Chapter Six
Ava had never seen her sister so upset. Mary’s mood swung wildly back and forth between anger at the police and life in general to sadness that Lyle was gone. In between there were bouts of disbelief that she was now a widow and alone.
“It’s just so unfair,” Mary wailed into a new tissue as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. “My life wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.”
It certainly hadn’t been Mary’s plan, but life just laughed when mere human beings plotted out their futures.
Ava wasn’t sure what to say to her sister. It wasn’t fair and the whole situation was awful, but it didn’t have to mean that her life was over.
“You’ll make new plans,” Ava said in her most calming voice. “You’re young and have so much of life ahead of you. I’m sure that Lyle would want you to live a full life and enjoy yourself.”
Mary’s head jerked up, her brows pinched together. “How would you know what Lyle wanted? You’ve never come to visit us.”
Would we have been welcome?
Ava doubted that Mary and Lyle would have rolled out the welcome mat for Logan. They still blamed him for their change in circumstances.
“Are you saying Lyle would want you to be miserable for the rest of your life?”
Appealing to logic probably wasn’t the way to go here but what the heck.
“Of course not, but he’d want me to mourn. I’d want him to mourn if it was me that was shot.”
“I’m not suggesting that you don’t mourn. I’m simply saying that at some point in the future you may find yourself making new plans.”
“Or I could be in prison,” Mary replied, bitterness dripping from her tone. “The police have it out for me. Sheriff Drake kept asking questions about our marriage. He thinks I did it and I bet Logan does, too.”
“Logan doesn’t think that. He’s looking for the actual killer and he won’t be swayed by emotion. You’re lucky he’s on this case. He’s had a great deal of experience with murder cases and his record is impeccable.”
Mary’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust him. I need you to help me.”
As flattered as Ava was to hear her sister finally ask for help, she wasn’t thrilled with how Mary spoke about Logan.
“My husband is completely trustworthy. You can count on him to keep an open mind and find the person who did this awful thing.”
But Mary was already shaking her head. “I only trust family.”
“Logan is family,” Ava pointed out. “He’s your brother-in-law.”
“Real family,” Mary insisted. “Blood family. Will you do it? Will you look into this? Make sure the cops aren’t taking shortcuts? You know about this stuff and I don’t.”
It wasn’t as if Ava was planning to never discuss the case with Logan or not stick her nose into it anyway. If it gave Mary a little peace of mind…
“I’ll keep my eyes open, but I can’t promise anything.”
“That’s all I ask.” Mary noisily blew her nose. “With you to keep an eye on the investigation, I know that it will be fair.”
Ava doubted she had that kind of power when it came to the Corville sheriff’s office, but Logan would see to it that the process was as fair and impartial as possible.
“It would be helpful if you could tell me more about Lyle’s day to day life. His friends and business associates. That would give us a place to start.”
Ava and Logan could work together again. It had been pretty fun the first time.
* * * *
It had been years since Logan had seen or spoken to Aaron. He was well aware that the other man blamed him for the downfall of their family empire and also ripping off the mask of respectability the Bryson family wore. For the rest of his life Aaron would be known as the brother of a serial killer and that was Logan’s fault.
Logan, however, wasn’t one to shrink away from his accomplishments. He’d put the vigilante killer behind bars, and the fact that it was his half-brother Wade was simply a nasty part of the job. He was sad that Wade had turned out to be so evil and dark, but he needed to be put away for the safety of society. End of story. Aaron could be pissed off all he wanted but Logan couldn’t change that.
“You wanted to talk to me?”
Aaron and Logan had stepped outside of the house, Logan leaning against the front porch railing and Aaron sitting in a rocking chair. The tension between them was high and Logan wouldn’t have been surprised if Aaron stood up and punched him in the face.
Aaron didn’t beat around the bush, coming directly to the point. “Wade doesn’t know yet.”
Logan had assumed that a prison official would deliver the news, and then they’d put Wade into isolation for a few days so he didn’t act out and hurt anyone. If he even cared. He hadn’t exactly been communicative with the Bryson family since his arrest.
“Are you planning to tell him?”
Aaron had been staring at his shoes but he looked up at Logan to answer, their gazes clashing. “I was hoping you would go tell him.”
That was…unexpected.
Logan stretched out his long legs, crossing one over the other, determined not to show how disturbed he was by the request. “Why me?”
“You’re the only one that Wade respects. He refuses to see me or Lyle. He only allows his lawyers in there to work on his appeals. I haven’t seen Wade since the sentencing.”
This was the first Logan was hearing of this but then the Bryson family didn’t keep him up to date on current events, especially when he’d made it clear he didn’t want to be a Bryson.
