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“What the hell was that about back there?” Pete whispered the question, keeping it between them only for now.
Ginny didn’t have the patience to discuss the concept of nuance with Pete. “Where is Samantha?”
“She’s waiting to talk with you and the sexual assault specialist.” He glanced at his watch. “The specialist is on the way over.”
The expert worked with all of the local units and had been almost exclusively attached to the state police during the Karen Blue investigation. Ginny needed her now. “We have to watch the videos frame by frame. If Samantha is right about other girls—”
“Seems convenient.” Pete was already shaking his head. “No one at the school hinted at this.”
Maybe... but maybe not. “Circle back to the one teacher who didn’t give Aaron a glowing report and poke around. There might be something there.”
Pete nodded. “Right.”
“And you asked what the hell that was back in the room.” Ginny pointed at the closed door that separated them from where Lila and Tobias sat. “That was motive. Tobias knows it. The really strange thing is Lila knows it, too, but offered up the videos anyway.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know yet.” But Ginny silently vowed to find out.
Chapter Forty-Two
JARED SAT IN A DAZE. LILA COULD SEE THE CONFUSION IN EVERYline of his body. He’d slumped down in one of the chairs in the sheriff’s office waiting area. Ginny warned that his questioning would be next, but, for now, she left him out there with her. Stewing and shaking his head.
He leaned down with his elbows resting on his thighs and stared at the linoleum floor between his feet. “I don’t understand.”
Lila glanced at Tobias before trying to reason this through. “Jared, listen to me.”
“Girls.” Jared shook his head but never lifted it.
Tobias shifted out of the way as two men walked through the open area and into the main room where the employees sat. He looked out of place here, as he did in most places. The expensive suit and perfectly shined shoes. He was smart and loaded and totally in control of his surroundings. Lila hoped he would help her maneuver through the mess she’d made.
“His students. Girls on the team.” Jared made a groaning sound as he looked up. “How does Ginny know this woman istelling the truth? She gets things wrong. Really wrong.” The metal chair made a cracking sound when Jared sat back hard in it.
Lila hadn’t seen that side of Ginny, and the idea intrigued her. “What do you mean?”
“She’s asked me about you and your background. She suggested the existence of the trust fund proved motive, first for you and then for me, once she realized the money came to me if anything happened to Aaron.”
“When was this conversation?” Tobias asked.
“A week ago. In the middle of asking if Aaron had life insurance and, if so, who would inherit it, she brought up how Aaron’s trust would go to me if something happened to him.” He shrugged. “I’m assuming she searched his bank accounts and found the trust.”
Lila knew the answer to that one. She’d fed Ginny the information, hoping to derail her for a short time as Lila chased down confirmation for herself. Sounds as if that one plan went the way she intended.
“I’m assuming the insurance goes to you?” Tobias asked her.
“I don’t think Aaron going missing has anything to do with money.” It also wasn’t much of a motive. Aaron didn’t believe in insurance. He thought paying money now to receive a possible settlement later amounted to waste. He insisted her getting the house and having a law degree was protection enough against future surprises.
Little did he know she’d be the one leveling the surprises.
Tobias pushed away from the wall and came and sat withthem in the rickety chairs. “Asking about money is routine. Ginny would be incompetent not to, and she is anything but. Having a woman come forward and make the sort of allegations we’re talking about here is the exact opposite of routine. Ginny can’t ignore the claims.”
“You think Aaron touched...” Jared looked around the room and dropped his voice after looking at the couple across from them. “That he...”
“With Samantha? Yes, I think so.” Lila knew so, but softening the truth struck her as the decent thing to do in these circumstances. Jared had enough harsh reality in front of him to face without adding to the pile.
“But the things she’s saying about Aaron are...” His gaze focused on Lila. “Jesus, I don’t know how you’re processing this.”
“There is a video. You can hear Aaron’s voice. He’s talking to her, and it’s... graphic.” Pete dropped that bomb into the middle of the conversation as he walked up and stood behind Tobias’s chair, hovering over them.
