Chapter 27
“No,” Wade said when we caught up with him on his boat. “There’s no way.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, but Ray Coleman is Ray Corbin,” I said. “That’s what’s in the system.”
“The system is wrong.” Wade was adamant. “Why didn’t that come out before now?” He shook his head. “No. It’s some kind of mistake. Why just now, after his death?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look, I know Ray. He would never do that kind of thing. Ray didn’t have a violent bone in his body. He was the nicest guy in the world.”
“That’s what they always say about serial killers,” Jack muttered.
Wade frowned at him.
“He never confided in you about anything?” I asked.
“He confided in me about a lot of things. Never murder. I wouldn’t have hung out with him.”
“You never noticed him acting strange or having unexplained absences?”
“I didn’t live with the guy. He wasn’t accountable to me. Ask his wife.”
“We did.”
“What does she think?”
“She’s in shock.”
“This just doesn’t align with the Ray I know.”
“Is there anything else about Ray you haven’t told us?”
Wade frowned and hesitated. “Well, I didn’t want to say anything before. I didn’t think it mattered.”
I waited for him to continue.
“Ray was kind of seeing this girl on the side.”
“Kind of?” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“It had been going on for about six months. He said it just kind of happened. Dana stopped sleeping with him. Samantha started showing him a lot of attention. One thing led to another.”
“Who’s Samantha?”
“Samantha Thomas. She’s one of the Little League moms.”
I took a frustrated breath. “This would have been good to know earlier. Is Samantha married?”
“Yes,” he said in a sheepish voice.
“I’m guessing there’s a possibility she might have a jealous husband,” I said in a sardonic tone.
“I didn’t want to talk badly about Ray, and I didn’t want it to get back to Dana. She doesn’t need to know that stuff.”
“I don’t think it will bother her now. The serial killer thing is a little more shocking,” I snarked.
Anger tightened Wade’s jaw. “He’s not a serial killer. And having a little something on the side doesn’t make you one.”
It was easy to see that Wade cared about Ray. He had, perhaps, lost his only friend.
I showed him the picture of Abigail’s assailant. “You think that could be Ray?”
Wade frowned. Reluctant to admit it, he said, “I guess. Maybe.”
“Did he own a motorcycle?”
After a beat, he said, “Yeah. Dana didn’t know. He kept it here in the lot.”
JD and I both lifted intrigued brows.
“Is it here now?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s the black sportbike over there,” he said, pointing.
“Did he keep a helmet here as well?”
Wade shook his head.
JD and I hustled to the parking lot, found the bike, and examined it. There was no helmet attached to it. None of the cameras at Abigail's apartment had captured video of the bike. It really didn't do us any good, but it was just another indicator that Ray might have been the killer.
I really didn't know what to make of the whole thing. It was just bizarre.
I called Denise and asked her to run background on Samantha Thomas. She tapped the keys and pulled up her info. She told me Samantha lived at 1217 Oakmont Court.
I called her, but it went to voicemail. I left a message and told her to call me back.
JD and I hopped into the van and headed across the island to find her. We banged on her door, but there was no answer.
My next call was to Jenna Keating. It had been 15 years, but I wanted to get her account of the attack. A lot of things can change in 15 years. Memories fade, details get fuzzy.
Again, my call went to voicemail. I didn't expect her to pick up a call from an unknown number. I left a voicemail and asked her to call me back as well. With any luck, I'd hear from the two ladies.
As we headed back to the Avventura, my phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number. I thought it might have been one of the two ladies calling me back. But it was someone I didn't expect.