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Ten minutes after she arrived, she saw Ashley and Whitney exit the building together. She got out, approached the girls.
“Agent Quinn!” Whitney said with a grin.
“Detective Quinn, but you can call me Kara.”
“You have more questions? Dad said if you had any questions, it’s okay to talk to you, you know, follow-up questions.”
“Actually, I was hoping to talk to Ashley alone for a minute, if that’s okay?” Kara wished she could have grabbed Ashley alone, but the girls seemed to be together all day long, so that would have been more difficult.
Ashley looked apprehensive but said, “Whit, it’s fine. I’ll meet you at home.”
“Are you sure? Do you want me to call Dad?”
“No,”Ashley said emphatically. “Seriously. It’sfine. I’ll be back before you get the leash on Dakota.”
Reluctantly, Whitney left, and Kara turned to Ashley. “Craig and Bobby Martin. Talk.”
“I don’t have to talk to you,” she said.
“Do you want to follow Donna Bell’s advice, or do you want to help catch the person who killed ten people?”
Her face fell. “Someone died this morning?”
“A security guard. Caught the bomber in the act, bludgeoned to death. He had a wife, a kid.” With Ashley, being blunt was the best way to get her to talk.
“Craig and Bobby wouldneverhurt anyone. If that’s what you think, I’m definitely not talking to you.”
“I want the truth. I know you gave Donna Bell a copy of the photos you gave to me. I know you’re dating Bobby Martin, and I suspect your dad doesn’t know about it.”
Her dark eyes widened. “How? Who told you?”
“I’m a detective. I detect.” She had to give her something to latch on to, so she said, “I don’t think Bobby had anything to do with the bombings, and I doubt his brother did, either. It’s a long way from vandalism to murder.”
At the wordmurder, the girl involuntarily shuddered.
“But two bombings targeting West End property tells me someone really doesn’t like them.” That was a theory, but Kara’s gut told her somebody in particular was a target, not West End as an entity. Maybe the killer had thought Ted Colfax was going to be piloting the charter that night. Maybe the killer had been targeting Neil Devereaux because of an old case.
But why the second bombing?
“Island Protectors is not a violent group,” Ashley said defiantly.
“I didn’t say it was.”
“You implied it.”
“No, I didn’t. Tell me about Valerie.”
“Why?”
“Because she made you cry.”
“How do you know?”
Kara didn’t say anything. Ashley was stunned she knew, but she hadn’t put Kara and the stranger together last night.
Finally, Ashley said, “I don’t like her, and neither does Bobby. But Craig loves her, and Bobby loves his brother.”
“Do you think that she’s capable of violence?”
