Chapter 13

Shaking his head, Jon climbed out the window, scaling down the way he had come up many times before. It took a moment or two, but when Emery's head poked back out, he grinned and waved up at her. "Hurry up Killer." He was not surprised at all when she slammed the window shut, sure she had locked it up and waited. When Emery appeared around the corner, he pushed himself off the brick wall he had been leaning against, on the shaded side. "Is this a children's park or just a park?" Because he could definitely recall several times seeing homeless people in parks.

"From what I remember, it's just a park people go to do their running, walking or whatever." It was one of Annalise's favorite places to run actually. "There's no children's playground that I know of, but I've only been to it once, so…"

Emery had to deal with the fact Jon would keep calling her killer and refused to let it get to her anymore. She was honestly fighting a losing battle when it came to Jonathan Good. Maybe it would stop once they proved she didn't kill Colby once and for all. Walking side-by-side with him into the park, Emery stopped and looked around, spotting a man squatted near a tree. Jon had printed out the picture before she shut the laptop down since she had a printer hooked up to it in her room. More than likely homeless people conversed with each other, right? It was worth a shot. They had no other leads to go on currently.

"How about asking him?"

"Yeah, sure, hang back though. Last homeless guy I talked to tried to shank me."

Jon still had no idea what the implement of shanking had been, just that it looked sharp. Plucking the picture from her, Jon was not surprised at all when she refused to hang back. Killer was not so good at following instructions. He wondered if that was a new trait out of defiance and having her backside whooped a lot by Colby or the reason Colby had whooped it to begin with. Squatting down, he held out the picture to the homeless man.

"Know this guy?"

"Got money?"

"Jesus…"

Emery rolled her eyes, not believing Jon didn't start with a bribe. This was a homeless guy after all and any information he had would not be given without a price. "How much?" She pulled her wallet out and took a $20 from the sleeve, waving it at the homeless guy tauntingly. "Tell us what you know and you can have it."

His eyes followed the piece of green paper hungrily, licking his chops at the thought of having a decent meal that night for a change. "Name's Henry. Usually around these parts, but not lately."

"Henry what?"

"Davis. He works with some shady people and doesn't ask questions, just does the job he's told. I want the money now."

"After one last question." She turned to face Jon with a cool smile on her face, gesturing to the homeless man. "Got anything else to ask him, pal?"

"What's his name again?"

"Jefferson."

"Jefferson what?"

"Mike, Mike Jefferson. Can I have my money now?"

"What's he do again?"

"Street thug?"

"Sure, give him your money." Jon shook his head, eyeballing the man. He wasn't old, one of the younger ones and his face was scarred up with new wounds on it. "Smile for me, would ya?" When he did, Jon was grossed out by the truly poor dental hygiene. "Do you want us to just give you a bag of meth instead?" He jerked Emery out of the way when the guy got to his feet. "And that is why I said hang back. You are way too trusting, Killer. Find us a homeless lady, they're not all off their rockers."

"Will you-?" Emery tossed the $20 at the homeless man and watched him take off as fast as he could through the park. At least they'd gotten the truth out of him and she hadn't been ripped off. "Mike Jefferson or Henry Davis. Don't know which one is false or if both are, but we need to research both names just in case." She could've socked Jon in the mouth for the meth comment, knowing that's what set the younger homeless guy off. "We can try the city hall records and go from there. Hope you're ready to do a lot of digging, researching and reading. It could get boring after a while." Smacking his chest none too gently, Emery walked ahead of him back to her apartment building.

All Jon could do was gape at her back and had to run to catch up to her, grabbing her hand. "Emery, stop. He lied to you – LIED." He deliberated just how naïve she really was. "That guy? He was a meth head or didn't you see the sores and his teeth? That's what meth does to you." He knew from his past and witnessed firsthand how that addiction ended too. "He would have given you 100 names if we kept asking. He probably doesn't know our guy. Look, give me the paper and I'll do it. Cost you a lot less that way..."

Jon hadn't been kidding. He planned on finding a homeless woman, one who didn't keep cats, or have a mattress strapped to her back. Women tended to observe more, especially those on the streets, and were more alert of their surroundings.

"I know he was a meth head. I'm not that stupid." Emery sounded frustrated and it matched the expression on her face, worry wrinkles beginning to form on her forehead. "I gave him the money so he'd leave us alone. Like you said, homeless people aren't very trustworthy. If you think you'd have better luck without me there, suit yourself."

Truthfully, she was tired of this cat and mouse game regarding Colby's murder and Emery had to wonder if it would ever be solved. Maybe it was one of those mysteries that wasn't meant to be deciphered. What if they ended up worse off by digging further into who exactly killed Colby and took his body?

"You know where to find me if you come across anything. I'll leave the window unlocked, so you don't have to deal with Annalise."

"You should cook for me. I'll be back, say... around 6? I'll even bring the wine." Jon suggested, though when she gave him an exasperated look, he smiled. "What? All this detective work is tiring and I'm a big man. Need my food." Since someone had taken the time to deliver something addressed to him, while she was with him, he figured he was in it now. Not that kidnapping her hadn't been enough already. "See you soon, Killer." Pocketing the paper, Jon headed back to the park, wondering if she'd still keep that window unlocked.

The only thing in the apartment they had to make was tacos, so Emery made them, speculating if Jon would return with more information that night. He said around 6 and it was going on 5. One hour she had. Once the tacos were finished, everything to go on the shells anyway, she hopped in the shower and shaved all the needed areas, just in case. Emery didn't know what was happening between her and Jon, but it was something she wanted to explore further, only if he made the first move though. No way in hell she would do that a second time. Somehow, she had to learn a little self-control. Once out of the shower and freshly changed, Emery checked her phone to see Annalise was working a double shift and wouldn't be home until sometime early the next morning. Sending her a quick text back, Emery went to her room and waited, doing a little research online to see if she could find anything on those two names the meth head homeless guy gave her.

