AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Only the killer could have those files, right? Why give them to you after they went to the trouble of murdering Burke to keep them secret?”
“It makes about as much sense as everything else connected to Vanna’s death,” Kaden muttered.
Puzzles within puzzles within puzzles. Or maybe something far less complicated, she silently acknowledged. Instead of a devious schemer, this could all be the chaotic results of a deranged mind. The killer might have their own twisted agenda, and who could outguess the motives of a psychopath?
Suppressing a sigh, Lia turned the conversation to Kaden’s encounter with Tate Erickson.
“Do you think the mayor is responsible?”
He paused as he pulled into the private drive and waited for the security guard to buzz open the gates.
It wasn’t until they were traveling through the tree-lined streets that Kaden finally answered her question.
“I think Erickson paid bribes to hide the fact he was allowing the city water supply to be contaminated. And he might even have killed Vanna,” he said. “But I don’t think he murdered Burke or the judge. Or that he tried to poison you.”
Lia wrinkled her nose. It was impossible to imagine the fussy man with the bloated ego sneaking through a meatpacking plant to smash in Ryan Burke’s skull or risking damage to his expensive car to run down Drew Hurst.
“No. I don’t think so either,” she conceded.
“If the recent spate of crimes has anything to do with Vanna’s death, who else would know the three men were connected with her?”
Lia considered the question. The possibilities would be limited. Not only would they have to be over a certain age, they would have to have an intimate relationship with at least one of the men to know their secrets.
“Oh.” She abruptly realized there was a potential suspect they’d forgotten about. “Drew’s mother, Barb, worked for Burke back then.”
“True,” Kaden agreed, pulling into the driveway of his brother’s condo, but he left the engine running as he swiveled in his seat to stare at her with a distracted gaze. “But why would she kill anyone? Especially her employer? And she certainly wouldn’t have run over her own son.”
“Wayne told me that Drew’s father was working construction at the meatpacking plant when he was injured,” Lia said, belatedly recalling the conversation. “I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but he said Drew’s dad was hit with a load of steel pipes. That could have been when Ryan Burke was forced to build his new lagoon.”
“That would connect them at the time Vanna was working as an EPA inspector.”
Lia nodded. “Maybe he suspected what Burke was doing with the wastewater before they built the new lagoon. He might even have suspected Vanna was taking bribes to turn a blind eye.”
“It’s possible, but why would he kill her?”
“I don’t think he did,” Lia confessed, “but he might have tried to get his own blackmail payout. Especially if he was injured on the job, and then Vanna vanished. . . .” Her words trailed away as she tried to connect dots that didn’t want to be connected. “He might have seen it as a warning to keep his mouth shut. At least until the bones were found.”
Kaden considered her rambling hypothesis. “I suppose it’s possible Drew’s dad decided to try his luck again with the blackmail—”
“Or Drew’s mom,” Lia interrupted. “It could explain what Barb and Ryan Burke were arguing about.”
Kaden nodded. “And either Burke or the judge, or even Tate, might have run down Drew in warning.”
“It would certainly explain why Burke and the judge are dead. Drew’s dad might be nursing an old injury, but he’s a huge man who could easily overpower either of them. And if he thought they were responsible for trying to kill his son . . .”
They fell silent, exchanging a rueful glance. It was a stretch. Actually, it was way beyond a stretch. It was a leap across a gaping canyon.
Shaking his head, Kaden switched off the engine and reached over his shoulder to grab the bag of cookies and the stack of files he’d left in the back seat.
Lia shuddered at the sight of the cookies. The damned things were responsible for her brush with death. It was also a reminder that it had been Kaden’s skill behind the wheel that had saved her life. If she’d been alone after eating the cookies . . . who knew what might have happened?
Grimly, she forced her gaze back to Kaden’s face, discovering him studying her with eyes that had darkened to a steel gray. Was he remembering the frantic drive to Grange? Probably. It had been as stressful for him as it was for her.
“Have you heard how Anthony is doing?” she asked.
“I had word that he was discharged from the hospital this morning.”
Relief blasted through Lia. “Thank God. I hate to think I’m responsible for making him sick.”
