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“Him? Oh, Jack.” I smiled wistfully; the emotion was genuine, and it helped get a rise out of the redheaded bitch. “The best thing about him, other than his listening skills, was the way he fucked me. Damn, he was good. He knew just what I liked, and it got him off just to get me off, a fine trait in a lover.”
“Ma,” Jasper groaned and dropped his face in his hands.
Calvin and Virgil remained silent, supportive and strong but silent. Agent Beck, though, was ready to spit fire at me. The bitch would probably cuff me now if she could justify it.
“Yeah, and I’ll bet once he was of no more use to you—”
Agent Marshall chose that moment to step in before his partner said something that would get her thrown off the investigation. “The seventeenth, Ms. Ashby. Where were you on the evening of the seventeenth, from seven in the evening until midnight?”
I liked Agent Marshall. He was competent and fair, even good-looking in that broke cop kind of way with his cheap suits and old but comfortable shoes. He did his job, and that was it. He didn’t have a personal stake in the outcome of the cases he investigated. He was a bit like the cops Colm and Cillian dealt with back in the day. I’d have to get him on our payroll.
“I was at home all evening. I spent part of it with my granddaughter, and I’m afraid she’s too young to confirm my alibi.”
“You didn’t leave at all the whole night?”
I shrugged. “Maybe a walk around the property to clear my head, but otherwise, no. I’m a bit of a homebody, Agent Marshall.”
He nodded. “Right.”
“Maybe Bonnie fell off the wagon, and that’s why she was meeting with Mueller. It’s no secret he was into some pretty shady things.”
Beck scoffed at my words and leaned forward, glaring hard enough to pop a blood vessel. “Bullshit. You’ve had a beef with Mueller for years. Funny how his death benefits you most, but you had nothing to do with it. Kind of hard to believe, don’t you think?”
I opened my mouth to cut the little bitch off at the knees, but Jasper beat me to it. “What I think is that those pretty blue eyes see a lot, but not as much as you think.”
Pretty? As a woman trying to gain respect in a man’s world, Addison Beck wouldn’t fall for such a weak ploy.
But her cheeks flushed, almost covering up the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose. She flashed a smile in Jasper’s direction and leaned forward. “These pretty blue eyes see everything, and they see them crystal clear.”
“Or maybe they’re so desperate to seesomethings that they completely miss others.” Jasper sat back and smiled as he folded his arms over his chest, drawing Beck’s gaze to the biceps he usually kept hidden behind fancy three-piece suits.
Beck’s rosebud lips pulled into a smile. Her blue eyes lit up with that fire that comes from sparring with someone on your level. “Or maybe you just want me to think I’m off, so I’ll stop looking into the past.”
Jasper shrugged. “It’s your time. Waste it how you see fit.”
“I will, thank you.” She jutted her chin out defiantly and fell back in her chair when Marshall cleared his throat. “Since you claim to know nothing about the murders of your daughter and a local do-gooder, how about you tell us what you know about the string of dead priests?”
Ah, the little bitch was good, trying to throw me off. I blinked as innocently as the Catholic schoolgirl I’d once been. “Dead priests? Oh, you mean the crimes your colleagues falsely accused my daughter-in-law of committing? Which then led to her being kicked out by her family and sent her on a downward spiral to drug abuse? That’s what I know about those murders, Agent.”
“That’s not an answer, Ms. Ashby.”
“Really? Well, it’s the only answer I have for you.” She had nothing, less than nothing on those murders, and I wouldn’t even entertain her questions.
“Bonnie has long been cleared of those murders, which means the murderer,” she looked from me to Jasper, “or murderers are still out there. Free to kill again.”
Jasper shrugged. “With all the sex abuse allegations that follow the church, it could be millions of people in and out of the state of Nevada. Have you looked into complaints against those priests? Former parishioners?”
Agent Beck grunted her frustration and fell back in her chair like a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re right. It could be anyone. Includingher.”
Jasper laughed. “What motive?”
Before Agent Beck could say whatever was on the tip of her tongue, Marshall stopped her with a hand on her forearm. “Motive isn’t everything as you well know, Mr. Ashby.”
“No, but it would definitely help if you had one. Which you don’t.” Jasper didn’t mince words and he was fiercely protective of his family, which would not work in Agent Beck’s search for the truth.
I let out a long sigh and let one hand dramatically drop to the table. “I’m bored with this now. If you have any further questions, Agent Marshall, direct them to my attorney. Thomas will give you his card on your way out.”
Marshall nodded and pushed away from the table, standing tall despite the tired droop of his shoulders. “Thanks for your time, Ms. Ashby.”
