Page 26 of Whispers Left Behind

“My father hasn’t gambled for quite some time, Detective Aspen,” Louise shared, seemingly confident in her answer. “The possibility of losing his farm the last time he racked up too much debt was too much, and he quit cold turkey. Ask anyone.”

“And your relationship with your father? I was under the impression the two of you were close, but I didn’t get the sense that was the truth after—”

“What are you implying, Detective Aspen?” Douglas lifted a hand, but he didn’t go so far as to point his finger at her. “I don’t like where you are taking this conversation. Louise’s daughter is gone, her son is fighting for his life, and you’re interrogating us like—”

“The detective is just doing her job, Douglas,” Louise said softly as she rested a hand on his arm. Kinsley suspected it was more out of exhaustion. “Please don’t cause a scene. I just want to concentrate on Gage. I can’t lose him, too.”

Kinsley decided to let the topic of gambling and the father-daughter relationship slide for now. There was no need to push the woman too hard. She was liable to cut communication and threaten to obtain representation.

“Where is your father this morning?” Kinsley inquired as she attempted to change the subject.

“Tobias is sitting with Gage at the moment,” Douglas replied, giving Louise time to collect herself. “The ICU only permits one family member at a time.”

“The doctors still don’t know if he is going to make it,” Louise whispered with a trembling voice. “They had to put him in a medically induced coma until the swelling on his brain recedes. Then the coroner called about Rachel to let us know that we could have a funeral home collect her—”

Douglas once again pulled Louise toward him when she couldn’t finish her sentence. Kinsley’s heart went out to the woman and all she had suffered over the last forty-eight hours.

“We haven’t had time to pick out a funeral home. I’ll be making some calls on behalf of Louise this afternoon while she sits with Gage.” Douglas smiled tenderly at Louise when she shifted to wrap an arm around his waist. “You just sit by hisbedside and hold his hand while I take care of the funeral. Besides, he’ll want to be there. I’ll push the service out as far as possible.”

Before Kinsley could follow up with more questions about Louise’s phone call with her son, both she and Douglas peered down the hall. Kinsley followed their gazes to find a woman in her mid-twenties approaching them. She wore pale blue scrubs, her dark hair was pulled back at the base of her neck, and there were stress lines around her lips. She also carried with her two cups of coffee secured with black lids.

“Louise, has there been any word?”

“No, dear.” Louise pulled away from Douglas to take both coffees, which she promptly turned to hand one of them to Douglas. “Gia Torres, this is Detective Aspen from FPD.”

“You’re the one who left me a message yesterday. I don’t want you to think that I ignored your call, detective. I just finished a twelve-hour shift a couple of hours ago and have been sitting here with Louise and Douglas since then.” Gia offered her hand. “When I heard about Gage…”

“I understand,” Kinsley replied before stepping back. Gia’s name had been on Rachel Hanson’s list of friends supplied by her husband. Kinsley had managed to speak to a couple of Rachel’s friends over the phone last night. “Do you have time to speak with me now?”

“Of course, of course,” Gia replied before turning her attention toward Louise. “Are you okay for a while? Why don’t I walk Detective Aspen out? I’ll go home, take a shower, and come back with some food. How does that sound?”

Unlike what was displayed in the movies, investigations like these took time. No one worked cases around the clock, and detectives usually had multiple cases at any given time. Throw in their own family lives, and time was a very valuable commodity.

“Ms. Baird, one more question for you. And please know that this is just for our records. I’m sure you understand that we have to do our due diligence. Where were you and your fiancé Wednesday night and last night?”

“Wednesday? We had gone out to enjoy an early dinner,” Louise replied before the implication of Kinsley’s questions hit home. Douglas took her coffee before she dropped it to the floor. “How could you—”

“Louise, it’s her job,” Gia replied softly in understanding. She stepped forward and took the woman’s hand, squeezing her fingers gently. “Please answer so that the detective can focus on the real monster who did this.”

Louise pursed her lips in disbelief and anger, but it was Douglas who willingly supplied their alibis.

“We went to an early dinner at Peppercorn Steakhouse. Our reservations were for five o’clock. We don’t like to be there during their dinner rush,” Douglas explained as he held both coffees awkwardly. When Louise was still too upset to answer, he continued to describe the rest of their evening. “We got home around seven o’clock, watched some news on the television, and then went to bed around ten. I had to be in the office for a seven-thirty board meeting. As for last night, we were at home waiting for Gage to arrive.”

“Thank you,” Kinsley replied, noticing that Gia was fiddling with her nursing badge. There was something that Gia wanted to discuss, but it was obvious she didn’t want to do so in front of Rachel’s mother. “I’ll be in touch.”

Kinsley nodded her appreciation toward Douglas before falling into step beside Gia. The two women walked in silence toward the elevator bank. It would have been fortuitous to speak with Tobias Zayn this morning, but Kinsley would have to follow up with him on Monday.

“Why do I get the feeling that you wanted to speak with me in private, Ms. Torres?” Kinsley asked cautiously once they were in the confines of the elevator. “Do you know something that could help our investigation into Rachel Hanson’s death?”

“I was with Rachel on Wednesday night,” Gia revealed after choking back a sob. Kinsley gave the woman a moment to compose herself. The numbers above the elevator doors began to count down with each passing floor. “I was with her until around seven o’clock. Rachel lied to Sebastian, Detective Aspen. She told him that she was going to call it an early night, but after she ended their call, she left the house to meet someone.”

Kinsley didn’t expect to receive Rachel’s cell phone records until sometime on Monday or Tuesday. Cell providers weren’t quick on the draw in any situation, including homicide investigations.

“I should have gone with her,” Gia said as she swiped the tears from her cheeks. The doors swung open, revealing a couple waiting to enter. Both Kinsley and Gia stepped off, but they didn’t go far. “I was due for my shift at the hospital, and I let Rachel drive off by herself.”

“Ms. Torres, who was Rachel meeting on Wednesday night?”

“Her brother-in-law,” Gia revealed, raising a hand to cover her neck. It was as if she couldn’t believe her own answer. “Jack had something to tell her, and he made her promise not to tell Sebastian that they were meeting out at the Plow. Detective Aspen, I never heard from Rachel again.”

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