Page 73 of In the Arms of a Hero

Sam chuckled and shook his head. “No, just curious. You’re right, though—he’s got money.”

“Then it just doesn’t make any sense that William would drive this close to a client who has all this real estate, plus more that he has invested in, and not stop to see them. That doesn’t add up. We have no evidence that he stopped to talk to Harry, yet he did something with those hours.”

“I agree. I can’t imagine what the fuck he did with all that time.” Stopping outside the Malroney’s house, they both climbed out and moved to the front door, ringing the bell. Thedoor swung open, and instead of Harry’s angry face, a smiling Ruthanne greeted them.

“Oh, my goodness, Detectives. Please come in. We didn’t expect you back so soon! Of course, I only know about these guns and bullet tests from what I see on TV. You know how it is—they always make it seem so easy, but I hear in real life it is much more difficult.”

“Yes, ma’am, it usually is. But we decided to expedite it, so we drove it to Norfolk. I have a friend who works at the lab there, and I can tell you that your weapon does not match the bullet that killed Mr. Gaston.”

Aaron expected her to show relief, but she simply nodded slowly with a sad expression.

“I am so sad to think about his life ending in such a tragic way.”

“I assume since you knew that this gun had not been used, you’re not surprised by the lab's findings,” Sam said.

At that, her lips quirked up ever so slightly. “You’re right, Detective Shackley. I knew that neither Harry nor I had fired this weapon. In fact, I can’t even remember how long ago it was. To be honest, if someone broke into the house, I’d be so flustered I wouldn’t even remember the combination to get into the safe and get the weapon! But we bought it years ago, as I said, when Harry traveled a lot.”

Aaron looked past her but didn’t see Harry. “Is Mr. Malroney at home?”

“No, he decided to walk down the beach. One of our rentals is only about half a mile down the beach.” She sighed and shook her head. “I wish the Mathersons would stop threatening to leave and sue because of everything. I told Harry we should just let them go and give them back their money! But you know Harry… he has a strong sense of right and wrong.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sam said, firing off a side glance toward Aaron.

“Well, if you’ll sign that we have returned your weapon, we’ll be on our way.”

She looked at the paperwork and then signed in the appropriate place. “I’ll be sure to let Harry know that you came by. He’ll be sorry that he missed you.”

At that, Aaron had difficulty hiding his scoff, covering his mouth with his hand as though coughing. They turned to leave, but what had been puzzling Aaron couldn’t be squelched. He stopped and turned back toward Ruthanne.

“You don’t have any idea where Mr. Gaston would have gone while he was here? We have several hours where he is unaccounted for, and we’ve come to a dead end, trying to uncover where he might’ve been.”

Shaking her head, she said, “I’m so very sorry, detectives. I just can’t imagine. He didn’t come here to see us, and we were home all that day and evening.” She leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially, “Harry only likes to go out about once a week or so to get gas and groceries. He’s not much of a people person, if you know what I mean. After all, that’s why we moved here. Harry loved the view of the water from our previous house but hated that we were right on the beach where just anyone could walk past or even up to the back deck if they wanted.”

Covering his smile again, Aaron nodded while Sam thanked her. Back in their SUV, Aaron looked over at his partner. “Wow, imagine that—Harry isn’t much of a people person!”

Sam burst out laughing as they headed back to the station.

When they reported their findings to Colt, he called a detective meeting. Once inside the conference room, Aaron and Sam updated everyone on their findings. “As you can see,” Aaron said in summation, “we have no reason to suspect the Malroneys anymore, but we have a fucking long amount of timethat William Gaston was on the shore before he drove his car back over the CBBT. We’re still in contact with the detective in Virginia Beach, but we’re not sure what may have occurred while he was on the Eastern Shore. Because we have a large gap, we’re still working with Virginia Beach but haven’t concluded our investigation yet.”

Aaron looked over to Hunter and Brad. “Any luck on the photographs that Belinda took?“

“We made it all the way back to where she was taking some nature shots at Kiptopeke. Honestly, she probably took about a hundred that day, and there’s a lot of water or forests in the background. We’re enlarging each on our computer screen and carefully reviewing them. We keep hoping we’ll find somebody doing something they shouldn’t, but so far, we’ve looked at a lot of loons.”

The gathered detectives began to chuckle, everyone needing to release tension. Colt thanked them all, and then Aaron and Sam headed out. Belinda had left a message that Hayley had just left the apartment, and she was hanging out with Ivy, who’d come after work. Ivy came over when his dad had left to take Sally to an appointment. He felt safe with that arrangement since a deputy was still stationed outside.

It had been another long, frustrating day, but Aaron couldn’t believe how much of a difference it made to know that Belinda waited for him. He had hoped that he could give her the peace of knowing that they had whoever had shot her. Hating that he couldn’t work on that, he could at least give her that comfort as soon as they could get their hands on the fucker.

36

Belinda stopped the narcotic pain medicine, weary of its numbing effects on her senses. Though the trade-off meant enduring more discomfort with only over-the-counter analgesics, she welcomed the clarity it brought. After taking another lengthy afternoon nap, she woke in time to say goodbye to Arthur. He had to take Sally to a doctor’s appointment, so Ivy was staying with her now.

She settled on the sofa with her feet propped on top of the coffee table, and a smile graced her lips as she delved into the memories captured in the photographs from the morning she crossed paths with Aaron in the park. The majority of pictures were ones she had taken from pre-dawn until Aaron came running on the beach. The serene beauty of nature, the antics of the waterfowl, the ever-changing bay at sunrise. She spent most of her time drawn to the ones that called to her, doing little to edit them and then making sure she ordered prints from a company she trusted to do the best work.

Ivy sat gently on the sofa beside her and looked at her computer screen. “Oh, my, that’s a really good picture of you two.”

Smiling, Belinda nodded. “Even though we’d gone out a year ago, and I’d had such a lovely Thanksgiving with all of you, this picture showcases our beginning.”

Ivy nodded, then said, “I assume Aaron has talked about their mom?”

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