Their Final Score: Untouched, Vol 6 of 6
Page 164
“Lucy, time for bed!” Robert calls down.
Lucy drops to the mattress at her feet and closes her eyes, faking sleep. I shake my head with an indulgent smile. Eli looks up to see what I’m smiling at.
“Think it will work?” he asks softly.
“Not a chance in hell,” I whisper back.
“Lucy!”
“I’m asleep!” she yells back.
Caden and Jack chuckle from where they’re reviewing quarry footage on the couch.
Nico glances at Lucy from where he’s reading his textbook on the bed next to the one she’s on.
“I’ve got her.” Luke walks over to Lucy and easily lifts her into his arms.
“My horse!” Lucy reaches toward the bed where her stuffed animal is.
He rolls his eyes but tosses her over his shoulder before bending down and picking up her horse. She giggles.
“This is a unicorn.” He lifts his gaze to mine.
My insides soften, remembering him calling me that once upon a time. It was before we became us. Not my favorite nickname. Somehow I prefer princess. Though I love it when he calls me pet.
“It’s my favorite.” Lucy snatches it out of his hand.
“Mine too.” Luke smiles and winks at me before he carries her upstairs. We hear him and Robert talking.
Jack clears his throat to capture my attention.
“I had Will make me a program to sort through the pictures.” Jack leans back, and his blue eyes hold mine. He still sleeps wrapped around me tightly, but he’s sleeping better now. He doesn’t trust anyone but us to actually review the photos. “We’ve found something, but it might not be anything useful.”
Eli reaches over and slides his hand into mine.
“I don’t want to get your hopes up.” Jack glances down at his tablet. “It’s just a series of pictures. They could mean something or nothing.”
I hold out my hand. “I can handle it.”
He passes me the tablet, and I stare down at the picture. It’s clearly the meeting with Mark Lee, Bruce Ross, and William Foster. Well, mostly clear. There are a few leaves that block the whole picture, and it’s not as distinct as the video unfortunately since the camera’s focus is mostly on the leaves.
I scan through the first photos that just show the three of them talking. Suddenly Mark Lee disappears from the scene and doesn’t walk back on. Bruce also walks away, but stays on screen. The next few frames are almost white like someone shone a light into the trees.
“We think that’s Mark’s headlights leaving.” Jack puts his hand on my knee.
There are a couple of frames of Bruce and William standing in roughly the same spots.
My dad appears in the next frame. I take a breath and look at the blurry picture of my dad. I glance up at Jack, who is sitting in front of me now. What if this is it? What if my father captured his own death? Am I ready to see that? To know for sure?
“I promise you won’t see anything gruesome.” Jack’s expression is blank. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
I swallow and swipe to the next picture. My dad has closed in on William and wrapped his arms around William’s waist, definitely in motion. I swipe again, and both men are on the ground. Fists are being thrown in the next one. Bruce stops and turns to look at them.
The next image has my dad’s fist in William’s face. The next one they’ve scrambled to their feet. For a few slides, they are clearly yelling at each other, while Bruce tries to hold them apart. Their expressions are hard to distinguish in the graininess of the photos.
In the next one, the leaves obscure the lens entirely for a few of the frames.
“What’s happening?” I ask no one in particular. I scroll quickly.