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Murder for hire was a sticky crime, especially when it would trigger a witness tampering investigation, but she’d have to come back to that later. For now, she looked for other murders in the police report summary. Antoine had cast a wide net, searching police reports for the entire Southeast.
She worked steadily, mumbling her thanks when a cup of coffee appeared at her elbow. She sipped absently, noting all the murders that had happened on the dates in question. That didn’t take as long as she’d expected, because Antoine had built in a search field for the type of crime.
There were still too many to work with, though. She took the first group of murders and began googling the victims. Several random shootings and bar fights, and even more drug-related shootings. She highlighted those. It still could be a Sixth Day turf thing, but the Bella Butler connection made that less likely.
“Oh,” she said aloud, leaning closer to her screen when a particular murder victim caught her interest.
“Oh, what?” Kaj asked, and she startled, her gaze jerking up to meet his. Her cheeks heated, remembering the way he’d kissed her up against the bedroom door. Her thoughts must have been clear on her face, because he winked, making her blush harder.
She pulled her gaze away from his face and studied the rest of him. He looked good this morning, wearing a crisp button-up shirt and a tie with... She squinted.
“What are those?” she asked. “Pigs?”
Kaj smoothed a hand over his tie. “Hogs. It’s a hog-tie.”
Val groaned. “Oh my God. No punny ties before breakfast. New rule.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and rich. “So noted.”
“Why are you wearing a tie, Kaj? Are you going somewhere?”
“Nope. But I will have a call with my boss this morning and I always wear a tie when I’m working. Gets my head in the game. What were you doing? I made a lot of noise and you never even noticed I was here.”
“We’ve been making noise for twenty minutes,” Molly declared. “She tuned us out, too. Can you take these plates to the table, Jace? Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Val hadn’t realized how hungry she was until a plate was placed in front of her. Pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs. Biscuits, too. She tried one and couldn’t help moaning a little.
“You’re getting better at the biscuits, Mol. Is Gabe giving you lessons?”
“He is, and thank you. What are you doing on that laptop?”
“Searching crimes reported for the dates that Corey left Jace and Rick alone over the past two years.”
“Did you find anything?” Kaj asked as he slathered his pancakes with butter. He glanced up the stairs with a guilty look. “I don’t usually eat this way. Elijah can’t.”
“I’m going to make him a sausage omelet with lots of vegetables,” Jace told him. “Molly will cut the veggies, of course. I’m not... I won’t hold a knife in your house, Mr.Cardozo.”
Kaj smiled at him, a little sadly. “I appreciate that, Jace. I’m sorry that we even have to be talking about it, but...”
“I get it,” Jace blurted out. “I just don’t want you to have any worries about me.”
Kaj squeezed the teenager’s shoulder. “Thank you. I hope this doesn’t go on much longer for all our sakes, including yours. You don’t deserve this.” He was quiet for a moment and Val thought he might be considering removing the cuffs entirely, but then he turned to her. “Val? Did you find a connection between the dates and Corey?”
“I may have for one of the dates. It’s all I’ve gotten to so far, but now that I know what I’m looking for, it’s going faster. There was a man in Memphis who was found dead in his home. He’d fallen down a flight of stairs and broken his neck. But when I googled him, I found an article saying that after his death, his heirs sold the patent to a new kind of ammunition he’d invented. He’d held off on selling it, turning down millions of dollars. His heirs closed the sale in a matter of days after the will had been read. His girlfriend made a ruckus that he’d been murdered, but the ME found no evidence of foul play and his heirs had rock-solid alibis.”
Kaj’s eyes widened. “You think Corey was paid to kill the man?”
Val glanced at Jace, who’d grown a little pale. “Sorry, honey. I know this isn’t easy to hear, but I think it’s a possibility. I’m going to keep looking. I could be wrong.”
Jace shook his head. “I hope you are wrong, but I think you’re probably right.” He frowned for a moment. “Which day was that?”
“That was this past Labor Day weekend, the time you remembered him being gone.”
Jace’s shoulders slumped. “And you said Memphis?”
Val put her fork down and focused on the teenager. “What do you remember, Jace?”
“Elvis Presley was from Memphis, right? That’s where his house is?”
