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“After,” Jax insists.
My father looks between Jax and Molly. “And where was he before he came here?”
“I have no idea,” Molly says with a shake of her head.
“I’ll find out by the end of the day,” Jax says.
“No, I can deal with that,” my father replies.
Jax arches an eyebrow at him. “You sure?”
“I think I’ve learned enough from you over the years to find out a little more about Ed. Besides, I need you tracking that money, because I see why we’re looking into the possibility of Shannon or Ed being involved here, I mean jealousy is the oldest motive there is, right? But, I feel like this is bigger than that. This is deeper than a spurned ex-lover or a jealous husband.”
“I agree, amigo,” Jax says with a nod. “There’s something bigger going on here.”
“Where is that money right now?” my father asks him.
“As we suspected, sitting in offshore accounts. It bounced through eight in total and now it’s spread across four,” Jax replies.
“But you can trace those accounts eventually?”
“Yes. But it will take a few days.”
“We need to find whoever has those videos too,” I remind them. “They could still be right here in town. I mean if they’ve been here all this time anyway.”
“Yes, we do,” my father agrees. “Who has access to this ranch, Molly?”
“Well, it’s private property, but it’s huge and I suppose anyone could sneak in here under the cover of night. We don’t have fancy security systems because we’ve never really needed em.”
“Yeah, well that’s gonna change,” Jax mutters.
“But you have workers here, right?” my father goes on. “And regular visitors.”
“Yes. We have ranch hands. I’ve had the same six for the past three years, two of them for much longer than that. Four of them live in the bunk house and the other two live with their wives and babies in town. We have delivery trucks. A horse trainer. Shannon and Ed also come here a lot to check on the horses. She’s a veterinary nurse, that’s how she and Ed met. They were friends for a long time.”
“Well, we already have Shannon and Ed in our crosshairs. What about the ranch hands? They have free access to the whole property, right? Any of them a problem?”
“No,” Molly insists with a shake of her head. “They all came to work here straight from high school. They’re good boys.”
“We can’t rule anyone out, Molly,” Jax says to her and she sighs but she nods her head.
“I’ll go speak to them this morning while you’re at the hospital,” my father says.
Jax arches an eyebrow at him. “They’re just kids, amigo.”
“So? I can be diplomatic,” he insists.
“Kind of like using a jackhammer to crack a peanut though, Papi,” I chuckle.
My mom laughs softly too. “I have to agree with our daughter on this one.”
“I’ll take Molly with me. She’ll keep me in line, right?”
My mom puts her hand on his shoulder. “I still think there’s something not right about Ed. How about you and I look into him, and Hugo can go with Molly to speak to the ranch hands. If they did see anything that might help, then we don’t want to scare them off, do we? And, whilst you are the most incredible man I know,” she places her hand on his cheek, “you’re also kind of terrifying.”
He shrugs his shoulders, pleased with her assessment of him. “Fine. Hugo and Molly deal with the ranch hands.”
Molly’s cheeks flush slightly but she nods her agreement.
