Page 33 of Lone Star Secrets

“I’m guessing you’re not finding anything,” he said when Mia huffed.

“Nothing that’ll help us.” She huffed again. “To recap what we’ve already uncovered, when she was nineteen, Aileen had the baby that died, and it was nine years later before she had Kenton. To me, that suggests maybe some fertility or psychological issues for the lag in time between baby one and Kenton. But if it was an adoption or surrogacy arrangement, there’s no record of it.”

“Could have been a private arrangement,” he commented.

“I considered that, so that’s why I’ve been digging into Dwight’s financial history.” She shook her head. “The man has never had the kind of money it’d take to pay a surrogate. Ditto for Aileen. Added to that, Melanie would have only been sixteen at the time of Kenton’s birth. No way could she have entered into a legal surrogacy as a minor.”

Since Aileen was dead, they wouldn’t be getting any answers about this from her. And they couldn’t be sure they’d get the truth from Dwight either.

So, that left Melanie.

“How long after Kenton’s birth did Melanie and RJ marry?” he asked.

“About ten years. I can’t find anything that indicates Melanie and RJ even knew each other when Kenton was born.”

“RJ might not have known she had a child,” Angel muttered. “But Dwight sure as hell would have been aware that Kenton wasn’t his wife’s kid.” He paused. “Think back to those times Dwight came to the foster house. I remember arguments between Kenton and Dwight, but I recall at least one of those loud disagreements being between RJ and Dwight.”

“Yes,” she murmured, and her gaze met his for a second. “An argument that happened right around the time of what we now know was Kenton’s murder.”

Shit.

Angel so didn’t want RJ to have done this. Hell, he could say the same for Melanie. But things were pointing in that direction.

With that sense of dread spreading through him, Angel pulled to a stop in front of the foster house, and he immediately spotted the black Lexus in the driveway. He didn’t have to guess who the owner was because Angel saw him in the doorway with RJ and Melanie.

Roger.

Angel couldn’t hear what was being said, but considering Melanie’s and RJ’s expressions, this was a friendly social call.

Keeping watch around them, Angel got of the van, and once Mia had joined him, they walked together to the front porch. Roger spared them a glance over his shoulder. Or rather he spared them a glare. Then, he resumed his conversation with Melanie and RJ.

“I won’t have my wife dragged into this shitstorm,” Roger spat out. “If you talk to the police again, you will not mention her name.”

“That sounds like a threat,” Angel remarked, stepping onto the porch. He moved closer to Roger, violating the man’s personal space and returning the glare.

“It’s not a threat,” Roger said through clenched teeth. “It’s a demand for these two to quit pulling my wife into this.”

“Your wife pulled herself into it,” Angel was quick to point out. “Her blood was on the knife. She was living here at the time. And there’s that woman scorned angle since Kenton and she were lovers. Or rather girl scorned,” he amended. “Still, that makes the legal trifecta. Birdie had means, motive, and opportunity.”

Oh, if looks could have killed, Roger would have hurled him straight to the deepest level of hell.

“The same could be said about them.” Roger tipped his head to Melanie and RJ. “Or the two of you. It was Mia’s knife after all, and you removed it from the crime scene.” His anger-filled glare slashed to Mia. “And you had a strong motive for wanting to get back at your attacker.”

“True,” Mia admitted. “I did want to get back at him. But I didn’t.”

“Yeah, right,” Roger fired back. “You’re squeaky clean. All of you are.” His expression and tone dripped with sarcasm. “Lie to yourselves. Lie to others. But keep my wife the fuck out of this.”

With that, he stormed off the porch, got in his Lexus and sped away.

“He’s upset because the police questioned Birdie and him,” RJ muttered. “The cops specifically questioned him about the fire, asking if he’d paid someone to set it. He claimed he didn’t.”

Angel was glad the cops had asked Roger about that. Even though Roger hadn’t been convicted of hiring someone to do the witness intimidation, that didn’t mean the man was innocent.

RJ then shifted his attention back to Mia and him. “Come in,” he said, stepping back so they could enter. His sigh and that look on his face conveyed a lot, that he knew the reason for this visit.

Melanie’s expression wasn’t faring much better. She was way too pale. Not jittery or on edge, though but rather exhausted.

Mia and he stepped inside and immediately smelled the stench of the smoke. He could also hear fans going upstairs, where they would no doubt be trying to air out the room.

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