“Please.” My heart was in my throat.
It was early still, just ten in the morning. Only yesterday Winn had told us they were still questioning Averie and Jill.
But time had ticked by slowly and every hour spent waiting had felt like a week.
“Can we get you anything?” Knox asked, escorting her to the living room. “Water?”
“No, I’m good.” She pressed a hand to her belly that was just barely beginning to show, then took a seat in the chair so Knox and I could sit side by side on the couch.
He lifted Drake from my arms and laid him on the play mat beside our feet. Then he leaned forward, elbows to knees, and gave Winn the nod to start.
“Averie and Jill both requested lawyers, which has slowed the process down. But Jill has finally started cooperating. And we’ve got some evidence to help fill in the gaps with Averie’s side of the story.”
“Was she an FBI agent, Averie?”
Winn shook her head. “No.”
“But she showed me a badge.” It had been in a black wallet that she’d flipped open when I’d seen her outside my townhouse.
“We did find a badge on her person. It was a fake. A good fake. There was no way you’d know.”
“So she tricked me.” My heart sank. “She was just trying to get information on Oliver. Why?”
“From what we were able to find on her phone, she’s got a lot of video footage of Oliver. When I say a lot, it’s the sort I would expect to see from a stalker.”
“When I talked to Oliver, he sounded like he’d already dismissed her,” I said. “If he was being stalked, wouldn’t he know?”
“Not necessarily. She also had videos of your father. I doubt he knew she was following him either.”
“Why?” I shook my head. “I don’t understand why any of this was happening.”
“You and your family were a target.” Winn gave me a sad smile. “I’m guessing that Averie was offered money from Oliver to stay quiet about their relationship.”
I huffed. “He probably paid her the fifty grand I didn’t take.”
“Afterward, she must have learned about you and your family. Thought that if Oliver would pay her, you would too.
And it would be an easy way to make money.”
“You think she knows how much Memphis is worth?”
Knox asked.
Winn nodded. “I do.”
“I’m worth nothing,” I said. “Not anymore.”
Knox put his hand on my knee. “I doubt she saw it that way.”
“She could have gone to his wife,” I said.
“Nah.” Knox sighed. “Too dangerous.”
I was the easy route to millions. Except I didn’t have millions. Not anymore. “Why would she want Drake?”
“This is where Jill comes into play,” Winn said. “Again, without a confession, I can’t be sure, but I suspect that after your father denied her money, she decided she needed more ammunition. Specifically, a paternity test. Something to hold over his head, maybe Oliver’s too.”
“Enter Jill,” Knox mumbled.
“She’s a piece of work.” Winn rolled her eyes. “She doesn’t think she did anything wrong. Averie reached out to her weeks ago. Fostered some sort of relationship. Told her that she was Drake’s aunt. That her brother was his father.
Averie’s story was that you refused to admit Drake was her brother’s son. And before they could get answers, you fled New York.”
My jaw dropped. “What? And Jill believed her?”
“Apparently. They’d become friends. Jill thought she was helping Drake get reunited with his family.”
“Oh, I hate her.” My teeth ground together.
Knox seethed at my side. “That fucking bitch.”
“Averie convinced Jill that she needed her help but they couldn’t meet in Quincy. That you might recognize her. It was too much of a risk that you’d take Drake and disappear like you had in New York. So Jill agreed to take Drake and meet her at that motel. It turns out, we weren’t all that far behind her. Thirty minutes, maybe. She thought she’d be back in town by five and you’d never be the wiser. Except it took longer at the motel because the money Averie promised Jill wasn’t there.”
“Wait.” Knox held up a finger. “Money?”
“One hundred thousand dollars. Averie said it was a reward her ‘brother’ was paying to anyone who helped reunite him with his son.”