Page 61 of See You Again
“James, you called him a predator. What did he do?” Her words seemed to tear him from wherever it was he’d gone.
“That’s Dahlia’s business.” His face was serious when he faced her. “Tell me what the connection is. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“I appreciate the offer, but this is my job. How about this? I’ll tell you what Amy’s friends told me about him, and you tell me if you think it corresponds with what you know.”
Frustration contorted his face, and she could see James wanted to argue, but her tone must have convinced him she wasn’t going to budge. He slumped on the sofa next to her. “Fine.”
Cami pulled one bent leg up onto the cushion next to her and faced him. “Amy had one date with Matt Crawford, shortly before she went missing almost four years ago.”
“Wasn’t she in college?”
“Yes. Apparently, the attraction was that he was older.”
James made a sound of disgust. “He’s in his thirties. She was a child.”
“Does it surprise you he would go after someone so much younger?”
He gave her a knowing look. “Okay, I’ll play along. No. Nothing would surprise me about Matt Crawford, unless you told me he had done something kind for someone. He’s a slimy pervert who preys on those he can exert power over. So, no, I’m not surprised he’d go out with a young college student.”
“I take it you aren’t close?”
“Absolutely not,” James growled.
Cami could hear the sincerity in his voice, and the muscles in her neck relaxed. “But he is your stepbrother? Won’t you feel a sense of loyalty to protect him?” She needed to know for sure where James stood before she shared what she had learned.
James hesitated, and then he inhaled deeply. “His mother Courtney married my father a year before his death. I’ve only met Matt Crawford a handful of times. There is absolutely no love lost between his family and mine.”
Cami’s brain sifted through the facts she knew. “He took over your father’s company from your older brother?”
“You have been doing your homework.” It didn’t sound like a compliment.
“I only found out about Matt’s connection to your family this afternoon when Mark, Detective Barlow, told me about him. Your brother Declan, being removed as the CEO of Bloom Communications, made headlines.”
“The police are looking at Matt?”
“They questioned him at the time of Amy’s disappearance and again when her body was found. He lawyered up both times.”
“Smarter than I thought.” His brows knit together. “Why? Because they went on a date? What was he even doing there? You were in South Georgia today?”
Cami stared into his eyes for a moment. “This is what I know…”
After she was done filling James in, he looked thoughtful. “He admitted she called asking for a ride.”
“Crawford must have thought it was pointless to lie. The phone records would show they’d had a conversation.”
James pushed to his feet and resumed pacing, rubbing his thumb against his bottom lip. “And he’s their most likely suspect.”
“I didn’t say that. Remember, he has an alibi.”
“His little brother and his mother,” James scoffed. “That’s pretty flimsy alibi wise. Any decent lawyer could cast doubt on their credibility. What about the physical evidence they have? Can they tie it to him?”
“I don’t know what it is yet. Mark said he was waiting for one final signature. However, he did tell me that when they ran it through CODIS after Amy’s body was discovered, there were no matches.”
“I don’t think Matt’s ever been arrested so that makes sense. Do they have anything else linking him to the scene?”
“There’s very little to go on at all. A witness from the party I spoke to this afternoon on the phone thinks he saw Amy wave at a black SUV when she was leaving. He doesn’t remember if he told the police that or not. I can’t check until they turn over the statements, so I don’t know if that’s something they followed up on. That’s pretty much it.”
Cami finally gave voice to the question that had formed since James began asking questions. “You think he could have done it, don’t you? Why? What do you know?”