Page 10 of Out of the Shadows
“Well, you’ve ruined my day and it’s not even seven in the morning.”
“I can do it,” Jack said.
“No, I’ll do it. Damn. But seriously, why would Brittney go after Logan’s sister? Logan, sure. Brittney is a vindictive bitch. But she’s also dense as a box of rocks. Oh, I guess I just answered my own question.”
“I doubt it’s Brittney,” Jack said. “Laura was run off the road by a large dark truck. I’ll talk to Laura about her vet practice and anyone who has caused problems or threatened her there.”
“So you’re assuming the two incidents are connected?”
“Until we learn otherwise.”
“Okay, I’ll deal with Brittney and dig around into Charlie.”
“Talk to Logan first, find out where the guy works, where he lives, anything else that could be useful. Also, consider Logan’s business and projects. I doubt anyone would target Laura because of her brother, but it’s a possibility.”
“Roger that. I’m on it. You need me to come up there, holler.”
“Thanks, Margo.” He ended the call and continued walking the property, making note of neighbors (all more than a stone’s throw) and who might have security cameras facing the street—cameras that might have caught sight of a vehicle at Laura’s house last night.
Chapter Four
Margo read Jack’s text messages with information he had about Charlie Barrett. It wasn’t much. She sent him a series of questions she wanted answers to; he responded that he’d get back to her.
She pulled up to Brittney Monroe’s house in a pricey North Scottsdale neighborhood. It was neighborhoods like this that gave Scottsdale the nickname “Snobsdale.”
She took a sip from her Yeti, still groggy after a long night playingCall of Dutywith three of her Army buddies—two still active. They met online every month to battle it out and catch up. When she crashed at three in the morning, she hadn’t expected Jack to call before seven asking for help.
Margo rang the bell, waited ten seconds, then rang it again and again and again until Brittney answered.
“What?” Brittney shouted as she swung the door open, then took a step back when she recognized Margo. “Oh, fuck. What the hell do you want?”
“Just a chat,” she said with a fake smile. “Like old friends.”
“Go away,” Brittney said and would have shut the door if Margo hadn’t already blocked it with her foot.
“Five minutes, and I’ll go. I’m asking questions for your ex-husband, who you are not allowed to be within a hundred yards of, so if you don’t give me the time, you’ll be brought down to the police station for questioning.”
Margo doubted she’d be able to get a cop to arrest Brittney, but since the woman had spent a night in jail two months ago when she was involved with the man who had tried to kill Logan, Margo thought she could play off that.
She detested this woman. Brittney had tried to set up Logan in a honeytrap so she could divorce him for more money. She’d been having an affair their entire marriage with the jerk she’d broken up with in order to date Logan in the first place. The jerk had embezzled money from a friend of Logan’s, and then tried to kill Logan once he was discovered.
And nothing happened to her other than a single night in jail because there was no evidence that she’d been involved with the embezzlement. Margo still couldn’t believe that Logan had given her the house and money.
“Is Logan saying I violated the restraining order? I didnot.” She looked both indignant and worried.
She was up to something. But Margo didn’t know if it involved breaking into Laura’s house or running her off the road or something completely different.
“Can I come in?” Margo asked.
“No.” Brittney stepped out and shut the door, chin up. “We’ll talk here.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Margo said.
“You ruined my marriage,” Brittney snapped.
You ruined your marriage, Margo thought, but didn’t say. Instead, she said, “Last night, Logan’s sister was run off the road. Hit-and-run. Know anything about that?”
“What?” She looked confused, and Brittney wasn’t that great of an actress. “Laura?”
