Page 35 of Whispers Left Behind

“I heard it from my daughter at the hospital yesterday.” Tobias paused, but he made no move to drink his coffee. Kinsley assumed he wasn’t going to expand on his reply, but she was proven wrong when he eventually delved deeper into the relationship with his daughter. “Louise found out about it on Friday morning when Sebastian paid her a visit. She didn’t wantme to think the policy was a motive. I happen to disagree. You know, Louise never wanted anything to do with the farm. She hated the life. It was one of the reasons she moved to Fallbrook after her divorce. I’ve spoken to my daughter more in the past three days than I have in the past ten years.”

“I understand the intricacies of family tension, Mr. Zayn.”

“Do you?” Tobias shook his head in agitation, but his anger was directed at himself. “I’m dying, Detective. Lung cancer. It should have claimed me months ago. Hell, I wish it had so I hadn’t been alive to experience the loss of my granddaughter.”

Kinsley’s heart ached for the man.

“Is your health the reason you’ve been going into town more often lately, Mr. Zayn?”

“I don’t mean to make your job more difficult, but why is that any concern to you?”

“Your grandson was concerned that—”

Tobias muttered a few expletives.

“Gage thought I was gambling again, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Kinsley answered honestly, discerning that there was no need to hide the truth. “Your grandson even expressed concern that someone might have taken things too far in their attempt at collecting your debt.”

“I learned my lesson a long time ago, Detective Aspen. I haven’t gone near a bookie in years, and it’s my mission to ensure this farm thrives after my passing.” Tobias grabbed the handle of his mug. “I just hope that I get a chance to explain everything to Gage. The thought of him dying while believing that I…”

Tobias shook his head to dispel such unwanted thoughts before zeroing in on his granddaughter’s murder.

“Did Hanson lawyer up? Is that the reason you haven’t been able to arrest him? He had three million reasons to want mygranddaughter dead. It’s taking every ounce of willpower I have not to take my rifle and hunt that sonofabitch down.”

“If you took matters into your own hands, then you would leave your daughter and grandson with more loss.”

“I’m dying anyway.”

“Then do so with dignity,” Kinsley fired back. Tobias wasn’t the type of man who desired pity. He valued honesty above all else. “You concentrate on your grandson, Mr. Zayn. I’ll focus on investigating your granddaughter’s murder.”

“Louise tells me that you don’t believe the two crashes are connected, but I find that hard to believe,” Tobias said before finally taking a drink of his coffee. The steam had long since faded from both mugs. “Are you holding something back from us, Detective?”

“No, sir. As far as the evidence is concerned, Gage was driving too fast around the curve right before the covered bridge into Fallbrook.” Kinsley had read over the final report. “The pickup was in rough shape, and the brake pads were worn. Worn enough that they were almost metal on metal.”

“Gage was going to replace them himself. I could hear him coming from a mile away. I complained about it a few weeks ago. He said that Douglas was able to get him a discount at some garage in Fallbrook but hadn’t had time to pick them up.”

“Douglas?”

“I only met the man this weekend.” Tobias lifted one side of his mouth in contemplation. “Gage visits them a lot, and I’m not one to stand in the way of family. The man seems decent enough. Supportive of my daughter, and I guess that’s all I can ask for before I die.”

“You suggested that Sebastian killed Rachel over the life insurance policy,” Kinsley pointed out as she studied the man’s reaction. She wanted clarification on his previous statements.“Yet you believe the crash involving your grandson wasn’t an accident.”

“That’s a hell of a coincidence, then.” Tobias shook his head in disappointment. “If Gage’s brakes did fail, then it merely proves that we shouldn’t put off what is important. His ass wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of his body otherwise.”

Tobias leaned forward and tapped his index finger firmly on the table.

“I changed my will three months ago instead of waiting until the last second. It could easily be me in that bed. It should be me in that bed.”

“You changed your will?” Kinsley understood the magnitude of such a decision, but she wasn’t so sure Tobias would agree with her. He was already dismissing her interest with a wave of his hand. “Mr. Zayn, did you leave the farm to your granddaughter and grandson?”

“There is nothing in my will that would have caused someone to want my Rachel dead. Nor Gage. My relationship with my daughter might be strained, but I made sure that all three of them had a hand in the pot.”

Kinsley was prevented from asking further questions when a quick rap came at the front door. Without waiting for Tobias, the guest turned the knob and entered the house.

“Mr. Z, do you need anything while I’m in—” J.J. Callahan brought himself up short at the sight of Kinsley in the kitchen. Though the farmhouse didn’t have an open layout, she was sitting in the chair closest to the doorway with a full view of the front door. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Considering that Kinsley’s Jeep was parked out front, she didn’t buy J.J.’s excuse. The way the young man had been observing her and Gage speaking last week had piqued herinterest, but she was even more confident now that he had something important to share with her.

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