Chapter 8
“Actually,” I said to Zane, “I have a few more personal questions I’d like to ask Mr. Quinn. Maybe you can take Jayla to her room and have her pack some clothes?”
Jayla and Hunter both frowned.
“Why?” they asked simultaneously.
“This is a crime scene now,” Zane said softly to Jayla. “You can’t stay here.”
Tears filled Jayla’s eyes again. “So my mom is dead, and now Daddy and I have to move?”
Zane shook his head and laid a hand on Jayla’s shoulder. “No. You only need to stay away for a couple days. I promise.”
Jayla sniffed. “Oh, okay.” She bit her lip and brushed back the tears trailing down her cheeks. “I’ll go pack some clothes.”
Hunter nodded, but when Zane and Jayla left the room, he whirled on me. “What’s the meaning of this? Why are you pushing me about my relationship with my wife? I didn’t kill her!”
I stared him in the eye. “Maybe not. But I think you might be hiding a few things from us.”
Hunter’s mouth dropped open. “PADA or not, I’m calling your superiors! I refuse to be treated this way! And in my own home!”
“Is your office on Bay Boulevard?” I asked.
That got Hunter’s attention. He blinked in surprise and nodded. “Yes. Why?”
I thought back to what time it had been when I’d heard the female voice giggling. “Can you tell me where you were around two o’clock today?”
Hunter paused. “I had a meeting with a client. Getting ready for tax season.”
“What is that client’s name?” I asked.
Hunter again went to blustering. He puffed out his chest and stood up taller. “Now see here. I don’t see how—”
“You can tell me her name,” I said coldly, “or I can go about another way to find out.” I shook my head. “You won’t like that way. Lots of questions to people you probably don’t want me talking to.”
The color left Hunter’s face. “Sasha Carter. I had a business meeting with Sasha Carter.”
I gave him a tight smile. “Right. A business meeting. You see, I happened to have overheard that business meeting. I heard Sasha thank you for the bracelet, and then I heard her ask you about your divorce. Or maybe when you were going to tell your wife about the divorce.”
Hunter ran his hands down his face again. “It’s complicated.”
“How so? You were having an affair with this Sasha Carter and telling her you were divorcing Mari. How is that complicated?”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “I don’t need your judgment, and you wouldn’t understand, anyway.”
I let out a bark of laughter. “If you are trying to play the victim, I’m afraid—”
I broke off as Jayla and Zane came back into the room.
The young girl was carrying an overnight bag and a stuffed animal.
My heart broke for her. I knew what it was like to lose a mother.
Granted, mine had died when I was a baby, but the hole was still there.
Jayla was going to need all the love and care she could get from family and friends.
I met Zane’s arched eyebrow, and I knew he was dying to know what I’d asked Hunter while he was away. But I’d have to fill him in later. Right now, I wanted to know if Jayla had any idea who would want to hurt her mom.
“How are you holding up, Jayla?” I asked.
The girl shrugged, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry about your mom,” I said. “My mother died when I was just a little girl.”
A tear trailed down her cheek. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really.”
“I don’t understand what happened,” Jayla said. “Zane said someone hurt my mom, but I don’t understand why.”
Exactly the lead-in I was hoping for. “So your mom never said anything to you about someone being mad at her?”
The girl shook her head so emphatically, her hair whipped around her head. “No. People loved my mom. She was always volunteering at school, and she wrote books that made people happy. She told me so.”
“What grade are you in?” I asked.
“Seventh grade.”
I nodded. “And you were coming home from cheerleading practice?”
She gave me a small smile. “Yeah. I really like it. I had to beg Mom and Dad to let me try out, though. Like for weeks I had to beg.”
I glanced at Hunter, but he wouldn’t look at me.
“They didn’t want you to try out?” I mused.
Jayla giggled. “No. In fact, Mom was really against it. She said when she was in school, only the snobby, popular girls went out—”
“Jayla,” Hunter said.
It was a tone the girl recognized because she instantly closed her mouth and looked upset.
“Do you have a place to stay, Hunter?” Zane asked when it became apparent neither Jayla nor Hunter were going to say anything else.
“Jayla and I will be staying at Supernatural Sport Resort for a few days until you can let us back in.”
Zane nodded. “Okay. If you’d like to get a few things, I’ll go with you while you pack.”
Again, Hunter looked like he wanted to protest, but one look at Zane’s face had Hunter sighing. “Fine. Jayla, you stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Jayla gave me a smile before she sat down on the couch and pulled out her phone. Between the sniffs, she texted.
“Let’s go, Jayla,” Hunter said as he strode into the living room a few minutes later.
Jayla got up from the couch, picked up her backpack, and slipped her phone into her coat pocket. “We have to leave Mommy here?”
“We’ll take care of her,” I said. “I promise you that.”