Carol was sweet and a reliable source unlike the names the homeless meth head gave him and Emery at the park. Jon felt bad about her losing her house and job all in the span of a week. Not to mention her husband leaving her for a younger piece of meat. However, not too bad because she had fleeced him good and proper, doing it while still being kind.

"So, am I out $100 or did you really play me straight?"

"I did good by you, Jonny." She stayed at a shelter at night and had to be out during the day, trying to get back on her feet, but times were hard. "Now, he stays some nights at the shelter on 5th, just a few blocks away. He wanders a lot; I don't think he's... you know, all there in the head, but not many of us are."

"Nah, you're all right. You don't even smell."

"I haven't lost my dignity yet, boy."

No luck on the two bogus names.

Emery slammed the lid of her laptop closed and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She went back to the morning Colby was discovered in the back of the apartment building and knew it'd been combed thoroughly by the police and investigators. There were so many people on the case because it'd been a violent death.

"Colby…" Emery shut her eyes, not believing she was about to talk to the same son of a bitch who hurt and took years from her life for his sick and twisted amusement. "You are my last resort. I just…I need a sign. I need to know if…it's worth clearing my name or if I should just leave it alone and move far away. I need to know what happened to me to make me lose 15 hours of my life, during the hours of your murder. Please, if you can hear me wherever you are, help me solve this. Give me just one clue, one sign and I'll solve it. I promise." She jumped out of her skin when a bang sounded at her window and saw it was a loose branch from the tree outside, shaking her head. "Fuck you too, Lopez…"

The next bang to make her jump was Jon and he ducked because that loose branch had blown dangerously close to his head. He slid in through the window and grinned when she looked ready to have a panic attack, letting his feet hit the floor. "It's getting crappy out there, pretty sure we have a storm rolling in." Jon said by way of greeting, then sniffed the air, letting out a groan. "I really hope you held the poison because that smells fucking delicious, Emery." Poison or not, he still brought a bottle of wine, though if he had known she was making Mexican, he'd of gone for some tequila instead

"Guess you'll just have to eat it and take the risk, huh?" Emery cheekily shot back and slid from the bed, taking the bottle of wine from him. "Annalise won't be home until tomorrow morning, so we can eat in the living room and…have the place to ourselves." Unless she came home early, but Emery highly doubted it since she was covering a midnight shift at the 24 hour diner she worked at. "The plates are already out, help yourself and I'll crack the wine open."

Reaching up to grab two wine glasses from the cabinet, the peach camisole she wore slowly rode up her abdomen, showing a hint of bare skin to Jon. It matched the cotton shorts she had on, her usual sleeping attire unless she opted for a nightgown. That didn't happen often though. Jon did not miss the way her camisole rode up, showing that tantalizing flash of bare skin and shook his head, following her. He had stopped home long enough to shower and change, opting for jeans and another beater, his hair properly gelled to hold it in place.

"So, place to ourselves, huh?" Taking the time to look around, Jon really studied her room before following her, letting his eyes take in those long legs. "If I'd of known we were having a sleepover..."

"Don't get any bright ideas, Jon. You asked me to cook you dinner and that's what I did. Least I can do since you've been…helpful with this situation." Emery took her own plate and glass of wine into the living room to set everything on the coffee table alongside Jon's, snatching the remote to put background noise on. "Any luck finding information or did you come up empty?"

She didn't waste time, feeling her anxiety heightening and hoped this mystery was solved soon. Getting on with her life was all Emery really wanted to do, but how could she when people thought she was a murderer, even though she walked free from the court system? It wasn't possible.

"Hey now, no mixing business and dinner. Bad for digestion." Jon scolded, arranging his plate to his liking. Everyone termed his way of eating 'jail style' because he mixed everything into one massive lump. "Or are you that eager to be rid of me?" He eyed her shrewdly, knowing he was probably pushing her buttons, but seeing her reactions amused him. "Met a woman – Carol, nice girl. Took my ass for $100 bucks though."

Emery choked on the bite of food she'd taken and spit it back out on her plate, coughing uncontrollably. Did Jon just admit he had sex with a homeless woman for information?! "Wow, that's…wow. Okay then."

She no longer had an appetite, setting her plate on the coffee table and curled up on the couch after filling her glass up a little more with the wine he brought. Jesus, had the homeless whore given this to him too? Hopefully, the information this Carol whore gave him was legitimate or else they were back to square one.

"Just eat your food and then we'll…talk."

All Jon could do was stare at Emery like she had lost her mind. She apparently was very poor or something because she had just choked on that food, or maybe had issues with homeless people conning him. He doubted it. When she eyeballed the wine, he cocked a brow and just shrugged.

"Hey, at least she was clean and drug free, I think. She smelled all right. Unlike the meth head boy. $100 bucks a pop wasn't too bad." He observed her, waiting for any type of reaction.

Emery shut her eyes, the image of Jon taking it up the ass by a homeless woman instantly filtering through her mind and snapped them back open. "Okay – okay!" She held her hand up, stopping him from talking when he opened his mouth again. "I don't need…details, alright? Really, I can live without knowing what you did with her."

Trying not to sound disgusted and jealous at the same time failed her miserably. Emery chugged half her glass of wine and set it down on the table, curling further into the couch leaning her head back against the cushion while facing him. There was no way in hell she could eat after hearing Jon's confession with the homeless woman, not a chance.

"If you want seconds, feel free."