“Yes.”
“There are hundreds of videos of sex happening there. Holy fuck. Do you see me in the films?”
He shook his head. “No. The camera is positioned so that only the women are visible. Your legs are shown a little. Thighs. Dark leg hair. A little bit of groin.”
I flinched at the picture he made. “I never stay there. Finch can account for that. Last time was over the summer. I pretty much live out at the cabin where you picked me up. The house in town sits empty. Any of my friends know that.”
Nix nodded. “I remember you mentioning that in the past.”
I sighed, glad I wasn’t losing my shit. “This has been happening for years?”
“How could you miss sex happening in your own bed? I mean, if I went on vacation and people used my bed while I was gone, I’d know when I got back.”
“Would you? If someone cleaned up after themselves… like a hotel. I don’t want to think about how many people fuck in the beds we stay in.”
Nix pursed his lips at the thought. “Then who?”
I froze. My thoughts quieted. Focused. My stomach dropped. “Holy fuck.”
“What?”
I looked at Nix. “There’s one person who has women dropping at his feet. One person who has a movie deal bargaining chip in his power. One person who knows I don’t stay in the house. One person who would love knowing he pulled one over on me… for years, by fucking his conquests in my own bed.”
I could tell the moment he caught on. “Seriously?”
“My father is an asshole. He’s a narcissist. I wouldn’t put this past him. God, it all fits. I’m sure I can give alibis for at least some of the dates on those videos. No one’s checked for prints in my house because, well, who would think to test? I bet my dad’s prints are all over that room.”
I ran my hand over my hair. Fucking pissed. My father had fucked women, and underaged girls, in my bed.
“Holy shit, he killed Erin.”
Nix stood, his chair scraping across the floor. “I think you’re right.”
After he grabbed his cell, he opened the door and went out into the hall. I f
ollowed. He looked across the room. “Where’s Eve?” he asked someone at a nearby desk.
The man shrugged. “Haven’t seen her.”
I looked to Nix.
“She was going to come in while I went to get you. Interview you. She can’t do it since there’s a conflict of interest.” He cleared his throat and offered a raised eyebrow.
“There sure as fuck is a conflict of interest. Now where’s my woman?”
I checked my cell. Nothing. Nix did the same. “There’s a voice mail.”
He put the phone to his ear. Listened. I knew the second something was wrong by the look on his face. He glanced down at the screen.
“She called twenty minutes ago.”
“Let me listen to that.”
He pushed a button, then held the phone out for me to take.
I missed the very beginning in the handoff. “—and I went back and looked at the videos. I was wrong. It’s not Shane. God, it’s so scary. There’s a hand that comes into the film with Erin right before her murder. There’s a ring. A ring that Eddie Nickel wears. It’s all over social media photos. I went back to the old film of Erin, and he touches her then, too. The ring’s there. I found it in one more clip, too. Another woman I don’t know. It’s him. It’s Eddie Nickel. I’m going to the ranch to question him. I need you to come. Bring backup because I want this legit. I don’t want him getting off on a technicality because I’m in love with his son.”
I looked up at Nix.