“Did she understand what the police told her when they arrested her?”

Susan Roberts exhaled. “Yes. I think so.”

The arrest was fast. But not unexpected, given Leah was discovered in the Owen house when she was shot. “I’ll be right over. Please tell her to say nothing to the police. That’s very important.”

She texted Eddie with the news of Leah’s arrest, and then rushed to her car.

If this was the life of a criminal defense lawyer…she kind of liked it.

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

1:32 p.m.

The early morning damp had burned off hours ago. And suddenly it became summer. With it, came the heat. Aiden crouched under the railway bridge near the bottom of Coburg Road. Above him, the privileged children of Halifax walked, skipped, ran, and biked toward the Waegwoltic Club.

He remembered doing the same as a child. Taking tennis lessons, swimming in the salt water swimming pool, being forced to go sailing. He had hated all of it. He was not an outdoors kid, and it was pure torture to be amongst the kids who were more talented, more able, more everything. And they let him know it.

When he was old enough to go to the Waeg by himself, he would take a sharp right before the railway bridge, find one of the many gaps under the fence that closed off the railway cut, worm his way under it, and then run down the steep slope to the tracks. He’d spent many days on the track, hanging out with other disaffected teens, smoking weed, and secretly tormenting his tormentors online.

It was a refuge of sorts, this railway cut. He opened his laptop, seeking an unsecured wireless network on which he could piggyback. A list of available networks popped up on his screen. Mike123 was unsecured. And it had a good signal.

Thanks, Mike, you doofus. He logged on to the wireless. The first thing he did was check the online news sites. What had the police found? A small smile curved his lips as he read the news coverage. Not much at the Owen house, it seemed. They had found his footprints, but couldn’t match them. The K-9 unit had come up empty. They still hadn’t found his rooming house. He could breathe a little easier. The police had no clue.

Unless Leah turned him in. He skimmed the news articles, looking for information about her condition. But all the press had been told was that she was in ‘serious but stable condition.’

Shit. He could not afford for her to pull through now.

The clock was ticking. If Leah spoke to the police, it would tick in double-time.

He pushed the USB stick into the port on the side of his laptop, and opened the file finder.