Page 44 of Lie for a Million

Nick ended the call. Lost in thought, Sam stood gazing down at the phone. Zeroing in on Roper too soon would be a mistake. He needed to consider anyone who might have a reason to frame the horse trainer and who would know where to toss the syringe.

Charlie? He was still a long shot, but Frank could have been holding a threat over him. And he would know where Roper lived. Even if he and Roper weren’t enemies, Charlie could have planted the syringe to deflect suspicion.

Darrin? He had already tried to frame Lila with a clumsily planted syringe in her car. Only Madeleine’s insistence that her son was acting on her orders had saved him from arrest. But he could still use a different version of the same trick to target a man he hated.

As for Simone, Sam knew better than to underestimate Darrin’s wife. Beneath her fluttery charm-school demeanor, the woman was strong-willed, determined, and possibly smarter than her husband. He couldn’t count her out—especially if the two were working together.

And then there was Lila . . .

Sam’s musings were interrupted by a knock. He opened the door. As if the thought had summoned her, Lila was standing on the porch.

“I need to talk to you,” she said.

“Come on in.” He stepped aside. “Can I get you some coffee?”

She shook her head. “I’m good, thanks. I just wanted to give you an update. We can talk on the porch.”

“Sure.” Sam pulled the two Adirondack chairs into the morning shade and invited her to sit. He would listen, but he resolved to tell her nothing. The discovery of the murder weapon would remain a secret. He settled in the opposite chair.

Speaking in terse sentences, she told him about the paternity test results and Crystal’s ongoing demands for money. Sam kept his responses neutral, trying not to judge. It made sense that Crystal would need help, although it didn’t seem fair that Lila would be on the hook to support her late husband’s mistress.

Lila seemed uneasy, as if holding something back. But Sam knew better than to push her. He listened and waited.

“There’s something else,” she said. “Crystal’s got another man. His name’s Judd. He’s in the county jail. Crystal went to visit him, and Roper saw her. He didn’t realize who she was until later, when he remembered the photo you showed him.

“Is Roper certain that’s who he saw?”

“He said he recognized the rings on her hand.”

“And what was Roper doing there?”

“His brother was locked up for drug possession. Roper had gone to help him out. Roper said that Crystal and Judd were having a loud argument, like she was breaking up with him. Judd swore at her, and she went storming out of the jail. That’s all I know.”

Sam already knew about Roper’s brother. But the news about Judd opened up a world of possibilities. He needed to check the date of Judd’s arrest. If Crystal’s boyfriend had been free at the time of the murder, he could have killed Frank out of jealousy.

“Thank you, I’ll definitely look into this,” he told Lila.

“Would it be asking too much for you to tell me what you learn about him?” she asked. “I need to know. It’s important.”

“Important why?”

She glanced away before returning his gaze. “I need to know whether he and Crystal were involved in a scheme to get money from Frank—and then from me. I know you’re not allowed to discuss your case. But this is a separate matter.”

“I understand,” Sam said. “But I can’t make any promises. What I tell you will depend on what I learn.”

“Of course.”

“Is there anything else you wanted to tell me? Anything at all?”

Again, there was a beat of hesitation. “No. Nothing.”

Her voice had taken on a chilly note. They weren’t friends, Sam reminded himself. In his line of work, making friends was against the rules—rules he’d broken in spades when he’d fallen in love with Jasmine.

His thoughts strayed to Jasmine as Lila left the porch and headed back to the house. Damn, but he missed her—her husky Liz Taylor voice, her mischievous laugh, and the heat of her silky, suntanned skin against his.

He remembered Nick’s warning. Until this case was closed, he mustn’t see her or even try to contact her. Even the burner she’d bought wasn’t completely safe. For now, the best he could do was find her father’s killer and hope that once he was free, she would still be waiting.

Lila had just brought him a new lead—and one more suspect to add to his list. The idea that Frank had been killed by a jealous boyfriend, one who’d have easy access to fentanyl, made sense. The murder weapon’s location didn’t fit the profile, but there could be an explanation for that—some connection he had yet to discover.

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