Chapter Twenty
Ava helped Logan straighten his tie, brushing his hands away so she could do it herself. He was hopeless when it came to tying a Windsor knot. She wasn’t in the greatest of moods but she was determined not to let it show.
Kim was here. Along with Tanner, of course.
Tonight was the night that Logan and Kim were going to the nightclub, pretending to be a couple. Ava would sit in the police car with Tanner listening in.
The whole idea was for the pretend couple to look prosperous, as if they had money to burn. Or in this case, gamble. Logan was dressed in his best suit and tie while Kim looked amazing in a tight red dress that clung to every curve. She’d definitely have plenty of male attention tonight, which was the plan. According to Natalie Denning, Cory had an eye for the ladies. Fancied himself something of a player. If Logan couldn’t get him to talk, perhaps Kim could.
I could have done that, too.
Logan wasn’t going to let her within a hundred feet of that club. He’d been clear on that. The only reason he was even going in himself was because Tanner was the sheriff in Springwood and the deputies were known as well. She’d reminded her husband that the deal was that he wouldn’t be shot at any more. He’d assured her that he and Kim were simply going in to talk and get the lay of the land. They weren’t going to be dragging anyone out of there to be questioned.
There was always a tiny chance that Logan would be recognized in the club and that could be dangerous, but it wasn’t a big risk. The club was in Springwood and that was far enough that most residents of Corville wouldn’t be driving there on a weeknight. Ava had a feeling its location had been one of the bonuses for Lyle. He wouldn’t know anyone there and Mary would never find out.
“Say something,” Tanner said, fiddling with the electronic equipment on the kitchen table. “Let’s check the sound again now that you have your jacket on.”
“Can you hear me, you old bastard?” Logan teased with a grin. “How’s that?”
Tanner snorted and fiddled with a button. “Loud and clear. Damn, I love technology. It wasn’t that long ago we would have had to shave your chest and tape wires to you. Now you just have to put a damn pen in your pocket.”
Kim touched her ear. “Or wear an earring. These are genius. No one would ever guess that we’re listening in.”
“The internet is a wonderful place,” Tanner laughed.
“And a little scary,” Ava muttered. “Surveillance isn’t even a skill anymore. Anyone can do it. It’s kind of a letdown.”
As the writer of mystery stories, it took the wind out of her sails a bit. The whole idea of surveillance in a book was the danger involved. With a pen and an earring there was no suspense. No buildup. No adrenaline rush.
“But much safer,” Kim said with a smile. “I have to admit that I’m glad we don’t have to be wired like in the movies.”
“How do bad guys tell if they’re being bugged?” Ava wondered out loud. “How do they know? I can hide a camera in a teddy bear and spy on the babysitter. No one is safe. Big Brother is always watching.”
“I’m guessing that they don’t say much in front of people they don’t trust,” Logan replied. “That’s why I don’t think we’ll find out anything tonight. This is not so much information gathering as just seeing what we’re dealing with. We need to know if Natalie is telling the truth. Lyle’s attorney was no help.”
After speaking with Lyle’s lawyer, Logan had reported to the group that the divorce had been in flux. Lyle had at one point put the divorce on hold but then had called Marshall a few days before the shooting and said he wanted to meet. Was he going to change his mind and go ahead with the divorce? They’d never know.
“Did you find anything in the financials?” Tanner asked. “Anything that pointed to a gambling habit?”
Ava had been through those documents until she was cross-eyed. “Not that I’ve found. But of course, that assumes that I have all the information. We have what we’ve subpoenaed. It’s the old conundrum of we don’t know what we don’t know. Some things we know we don’t know, but this? We’re flying blind here.”
Logan checked his tie one last time in the mirror. “I’ve got Jared doing some digging. If Lyle had any hidden accounts of money, he’ll find it.”
Tanner’s lips twisted and he rubbed his chin. “I hate to ask this, but do you think your sister knew about the gambling, Ava?”
Sighing, she plopped down into a chair at the table. “It’s nothing I haven’t asked myself since we heard Natalie’s story. But I don’t think she did…or does, I guess I should say. Mary has something of a temper and I think if she found out that Lyle had lost a bunch of money and owed dangerous people she would have been screaming from the rooftops. We’d still be hearing her bitch about that.”
Kim’s brow rose. “According to witnesses, she did chase her own husband out of the house with a gun.”
Mary was still a suspect, although Ava wasn’t happy about it.
“True, and that doesn’t help the way she’s perceived by the police. But the one thing Mary loves more than anything is to be the victim in a scenario. If Lyle had done this, you’d think she’d tell everyone. My mom, my dad. The local butcher. Hiding in the bushes and shooting her husband just doesn’t fit with her personality.”
“In other words, she’d go after you head on,” Logan added. “She wouldn’t hide like a criminal. She’d think what she was doing was justified.”
Almost like Wade. Ava wasn’t blind to her sister’s faults but even she didn’t want to think that her sister was a sociopath with narcissistic tendencies.
Tanner tucked the receiver under his arm and stood. “Are we ready to go?”
Logan smiled and stood right next to Kim. “I think so. How do we look? Like a believable couple?”
Sadly, yes. They made a beautiful pair.
Ava didn’t like it one bit.