware of—in exchange for immunity, as well.” Pausing, he raked his hands through his hair. “We had to make the deal. At this point, there’s no physical evidence, and we needed the witnesses to make sure Dixon went to jail.”
I had dealt with the fact Raquel would be free for the forgery. Before I could process that, I needed to understand the part each person played in this. “So, what did they say?”
Travis scrubbed a hand down his face, clearly tired. It had been a long night for everyone. “Dixon has been piecing together land for oil drilling. He owns Milano Incorporated. It’s a shell company. The Hennington brothers are almost broke. They needed this deal to go through. They were going to build oil fields. Apparently, they had people sneak on the land to confirm there was oil. On the piece Raquel had, he’d planned to build a shipping dock.”
“How were they getting the money?”
“Investors. They were running out of time to get it finalized. Your dad actually met with Dixon. And refused to sell his land. Dixon was behind your loan getting called in and the way it was written up. The plan had been for you to lose the land as collateral. It’s a shitstorm, but charges will be brought against the parent bank in Juneau where the decisions came from. I honestly don’t understand that piece of it yet.”
“Was his death an accident?” I could hear the waver in my voice.
“No, Dixon arranged it, according to Chazz. The oil was drained from the machine, which then seized. Based on Chazz’s testimony alone, we have Dixon on murder charges for everyone who died that day. He had records of the deals that he gave, as well.”
But there was no concrete evidence. Yet. My throat grew tighter. Dad was murdered. He had been taken from us before his time was up. I closed my eyes in anguish. “So many lives were lost.”
“Yes, I’m so sorry, Alexa. Dixon also killed the lawyer, Montgomery, who handled the will. He was poisoned with ricin. The medical examiner was paid off to lie about the heart attack. We’ve contacted Juneau PD to arrest the coroner there. Chazz had copies of the last version where your father left everything to you. I would suggest you get your lawyers involved. I imagine you can get it back.”
“I will. What about Teagan?” Hopefully, there was still a chance for Teagan to be saved. But I wasn’t sure what her part was in this. After her words in the hospital, I was sure she knew something.
Travis’s face turned hard, angry. “Raquel blackmailed her with compromising pictures of her and Donnie to force her to deliver the letter to Montgomery. According to Chazz, Dixon used Donnie to get her hooked on heroin after that. From there, he was able to control her. If she listened, she got more drugs. Apparently, she was becoming more of a loose cannon and wasn’t following through. The day you came into town, she was supposed to lure you into a back alley for Dixon to chat with you about the land.”
“Fuck,” Drake muttered.
“Yes, the night Alexa got into the car with her, Teagan was supposed to bring her into the apartment, too.”