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Tanner nodded. “I think it’s safe to say that our prime suspects are Leticia, Spencer, Reena, and Kaye.”
“Leticia already punished Finn, though,” said Devon. “She left him shortly after Jolene contacted him to tell him about me. Took the kids with her. She then made him grovel for two years. Made him watch her have relationships with other men to give him a taste of how she felt.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s forgiven him,” said Tanner. “And I doubt she’s forgiven Pamela. Did your mother know he had a partner when they had their one-night stand?”
It was Jolene who replied. “She said she didn’t, but her gift would have allowed her to see the darkest parts of him. Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell him about Devon. Maybe she felt guilty and didn’t want to hurt his family.”
Tanner rubbed at his chin. “Reena doesn’t make any secret of how much she dislikes you, kitten.”
“She senses that he’s proud of Devon—that’s her problem,” said Jolene.
Devon made a face. Was the woman high? “Proud of me?”
“He might not approve of your job, but he does respect your determination to rely on yourself,” said Jolene. “Out of all his children, you’re the most like him. Reena only wants Daddy’s approval. Kaye is a free, directionless spirit. Though Spencer works hard, he only does it because he wants to take over the family business one day—he doesn’t want to build anything for himself. But you work hard and go after what you want in life. He can relate better to you than he can to the others.”
Devon blinked, having never looked at things from that angle before. “Well, if he feels pride in me, he has a real funny way of showing it. I really don’t see Reena wanting Finn dead. We shouldn’t point the finger her way just because she doesn’t like me.”
“I agree,” said Jolene. “She isn’t the only one who dislikes you. Don’t forget you had that falling out with Kaye a few years back.”
“Falling out?” echoed Tanner.
Devon sighed. “Like I told you, Kaye’s always been pretty much indifferent to me. But shortly after Harper mated with Knox, Kaye turned up at Urban Ink and asked to take me out to lunch. She said it was time we ‘bonded.’ About an hour into our lunch, she asked me to use my close connection to Harper to get her boyfriend a job interview with Knox; said it was time I did something to help ‘the family.’ I was so pissed. She was pissed that I was pissed. Things got heated. A lot of ugly shit was said—apparently I’m a loser and a slut.”
A growl rumbled out of Tanner before he could stop it.
“I pointed out that everything she owns was either bought by Finn or paid for using the credit card that he gave her, whereas I’ve never accepted a handout from him and have worked for everything I have. She yelled at me, accusing me of thinking I was better than her. I said I knew I was better than her, because I’d never use people the way she did.”
Devon shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think she has the smarts to come up with such a complicated plot. She’d come up with something much simpler. As for Spencer? I wouldn’t count him as a suspect—he and I don’t clash or anything.”
“But let’s not forget that he’ll get a bigger piece of the inheritance pie if you’re not in the picture, kitten—many people have killed over greed. Demons mostly kill over power. He’ll take over the lair when Finn dies. Anyone can see just how much Spencer’s looking forward to ruling.”
Jolene folded her arms across her chest. “In other words, they’re all viable suspects. I’ll have my sentinels track down Flanagan. We should find out if there’s a connection between him and Sheridan. It’s possible that both were randomly chosen as conduits, but I’d like to be sure there’s no link at all between them.”
“We should also see if we can link either of them to Leticia or one of your half-siblings, kitten. Do you know if any of them have the ability to speak through another?”
Devon shook her head. “Finn would know, wouldn’t he? Jolene told him that Sheridan was used as a conduit. He didn’t mention that Leticia or any of his children had that ability.”
“Maybe because he knew, given the strained relationship they have with you, that we’d consider them suspects,” mused Jolene. “Or perhaps they have the aid of someone who does have that ability.” She shrugged. “I don’t think there’s any sense in telling Finn of our suspicions. He wouldn’t believe us. And I’d rather not give the others a heads-up that we’ve put some pieces of the puzzle together.”
Devon gave a slow nod. “Let them think we’re still chasing shadows. We’ll find out which one of them is behind this, and they won’t even see us coming.”
