Page 39 of Shadow Sabotage
I rolled my eyes. “Hypothetically, let’s say Tony was angry and hurt over the rejection. Were you able to find out if he’s the one she had a fight with the night she left?”
“Yes,” Vance confirmed. “He and his friends had a party at their house. He invited her, and she went.”
“Alone? Or did she take someone with her?”
He glanced at me, giving me the same look he’d given me out at the crime scene. Now that I knew him better, I recognized it as a mix of surprise and approval.
“She went alone,” he said.
“Odd choice if she was pulling away because he had hurt her,” I pointed out. “It shows she wasn’t scared of him.”
Vance nodded. “That’s a great point.”
“So, what did they fight about?”
“Tony made a move on her. Said he wanted her back. She said no and apparently yelled some pretty unflattering things about him. Also told him she had a new boyfriend before she stormed out. He was devastated, according to his buddies.”
I put my elbow on the door and propped my face on my hand. “So… He has a motive.”
“He does.”
“Two questions.”
“Shoot.”
“First, do you think he did it?” I expected him to say yes quickly. To me, it seemed so clear.
But Vance didn’t answer. He stared at the road, his brows furrowed as if he was thinking long and hard. The Wyoming plains whizzed by and the mountains loomed ahead of us as the town of Wildwood faded in the rearview mirror. I took in a sharp breath as I realized what road we were on.
We were heading back to the crime scene.
Vance finally spoke. “I’ve been asking myself that same question for at least twenty-four hours. He had a motive. They’dhad an ugly, public fight. Her body was found in his hometown. He’s an obvious suspect.”
Obvious, but it had taken Vance a full minute to answer.
“But…” I said, drawing him out. I knew there was more he hadn’t said.
“But the kid’s grief was real. The news broke a few hours before I got to talk to him, and his eyes were still red from crying. I think he genuinely loved her.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t kill her,” I pointed out.
“You’re right. Love is a strong emotion, and strong emotions can make people do crazy things. Add that to the embarrassment of being publicly rejected and possible rage over her being with someone else…” He shrugged. “The motive is real. But he was cooperative. Didn’t ask for a lawyer. Begged me to find out who hurt her.”
“Could have been an act.”
“Could have been,” he agreed. “But to answer your question, no. I don’t think he did it.”
His answer disappointed me. It wasn’t that I wanted Tony to be a killer, exactly. It wasn’t even that if he was innocent we’d be back to square one.
It was more that I didn’t want Vance to be someone who could be swayed so easily by Tony’s charm. By someone who had a friendly smile, wore expensive clothes, and drove a nice vehicle…
Like Vance.
“Are we still going to investigate him?” I asked, biting the inside of my cheek.
“Of course,” Vance said, glancing over at me with an odd look on his face. “We’d be fools not to.”
His answer settled me—some.
