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“Sorry to disappoint you,” he said with a touch of sarcasm.
Faith let the jibe go unanswered. “Can you tell me who else might have wanted to hurt your wife?”
Gary let the implied slight go as well. “Maybe she had someone else on the side. Maybe Antonio didn’t like that. Maybe she wouldn’t leave me, and Antonio didn’t like that either.”
“Besides Antonio,” Michael said, “who else might have wanted to hurt her?”
“Hell if I know,” Gary said. “I found out about her and Antonio months ago. I haven’t really been involved in her life since then.”
“What about before?” Faith asked.
He shook his head. “Everyone loved her. I was the lucky one. Everyone told both of us that. She was pretty and nice and amazing, and I was the dumpy guy who got lucky. I used to agree with them.”
Faith and Michael shared a glance. Faith looked at Turk and said, “Turk, find him.”
The dog stood and trotted to Gary. Gary tensed, but relaxed when Turk only briefly looked him over, then trotted to the bedroom. They followed him and found him standing in front of the closet.
Faith opened the closet and looked inside. It was bare.
“The cops emptied it out,” Gary explained. “Evidence. I haven’t been very motivated to fill it again.”
Faith sighed. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Navarro. For now, I’d appreciate it if you remained in the area.”
“Will do,” Gary said. “Not that you care, but I wasn’t a fan of roughing it after all. I think I just needed some time away from her. I have all the time in the world now.”
Michael and Faith didn’t answer. The three of them left the room and headed for the door. They stopped when Gary spoke.
“I loved her,” he said. “I really did. I still do a little, I guess. I just hold onto the anger because it’s easier. I just … I keep hoping I’ll wake up, and it’ll be ten years ago, and she and I will be happy and in love again. I just …”
He didn’t finish. Faith spared one last backward glance and saw the anger was gone. Only the grief remained.
***
Back at the hotel, they compared notes.
“Well, we have a suspect now,” Michael said.
“I wouldn’t go that far yet,” Faith said. “Let’s say person of interest.”
Michael shrugged. “Potato, potahto. Let’s look up this Antonio character.”
“It has to be someone she interacts with on a regular basis. One-night stands happen with strangers, but long-term affairs are conducted with people the cheater knows.”
A look crossed Michael’s face, and Faith knew he was thinking about his own affair. She took a breath and said, “Let’s see if we can find a connection between Amanda and Katherine. Maybe they went to the same gym.”
“I’ll call them.” Michael made the call, and after a brief conversation, he smiled. “Thank you,” he said, “Thank you very much. Hey, while I have you on the phone, do you have an employee by the name of Antonio?”
A moment later, he said, “Thank you. Is he working today?”
Another pause. “Ah, I understand. Well, thank you anyway.”
He hung up. “Both Katherine and Amanda had memberships at the gym, and they do have an employee named Antonio, a personal trainer. Evidently, he’s quite popular.”
“Can’t imagine why,” Faith said drily.
“Well, they won’t give me a home address, and they won’t confirm his schedule, but I’ll bet he’s probably there. Either way, we should check out the gym and see what we can see.”
“I agree,” Faith said. “Turk, come on, boy. We have work to do.”
