Page 57 of Vows of Murder

I paused as I looked around the house. This was the point where Greg would say I stepped over the line and went investigating. However, Beth knew what I was thinking. The library wasn’t dangerous. I wasn’t heading to a remote cave or searching the ocean or mountain valleys for a friend. I was just visiting the university library to see what I could find on a couple of names.

That was my justification and I was standing by it. Besides, if he got mad, now he had to divorce me rather than just move out. I thought that gave me a bit more leeway. At least that was my hope.

I hadn’t eaten lunch and I’d had cookies for breakfast, so my first stop in Bakerstown was the drive-in I loved. Bennie’s Bop had incredible fish sandwiches with just the right amount of tartar sauce,soft buns, and perfectly fried cod. And the fries weren’t bad. I usually ordered a large so I could share them with Emma, but since she wasn’t here, I just got a small order with alarge iced tea.

I ate my fries as I drove to the university parking lot, then demolished the sandwich. I guess I was hungrier than I’d thought. As I ate, I thought about Vince and Maryanne. Now that I suspected a connection, it made sense that Vince might have been the one to see the O’Dell kids in my shop this morning. Thank goodness Anya had arrived before I had to fight off the New Hope goons. Would they have resorted to violence? I was glad I didn’t have to find out. I knew they carried sidearms because I’d seen them and Greg had been involved in approving the guards’ concealed carry licenses. Roger had claimed that most of their guards never left the premises with a gun so they had only licensed a fewof the members.

Was it because the others couldn’t pass a background check?

All I knew was that both of the men who had come in with Maryanne and Mrs. O’Dell had been carrying. I’d seen the holsterson their belts.

Walking into the library, I felt nostalgic for classes. I’d finished up my MBA last year but I was a lifelong learner. I loved taking on new challenges. Now I understood the feeling that had kept Deek in school long after he’d gotten his degrees. He loved the energy.

Now, he got his learning fix by writing. He was always ordering and devouring new books on writing craft and marketing ideas. And the bookstore hosted not one but two eveningwriter groups.

I just needed to find my groove to fill my need to learn. Without going back to school for another degree. With the three I held now, I thought there might be enough lettersbehind my name.

I grabbed a spring-term calendar from the checkout desk, just in case. Maybe there were some community classes I could take. Or at least one. Learning new things made me happy. Which was probably why I was always sticking my nose in Greg’sinvestigations.

Like today.

I made my way over to the periodicals section and logged onto a computer. I’d bought a community membership for access to the library after my student card expired, charging it to the business. I did a lot of reading about new books to order and marketing ideas forthe bookstore. Most of those I forwarded to Darla for her to consider for the town festivals sheloved to plan.

I looked up Vince’s name and it came up with several links. In several states and for several reasons. Most were about investigations. He’d published several magazine articles on when and how to hire a private investigator.

My phone buzzed with a text. It wasfrom Esmeralda.

Not sure if you still want this, but I sent you a list of the closed cases involving Amanda’s ex. I’m really glad she saw through him fast. A lot of women filed small claims on money he owed them. It’sin your email.

I sent a quickthanksin reply and logged into my emailon the server.

As I scanned the cases, I wondered if there was anything I could use to tie him to Maryanne. I’d print this out at home and go through them one by one, then see if I could get the finalcourt records.

If nothing else, Amanda needed to be aware of the full extent of Vince’s issues just in case he tracked her down again. He didn’t seem ready to walk away from her. I’d say it was love, but I think he felt she was an untapped mark. Or maybe a challenge, since her son was in law enforcement.

There had to be some kind of thrill that came with lying to all these people. Making them feel something, then taking advantage of that connection.

All I knew was I wanted my new mother-in-law to be aware. What she did with that information wasn’t my problem. Even though Amanda was smart, sometimes love got in the way of making theright decision.

I guess I had a new project now. Two, actually. Setting up the book club and finding out as much as possible about Vince Penn.

And I’d thought I was going to be bored.

Besides the articles he’d written extolling his amazing investigative skills, there wasn’t much online about Vince Penn. He wasn’t on Facebook or any other social media channels, so I decided to see what I could find on Maryanne.

Her online footprint was even more sparse. I already knew she didn’t have a Facebook presence. If she wasn’t listed in an articleabout the Matthews boys, she didn’t exist. I went back to their wedding announcement. There were two pictures in the small-town paper. A shot of her and Roger, and one of their wedding party. Four attendants. The women weren’t anyone I knew by name or by sight. Kane was Roger’s best man. I could tell it was him even in the grainy picture, though obviously younger. The other man looked familiar. I glanced down at the article below the photos. The other groomsman was Vincent M. Penn. The bride’s brother.

I’d found the connection. I sent the article to my email as well as Greg’s and Beth’s. Then I packed up my notebook and left the library. I still had time to stop by the store and get groceries before it started getting dark.

* * * *

I was putting the groceries away and wondering what to have for dinner when Greg came in the front door. I had just come downstairs from dropping things off in our bathroom. “Hey, I thought you were working tonight.”

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” He opened the door to the office and glanced inside, then went to the small downstairs bathroom and did the same. When he came out, he headed to the laundry room.

“Did you lose something?” I called after him.

“Your phone?”he called back.

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