Page 50 of Ghostly Bother
Angus shrugged. "I haven't looked. If not, we need to get it. No matter how good she looks for this murder, we need to focus on the why. Everything says she has too much to lose with Eden dying. She was bringing in tens of thousands of dollars a month. Why put an end to the gravy train?"
"Maybe she knew the audit would end things anyway? How close was the audit to filing charges against Eden?" Franks asked Amy.
"I can't answer for sure, but I'm guessing it was still a month or two away. They were slow gathering evidence and even slower putting it all together. My honest feeling was they were hoping to let the mayor's term run its course then they'd have all the time in the world to go after her once a new mayor was elected. I got the feeling the city was trying to protect itself from the media frenzy a bribery scandal would cause. Look at how hard we had to push to get them to work with us on a murder investigation. We had to file warrants for information they should have been willing to just hand over." Amy reached for her drink. "Time wasrunning out for Eden, but she still had time to make a few more deals before they were on to her."
Angus wished Eden would talk. These were questions she could answer. He wondered if he should try one more time to get her to talk. Maybe with the new information they had she'd be willing to open up a bit more about what was going on. He had no clue how she'd react to finding out her sister was under investigation for her murder; let alone the fact she was now sleeping with her husband. "Let's find out all we can about Rachel Reese. I've already been digging into her properties and looking for any titles in her name, but let's get a warrant for her phone records and start surveillance on her. Let's find out where she's going and who she's seeing. Our next question should be, if Rachel is our killer, and she is having an ongoing affair with Michael Anderson, was he aware of the murder plot?"
"Kill the wife so they can be together. Live happily ever after on the money Eden stole for them?" Franks shook his head. "I hate to think what that would mean for those two young kids."
"Proving he was aware of it won't be easy, but let's see where things lead us." Angus stood up. "I need to make a quick call. I'll be right back." He stepped from the room again and quickly dialed Lance's number.
"Hi," Lance said softly.
"Hey, miss you."
"Miss you too."
Angus cleared his throat. "I'd planned on calling tonight to talk things over, but something's come up and I might need to put our personal conversation off for a night, but I don't want you to think it's not important."
"It's okay. I know this case is putting pressure on both of us. The sooner you get done, the sooner we can try and go back to normal," Lance said.
"Try?" Angus asked softly.
"You just left me," Lance said.
"I know. I wasn't thinking. Just reacting. Listen, I messed up. I know that, and as badly as I would love to get into all of it right now, I think clearing up this case might help more than us talking right now. Once it's closed, then the focus can be on us. Is Eden there right now?"
"Of course. She never leaves. She's out back with Ray right now." Lance's voice was filled with irritation.
"Would you be willing to let Franks and I drop by for a bit to talk with her? I know you don't want to be involved, but I need to ask her some questions."
"She won't answer. We've all tried to get her to talk."
"I know, but this time I have some information that might help get her talking," Angus told him.
"Is this about whatever Bethany and Ray found out?" Lance asked.
"You know about that?"
"I don't all the details. I wouldn't let them tell me in front of Eden, but I know they figured something out and were going to tell your mom about it. Eden was mad they wouldn't tell her, but she still refused to leave here to go with them to find out."
"Yeah, Mom called with the information. It's what I want to confront Eden with tonight. Can we drop by? Maybe once I talk to her, we can have our conversation. I hate being away from you. I hate that I did this to us." Angus prayed this didn't hurt their relationship. He couldn't imagine his life without Lance beside him.
"Okay. Cel's here and we're cooking, so come hungry," Lance told him. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour."
"We may be a bit longer than that, but we'll be there. Thanks, Lance."
"I want this case closed as badly as you do. I'll see you in a bit." Lance ended the call without another word.
Angus leaned against the wall. He had to get this case closed and do whatever it took to salvage his relationship. If it was possible to kill Eden again for the problems she'd caused, he'd do it in a heartbeat. He just prayed, once they figured out who killed her, she would go on her way and leave them the hell alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lance's breath caught as he heard the front door open. He'd been mentally preparing himself for it since Angus's call, but it still caught him by surprise. He turned and smiled as Angus walked into the kitchen, followed by Franks. "Hey, guys." Lance smiled.
"Something smells amazing," Franks said as he went to take a seat.
"Hi," Angus said gently as he stepped before Lance. "Missed you." He dipped his head and gave Lance a soft kiss.
