The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 176

Chapter 176

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I searched the folders for the file that contained the basic summary and overview of the case. This folder also included a breakdown of evidence, as well as an itinerary that showed what was contained within the other files.

Skimming through the first page, I was immediately glad that I was sitting down.

That anonymous newspaper reader had been right. There hadn’t been ice that night. In fact, even the evenings had been somewhat balmy, an occurrence so odd that it even made it to the summary of the report.

But that wasn’t the most shocking thing. Right there, written in black and white…

…evidence shows that the brake lines in the Harper’s car had been cut. A clean cut suggests this was not accidental, but rather intentional. Likely made with bolt cutters…

Their brake lines had been purposefully cut. With those lines cut, the brakes of the car wouldn’t have worked at all, and on a windy, mountainous road where they had died, anyone would have lost control. For someone to purposefully cut those lines, they would have had to know what would have happened afterwards.

They would have known that the Harper couple would have crashed, and likely died.

This wasn’t an accident.

This was murder.

I flipped forward a page, surprised when I found a list of suspects included in the introductory file. And the first name at the top, Adelaide Harper.

Vanessa’s Aunt.

At once, I set down the folder, to search out the one that contained information about my aunt. But when I opened it… there was nothing but torn pages, or some pages that had been blacked out like they’d been redacted somehow.

Had someone been hoping to hide what had truly been within these files?

Jason’s POV

“Marcus,” I said in the stairwell. “I told you I was going to see Vanessa…”

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” Marcus said. “I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t very important.”

I tried to reel in my anger. I trusted Marcus, and knew he wouldn’t take this lightly. “What is it?”

“It’s about Laila’s bank records.”

“I’m listening.” And I was. Pushing out through the bottom of the stairwell, I left the building and went into the parking lot. I could hear better here. There wasn’t any traffic, this time of day, and the wind was slow. “What did you find?”

“From her intensive medical care, Laila had acquired many steep medical bills.”

“Yes. We knew that.”

“But those medical bills had all been paid off after the birth of your child- using Laila’s bank account. Shortly after that, someone closed that account.”

I stopped, almost to the car but not quite. I pressed the phone closer to my ear, though I’d had no trouble hearing him.

“Say that again.”

“It’s exactly what you’re thinking,” Marcus said. “Someone paid off Laila’s medical bills using her account and then closed it.”

How could that happen if Laila was dead?”

Chapter 24

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Marcus was quiet a moment, letting the question hang between us.

The answer, we both knew, was that she couldn’t.

I turned back and looked at Vanessa’s office building.

I’d spent a lot of time squashing the hope that Laila might be alive. But now… With this, and with Mom’s suspicions about Ava… The coincidences were starting to pile on too thickly to ignore any longer.

This wasn’t built on blind desire for it to be so. This time, had real evidence. And that evidence made the hope inside of me build higher and higher, burning brighter and brighter.

All of it was for Laila…

Could she really be alive after all?