Facade of Love

Chapter 316 No Way It’s Him

We all went silent, trying to figure out who this mystery man could be..

Breaking the silence, Idris chimed in, “Does Moore know who he is?”

Officer Jackson gave a confirming nod. “Right after it all went down, I grilled Moore. She’s

dead set on claiming she has never met the guy. She even spilled that the last time he

showed up, he told her to put the blame on Ms. Scott and let him deal with the fallout.”

The situation was as knotted as a pair of earbuds left in your pocket. Nervously, I chewed

on my lip, “I’ve never laid eyes on this man before.”

Officer Jackson gave a nod and let out a long, tired sigh. “Here’s the real problem: Jack’s

wife is totally convinced you’re the bad guy, Mr. Young. She thinks you weren’t satisfied

just getting Jack kicked out of his job and thinks you kept on his case, threatening him left

and right. She’s telling everyone you were gunning for payback, trying to get back at

Christina for the close call with Ms. Scott.”

I was just about to snap back with a comeback when Officer Jackson jumped in with more.

Listen, there’s a whole lot more to this. Christina has had a nightmare of a time in jail,

winding up in the hospital and everything. Seems like someone has been slipping cash to

the wrong hands to make sure she had it extra rough. By the time they rushed her to the

ER, her insides were a mess. It was so messed up that the doctors had no choice but to

take out her uterus.‘

My head was buzzing, and I just could not stop myself from sneaking a peek at Idris. His

face was unreadable, yet the slight frown etched there was a dead giveaway–he was

ticked off.

I took a moment, then faced Officer Jackson again. “So, you’re saying Idris is the one who

planned the attack?”

Officer Jackson’s head shake came with a world–weary sigh. “At this point, it’s more than

just a hunch. The evidence? It’s like it’s got your name and Mr. Young’s written all over it in

big, bold letters.”

“Wait, mine?”

I was completely baffled. My eyes locked on his as I tried to make heads or tails of the

situation.

He gave a serious nod. “Yep, it’s you. All the victims share one thing–they’ve all ticked you

off at some point. Take Moore, for instance. She found big trouble behind bars. Made an

enemy out of a death row inmate and ended up with her hand on the chopping block. If

the cops had not busted in just in time, she would probably be missing her tongue too.

With all this craziness stacking up, you can’t help but start asking questions.”

I got the picture: Moore and Christina were in deep trouble in jail, and it was not just bad

luck -they were in someone’s crosshairs. Obviously, someone out there had a score to

settle with them, and since they had both double–crossed me before, they were now

targets.

Jack was caught up in the same mess.

I stopped dead for a couple of seconds, then burst out, “But how does Jack’s death pull me

and Idris into this whole mess? Even if he was Christina’s dad, he never messed with me.

Offing

him just does not make any sense!”

However, the question remained: how did Jack’s death entangle me and Idris in this whole

mess? Even if he was Christina’s dad, he never messed with me. Offing him just didn’t

make any sense!

Officer Jackson’s eyes flicked from me to Idris before he hit us with a shocker. “Word on

the street is that the night you got pegged for that murder, you weren’t at the precinct but

at the Youngs‘ place. Guess what? It was Jack who fed that juicy bit to the news hounds.

The night You zipped over to the station, he must have been the one who tipped off the

reporters about

where you were.‘

“He died because of that?” I blurted out, my mind reeling from the revelation.

With a grave nod, Officer Jackson shot a meaningful glance at Idris, who clammed up and

did not utter a word.

I did not hesitate for a second before I leaped to his defense. “No way he would do

something like that.”

Officer Jackson and Idris both whipped around to look at me–Jackson with a puzzled frown,

Idris with his eyes wide in disbelief.

Our gazes locked, and even though Idris was not exactly on my list of favorite people, I did

not back down. “Forget it. Christina and Moore? They had it coming. He’s not the type to

pla dirty. And yeah, he might have looked into Jack’s business, but murder is just not him.”

Officer Jackson gave Idris a quick look, his face all chill, and chuckled. “Ms. Scott, you’re

pretty confident, aren’t you?”

I bit my lip and steered clear of Idris’s eyes, nodding hard. “Totally!”

Flashing a gentle grin, Officer Jackson peeked at Idris again and said, “Ms. Scott, you could

not be clearer. If I second–guessed you now, it would be like saying our years of friendship

meant nothing.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, thrown off. What was he hinting at?

Was it possible that all his earlier hunches and second–guessing came from the idea that it

was me grilling Idris, and not him? It seemed that deep down, he never stopped believing

Idris was

clean.

Officer Jackson caught my annoyed yet unsure glance and let out a laugh. “Don’t look at

me like that, Ms. Scott. You’re right in the middle of this. I asked you to come in today

because I really wanted to hear your side of the story. Yeah, I have known Mr. Young for

ages, but I was not about to make any snap judgments. You have vouched for him, and if I

still had doubts after that, it would be like I was dissing our friendship.”

Confused about what he was trying to get at, I chewed on my lip and asked him straight

up, “If you never had any doubts about Idris, why haul us all the way over here?”