“Considering Wade tried to kill me I’m not sure that I’d call his feelings for me respect. If I remember it correctly – and I do – he wanted me to die a slow and painful death.”
“You’re the only one he’ll see.”
Maybe.
“You don’t know that he’ll see me,” Logan argued. “If he’s not accepting visitors then he probably won’t want to talk to me either. I’m the one that put him in prison, remember?”
Anger flashed in Aaron’s eyes, but just for a moment. Apparently, he hadn’t forgiven yet.
“I think about that every goddamn day.”
Straightening, Logan wanted an end to this conversation as quickly as possible.
“I’m the bad guy. I’m the monster. Sure, your older brother was killing innocent people but somehow this is all my fault. I can see that.”
Aaron sat back in the chair, steadily regarding Logan. Any friendship they may have shared long ago was gone. “Why did you have to be so good at your job? When you realized it was Wade, why didn’t you let it go?”
Aaron didn’t have a fucking clue.
“Because that’s the Bryson way?” Logan jeered. “Family first and fuck everybody else. How’s that working for you, buddy? Hell of a family motto to have. Embroider that shit on a pillow. I did my job and I put Wade where he belongs. If your business suffered or he spent too much money on his attorneys, then you need to talk to him about killing people. Shit, he shot your own damn father and uncle and here you sit, defending his ass.”
“He’s my brother.”
“He’s a cold-blooded killer,” Logan shot back. “And trust me when I say that he doesn’t give a shit about you. Or Lyle. Or anyone else. He’s a goddamn sociopath who lacks empathy and the ability to form emotional bonds with others. If you look back on his life, you’ll see that it’s true. He acted as society expected him to but deep down he’s only about Wade. He’d kill you if you were in his way and never have a guilty thought about it. You’re wasting your time blaming me but go ahead if it makes you feel better.”
The silence stretched on, the only sound the rustling of leaves and the twittering of birds.
“I’m just here for Lyle. I’m going to find his killer and then I’ll be gone. You won’t have to see me again.”
“This won’t redeem you or anything.”
Logan didn’t think he needed any redemption. He slept fine at night.
“Didn’t even cross my mind. So let’s just get down to business. Do you know anyone that would have wanted to hurt Lyle? Anyone at all?”
Aaron shook his head. “No way. Everyone loved Lyle. He was a good guy and a good brother.”
Even good people had secrets and enemies.
“What about husband? Was he a good one of those, too? Rumor has it that he and Mary had issues.”
Rubbing his chin, a smile played around Aaron’s lips. “They fought. They had problems. Just like everyone.”
“Did Lyle talk about divorce?”
Aaron reluctantly nodded. “They did but I’m not sure he was serious about it.”
“In any murder case, the spouse is under suspicion,” Logan informed him. “So the first thing I want to do is investigate Mary and get her cleared.”
“You don’t think she did it?”
If Logan wasn’t mistaken, Aaron sounded surprised. Interesting…
“I don’t know…do you?”
Aaron shrugged like he didn’t care one way or the other, which was bullshit.
“I think she’s capable, but I don’t think she did it.”
Quite the admission. So much for circling the wagons around the family. Aaron had pretty much just thrown his sister-in-law under the bus.
“Many people are capable of murder but they don’t actually do it.”
Logan himself was capable but it wasn’t something he aspired to. He bet Ava was capable too, if anyone threatened their children.
“I’m going to go where this investigation takes me.” Just in case Aaron didn’t realize it, Logan wanted to warn him. “No one gets special treatment or kid gloves. If the goddamn mayor falls under suspicion I’ll question him, too. I want the truth for Lyle.”
Aaron did smile this time but it wasn’t a happy one. This was a cynical, mocking smile that Logan hadn’t seen on his former friend before. Time had certainly changed the Brysons.
“I never thought any different. Now…are you going to tell Wade?”
What the hell? Wade probably wouldn’t see Logan anyway.
“If he’ll talk to me.” Logan reached for the front door and then paused. He had one more thing to say. “This isn’t over. I’ll have more questions about Mary and Lyle. I’ll have questions about Lyle’s business dealings and his friends. Shit could get ugly so if you know something – anything – it’s better to say it now so I can deal with it as discreetly as possible. If Lyle had secrets they won’t stay that way for long.”
Aaron simply stared back at Logan, a stony expression on his face.
“I don’t know anything.”
Inwardly chuckling, Logan went back into the house. It looked like it was going to be a rocky road ahead. Nobody wanted to talk and the truth was on a sliding scale. Just another day in Corville.