Page 55 of Mine to Save

Immediately, Emmett noticed some similarities between the note and the ones that had been left on the victims. But he was no handwriting expert. “We’ll be in touch.” His heart jumped to the back of his throat. He couldn’t call this a break in the case, but it was enough that he knew they were on the right track.

He stepped outside. The humid air clung to his pores as he jogged around the hood of his vehicle.

“What do you make of a hired gun being our killer?” Rhett asked the second he pulled the seatbelt across his lap.

“It means we’re most likely not dealing with a serial killer. Which means we need to look at this case from a different perspective.” Emmett glanced over his shoulder before pulling out onto the street. “The victims without the notes were most likely killed by someone else and not related. We need to go back and figure out who would want to frame Jeff and why?”

“What about his ex-wife? He killed her lover.”

“She’s happily married to the man who adopted Trinity.” Emmett’s mind went into overdrive. He churned everything over in his mind, playing out different scenarios, but nothing made sense. Too many pieces of the puzzle were missing.

“Okay, so not Sandy or Ben,” Rhett said. “What about Paul’s family?”

“He had a wife and two children. A boy who was five, and a girl who was two at the time.” Emmett racked his brain for their names. “I believe it was Shawn and Rayna—shit. That makes so much fucking sense. They’re pissed off that they lost their father. One of them sees or finds Jeff and sets him up by using the premise that Jeff is re-killing their father in his mind. It’s genius.”

Rhett pulled out his tablet and tapped on the screen. “Nothing on Rayna. As a matter of fact, it’s like she doesn’t exist.”

“How is that possible? Even I have an internet footprint, and I don’t have a single social media account.”

“That’s because you’re listed as a police officer on the county website,” Rhett said. “Same with Mom, Nathan, and Emmerson. But some people are a little more difficult to find. However, give me a day or two, and I will.”

“Okay. What about Shawn?”

“He’s an entirely different story. Shawn is all over social media. He’s rich as fuck. Has private jets, boats, houses all over the place. His Insta feed reads like a who’s who of Wall Street.”

“What does he do?”

“Venture capitalist,” Rhett said. “He also has some foundation that helps out young entrepreneurs. His website talks about him being orphaned at a young age when his father was murdered and later when his mother died from a drug overdose.”

“That’s tough.”

“They were both raised by their maternal grandmother. They didn’t have a lot of money. However, Shawn scored ridiculously high on every aptitude test known to man and got himself a scholarship, where he ended up graduating in three years before getting a master’s degree. From there, he became one of the richest young men in the country. At first glance, he’s the poster child for hard work.”

“What’s the ugly underbelly?” Emmett asked.

“Some articles connecting him to criminal activity. He’s been investigated for securities fraud, though nothing came of it. And there is some question as to how he came into all his money. But it looks more like people are trying to find faults where there might not be any.”

“Still, it sounds like we might have a suspect as to who would hire a hitman to frame Jeff.”

“Not to mention having the resources to do it,” Rhett said. “But that means buying off Robash. While she’s a piece of work and will do what she needs to get ahead, I struggle with seeing her go that far.”

“I know what you mean.” Emmett eased onto the interstate. “She’s aggressive, but from the interactions I’ve had with her, I get the impression she’s more willing to bend the rules to get ahead, not blatantly break them.”

“Perhaps, but desperate people do some strange things when their backs are against the wall. And she could have another reason,” Rhett said. “Why don’t you let me take a crack at her?”

“No. I think we should release Mom on her.”

“Oh. That’s just mean.”

Emmett laughed. “How do you feel about taking a trip to Manhattan to check out Shawn.”

“I’d be happy to,” Rhett said. “What about Bugsy?”

“Phil Conway spent some time in the military, and Lucy Ann’s father works for the Department of Defense. I’m going to pull them into the loop.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Emmett glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard. He punched the gas. He had thirty minutes to make it back to Lighthouse Cove for his date with Trinity. He’d fill her in on what they’d learned, and, hopefully, after the business portion of the evening ended, he’d be able to show her that he wasn’t a total asshole and make up for his bad behavior from last night.

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