Maybe they just didn’t care.
Bailey was about to get up to refill her mug when Ryan walked into the kitchen. He rushed over to the TV and turned it on.
“Please don’t,” she said.
He held a finger to his lips and whispered, “You’re gonna want to see this.” He switched to the local news, and she was so relieved it wasn’t The Rosa Trials.
“In another new twist to the Spatz story, William Dexter’s widow, Nicole Spatz Dexter, was arrested yesterday afternoon for obstruction of justice and withholding evidence.” The footage playing was of Nicole being escorted from a patrol car. She was ducking her head as if to hide her face. Bailey stared at the screen in complete shock.
“Oh, my God, Ryan.”
“I know, crazy, right?”
“I guess we know for sure now. I wonder how Sharpe found out.” She stared at him for a moment. “Did you tell him about Nicole?”
“No. I was going to talk to you about it today.” He grabbed a cup from the kitchen cabinet and poured himself some coffee. “I’m not sorry, though. She needs to pay for what she’s done.”
They heard a flurry of noise out front. Ryan walked over and peeked out between the blinds. “Holy shit.”
Bailey jumped up and walked over to see what he was looking at and couldn’t believe her eyes. “Crap.” There were at least a half dozen news vans lined up and down the street. “Damn it. Will this ever end?”
Ryan shook his head and looked back over his shoulder at the TV. “I don’t know, babe. I’m sorry,” he said, placing a hand on her back and rubbing up and down.
When her cell phone rang, she rushed to turn it off, expecting it to be the press, but her caller ID said it was Agent Sharpe. “Hello,” Bailey said, placing the call on speaker.
“Bailey, how are you?”
“I was fine until I looked out to find my street full of news vans.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard to live with the press following you around. Unfortunately, it’s only going to get worse. We’ve made a few arrests in your case.”
“Yeah, I saw. My sister—”
“And your uncle,” Sharpe said.
Bailey’s mouth dropped open, and she made eye contact with Ryan.
“Is it possible for you to come to my office sometime this week? I’d like to give you an update in person.”
Ryan nodded and whispered, “Today?”
“Is today too soon?” Bailey asked.
“No. Not too soon. I can make time if you can be here around two p.m.”
“We’ll see you then,” Bailey said before ending the call.
* * *
Bailey and Ryan were seated in Agent Sharpe’s office promptly at two p.m. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but she knew it wouldn’t be good.
When Sharpe sat down, he smiled at her. “It’s good to see you. You both look well despite what’s been happening over the last week.”
“Thank you,” Bailey said, not sure what else to say. As much as she wanted to hear everything, she didn’t want to hear everything. She felt she already knew more than she ever wanted to. Not for the first time this week, she longed for a simpler time when she didn’t know anything about her own disappearance and kidnapping.
“I’m sure this hasn’t been easy on you, so I’ll get right down to it,” Sharpe said. He opened the file in front of him and looked up at her again. “Patrick Morton came to see me Monday morning.”
Bailey didn’t know what to say to that, so she just nodded.
“He wanted to confess. He saw the Thursday episode of The Rosa Trials and decided it was time.”
“Wow.” Ryan said. “How fucking nice of him to wait so long to finally share the truth. Too fucking bad he didn’t tell his niece before shit hit the fan.”
Bailey looked over at him, surprised by his language. “Ryan?” Once she got a look at him, his anger was apparent. When she turned toward Sharpe, he was chuckling.
Sharpe waved a hand at her. “It’s okay. That was my thought, too, Ryan. It’s a shame he couldn’t have taken care of this before—to spare Bailey from William Dexter.” He lifted his eyebrows and said, “Unfortunately, we can’t do much about that now.” He glanced down at the file again. “Dexter was sending your mother threatening letters. He found out who you were through his wife’s renewed search for her missing sister. Your mother and uncle didn’t know where the threats were coming from.”
“That’s a lousy excuse not to do something about it,” Bailey said.
“No shit,” Ryan growled.
Sharpe nodded. “I completely agree. We’ve gained proof of all of this from our searches of Patrick Morton’s RV and your sister’s apartment.”
“And so now she’s been arrested?” Bailey asked.
“Yes. We searched her apartment before, when investigating William Dexter for kidnapping you, but it appears she withheld some evidence, which is what we found the second time around. I’m sorry, Bailey. I don’t know what drove her to withhold evidence, or what prompted her to feed you to the wolves over at The Rosa Trials.”
“Is it possible she didn’t know she had the evidence when you did the first search?” Bailey asked, trying like hell to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Yes, and that’s what we suspect, but she was arrested for withholding it after we searched. We found both her and her husband’s fingerprints on the letter mailed to me. She also shared the letter with The Rosa Trials, along with other evidence. Photos and such. It doesn’t matter when she found the items. When she failed to alert us right away, she broke the law.”
“Damn it,” Ryan said.
“Her future depends on how much she cooperates. It’s your uncle we’re looking to prosecute.”
Bailey dropped her eyes to the ground. She wasn’t happy to hear her uncle or sister were arrested, but she also knew they were responsible for their own actions.
“I’m sorry, Bailey. I know this can’t be easy, but I feel confident,
