LITMIR.BIZ

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with the ignition key. The engine didn’t start the first time, which was odd. Normally, the engine turned over without hesitation. By the fifth try, she knew she was in trouble. She squinted at the gas gauge and her heart sank. The needle rested below the red line. Why hadn’t she heard the warning bell go off?

      She banged the steering wheel with her palms. Why hadn’t she brought her cellphone? It didn’t matter that she rarely used it; she should have taken precautions travelling into the wilderness. What was she going to do now with the afternoon light already starting to fade and the temperature dropping? Please let somebody come along soon, or there’d be no choice but to set out for the main road to flag down someone to help her. She just hoped her strength didn’t fail her before rescue arrived.

      Kala finished her reports late morning, just before Rouleau’s daily team meeting. Rouleau gathered them in front of the crime scene photos pinned to the wall. His mouth was set in a grim line. She knew he’d spent the last hour on the phone with Vermette, an activity that would knock the sunshine from anyone’s face.

      “Listen up,” he began. “We have several lines of investigation going but no firm suspect or motive. I don’t need to remind you that the clock is ticking. Let’s be sure to keep each other in the loop about our separate strands of the investigation in case one piece of information can be pieced together with another to give us a new slant. I’ll be going through all your updates this afternoon. Make sure to include every detail in your daily reports, no matter how insignificant it might seem.” He turned toward Grayson and Malik. “Go back to Underwood’s workplace and interview all his co-workers and partner again. See if they remember any detail about Underwood’s last movements and his state of mind. Watch for contradictions. Stonechild, focus on the family. We’ve received some interesting information about Underwood’s will, particularly the fact that he left a chunk of money to his ex-wife and son. It’s time to interview Laurel again. Take Bennett with you and see if you can rattle something out of her.”

      “A confession would be nice,” said Malik.

      “I’ll see what I can do,” said Kala. She smiled at him.

      “Gage, continue going through the computer documents. We need to know if there’s anything buried in his files,” continued Rouleau. “So far, our search has been wide open, but we need to start narrowing in. We’ve got a list of suspects but no stand outs. Motive? There are lots if you read between the lines. Money, power, jealousy, hatred. We don’t even know for sure if his killing was personal, business, or stranger. As for forensic evidence, we haven’t got much. There’s nothing in Underwood’s car that links the killer to him. Either they were incredibly smart or incredibly lucky.”

      “It points to a professional,” said Grayson. “They lured him to a private place and killed him without witnesses or physical evidence left behind. My money’s on a hit.”

      “Then get me some proof,” said Rouleau. “We need an airtight case and not just a gut feeling.”

      Grayson shrugged and smiled as if Rouleau’s words hadn’t held an unspoken rebuke. Kala stood to leave with the others. Rouleau motioned for her to stay behind.

      “Sir?”

      “Here’s a copy of the will. Read it through before you head over to Laurel’s. Underwood changed it a week before he died. Try to find out if Laurel knew beforehand. She says she was sleeping when he left that morning. See if anyone can confirm that. Interview the staff.”

      “You’re not convinced about the hit?”

      “If it was, Laurel could have hired someone as easily as his business partner. She stood to lose a lot in a divorce. I’d say she’s still in the running.”

      “It’s often the spouse.”

      “I know. Find out if she was seeing anyone on the side.”

      Kala’s stomach dropped. She nodded before walking away from Rouleau toward her desk. She sat down and began reading the will, but her mind wasn’t on it. Hunter’s face kept interrupting her train of thought. She had to find out how involved he was with his stepmother even though she wanted to believe him when he said nothing was going on. She gave herself a mental shake, squared her shoulders and forced him from her mind. This was a murder investigation and she could not afford to look at any one of them as anything less than a potential killer. If Hunter and Laurel were in on this together, she would find out and bring them to Rouleau without hesitation. Regret would be kept for another day. She stood and packed up her file, certain she’d read enough of the highlights to prepare for Laurel’s interview.

      Laurel had lost weight. The skin around her eyes was bruised from lack of sleep, but her beauty was heightened if anything, not diminished. Kala waited while Laurel organized Charlotte at the dining room table with cookies and juice before she came into the family room and sat at the other end of the couch. Bennett had shown tact by selecting an armchair out of Laurel’s line of vision. Kala sent him silent thanks.

      Laurel leaned forward toward Kala. Her violet eyes brimmed with suffering. “Have you found who killed Tom?” Her hushed voice trembled as if she could barely control her tears.

      “No, but we will,” said Kala.

      “I won’t rest until they pay for what they’ve done. Charlotte will grow up without a father.”

      “Did you know about your husband’s new will?”

      “I’m sorry?”

      “Your husband signed a new will about a week before he died. Were you aware of this?”

      Laurel shook her head, but not before Kala saw hesitation in her eyes. “Tom looked after us. I know that. He was always generous where Charlotte and I are concerned.” She grasped her hand around a thick gold bracelet on her left arm and slid it up and down her wrist. She looked down. “Tom wrapped this for me before he died. I found it in his drawer after … after I knew he would never be coming home.”

      “It’s lovely. Were you aware he left Pauline two million dollars?”

      Something in Laurel’s eyes shifted. “I knew he planned to leave her something. I wasn’t aware how much.”

      “He spoke with you about it?”

      “Of course. I was in complete agreement.”

      “And yet earlier you said that you and Pauline didn’t get along. It’s hard to believe that you wouldn’t be upset that Tom was leaving her money, let alone so much.”

      Laurel shrugged. “I know he left me a lot too and this house. I’m going to sell it and move into something smaller. Charlotte and I won’t starve.”

      “Why did he tell you that he was changing his will?”

      Laurel hesitated. When she spoke, her voice was harder. “I didn’t know that he’d actually gone ahead and signed anything. He wanted to make amends for pain he’d caused, but he told me that Charlotte and I wouldn’t suffer. I believed him.”

      “Even though he was making amends with his ex-wife?”

      “I had no idea how much he planned to leave her. I would have fought him on that, but I wasn’t opposed to the idea of giving her something if it eased his conscience. To be honest, I thought it was to be less than a hundred thousand. How much did he leave Hunter?”

      “You knew about that?”

      “As I said, he was making amends. I’m not the money-grabbing wife some in the family paint me.”

      “I’m told that you were engaged to Hunter before you married his father.”

      “So?”

      “You must know how that looks.”

      “People fall all over themselves to judge me, but I loved Tom. I was infatuated with him soon after we met. He saw to that. They might do better to ask how a man my father’s age would set out to seduce me. I was young and naive, and yes, foolish. I gave up my soul mate

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