The Non-Standard Man Ch. 16

The detective stood. "Thank you for your time."

Roger escorted her to the door and showed her out. As the door clicked closed I called, "You can come out now, Jason."

Jason opened the hall closet door and stepped out sheepishly. At the same time Andrew walked into the living room.

I put my hands on my hips. "Don't we have enough secrets here? Spill it, either of you. What don't I know about this shooting?"

Jason gave a slight shake of his blond head. "We aren't sure," he said. "But it may have been Sinta that hired the shooter. It would just track she'd do something like that if she didn't get what she wanted. The way she treated mother at times... She may have thought the best way to get Andrew back was to get rid of his owner."

"Jason, what happened to 'Sinta is what I have left of family?'"

"Are you kidding? After the shit's she pulled?"

"Hey, you are the one that said it, not me."

"It was an act, okay. Mother thought the best way to keep track of Sinta was if I played up to her."

"Something you've gotten good at," I said pointedly. "And that story, Roger, you told me about the RIB making you get information on me. How much of that was true?"

"Well, that was true. It did happen. But once Jason told me about how Sinta demanded he get Andrew back, I worried bout what she might do to you. I decided it was best to keep close to you."

"Do you have any proof that Sinta hired the shooter?" I looked to Roger, then Jason.

"No," Jason said. "No proof."

My anger rose and my hands shook at my side. My head was spinning from all the revelations of this day. But out of all the sneaky connivers involved, Sinta was the most dangerous. She wanted control of Andrew in the worst way. The woman had to go.

"The way I see things, Jason, if you intend to keep fucking my husband, will be much easier for everyone if we're friends. And friends don't lie to each other. So, Jason, no more lies, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed.

"We are all in butt full of trouble and not just with Sinta threatening my life. You could get arrested for conspiracy and securities fraud, and so could my husband. And I have these damn charges over my head, all because Amanda, Sinta and your mother wanted to produce an illegal product. And that doesn't even cover Andrew's status. Even if my plan for him works, we still have to deal with, Androdyne fighting to get ownership of him again. So we've got to start bailing."

"Jason, I need you to call Lindsey Talbot. She needs to know how badly my law firm is fucking up her case."

****

Thank you to all my readers who waited patiently for the last chapters of this story. All are written now, ending in Chapter 20 and a brief epilogue. If all goes well, each will post on successive days until the story is done.

All comments are welcome.