Leigh didn’t press her on the suicide mission. The burn-the-motherfucker-down trait was a dominant gene in their family. “We’ve scheduled a meeting with my lawyer at seven. He’s a friend of Walter’s. I’ve already talked to him a little over the phone. He’s aggressive, which is what I need.”
“Can he get you out of this?”
“There’s no getting me out of this,” Leigh said. “We’ll meet with the district attorney at noon tomorrow. We’ll make a proffer. It’s sometimes called ‘queen for a day.’ I’ll be able to tell them the truth, but nothing I say can be used against me. Hopefully, I can provide evidence against Andrew that will put him away.”
“Don’t you have privilege or something?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m never going to practice law again.” Leigh felt the weight of her words threatening to bog her down. She pushed through, saying, “Technically, I can break privilege if I think my client is committing crimes or if he becomes a threat to other people. Andrew definitely meets both criteria.”
“What will happen to you?”
“I’ll go to prison,” Leigh said, because even the aggressive lawyer had agreed that there was no way around serving time. “If I’m lucky, it will be five to seven years, which means four with good behavior.”
“That seems harsh.”
“It’s the video, Cal. Andrew is going to release it. I can’t stop that.” Leigh wiped her nose. “Once it’s out there, once people see what I did, it’ll become too political. The DA will be expected to do a full court press.”
“But what about what happened?” Callie asked. “What Buddy did to me. What he did to you. Doesn’t that matter?”
“Who knows?” Leigh said, but she had been in enough courtrooms to understand that prosecutors and judges cared more about optics than justice. “I’m going to prepare myself for the worst, and if the worst doesn’t happen, then I’m luckier than most.”
“Will they let you out on parole?”
“I can’t answer that, Callie.” Leigh needed her to see the bigger picture. “It’s not just the murder video that’s going to be out there. It’s the rest. The fourteen videos that Buddy made of the two of you together.”
Callie’s response wasn’t the one she’d expected. “Do you think Sidney is in on it?”
Leigh felt a giant lightbulb turning on inside of her head, because Sidney being in on it made obvious sense.
Andrew had a well-documented alibi for Ruby Heyer’s murder. If Reggie’s surveillance logs were to be believed, he’d been parked outside of Phil’s house the night of the attack. That left one person who could commit the crime. Andrew had left the clue in plain sight. There were no wedding photos of Sidney on his phone. He’d hinted at the fact that she hadn’t arrived until it was time to walk down the aisle. She’d had plenty of time to murder Ruby Heyer, then slip into her wedding gown and be ready for the ceremony at eight.
Leigh told Callie, “Ruby left her husband for another man. She was staying at a hotel. Reggie admitted to me that he told Andrew her location. Andrew’s wedding photos give him a solid alibi, which leaves Sidney.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Leigh said. “The way that Ruby was killed—Andrew would’ve had to tell Sidney the details. There’s no other way that she would’ve known what to do. How to do it. And it was clear that Sidney enjoyed it.”
“She really enjoyed fucking with me. Both ways, if I’m being honest,” Callie said. “Which means we’re not just dealing with one psycho. We’re dealing with two.”
Leigh nodded, but none of this changed what needed to happen right now. “I’ve got ten thousand dollars in the car. Walter and I want you to leave town. You can’t be here for this. I mean it. We’ll drive you back to Phil’s. You can pack up Binx. We’ll take you to the bus stop. I can’t do this if I know you’re not safe.”
Callie asked, “Could Maddy watch him instead?”
“Of course. She would love that.” Leigh tried not to read too much into the request. She wanted nothing more than for her sister to know her daughter. “Walter will take him home tonight, okay? He’ll be waiting for Maddy when she gets back.”
Callie chewed her lip. “You should know he keeps all of his money in Bitcoin.”