Page 19 of Marked For Revenge

“It was just a heartbeat check for the baby. Everything is fine,” Ava explained, and she immediately shifted gears. “Please tell me the Austin cops have found Aaron.”

“They didn’t have to,” Theo informed her. “Because Aaron just showed up here.”

Of all the things Ava thought he might say, that hadn’t been one of them. “He’s turning himself in? Has he confessed?” She would have added even more questions had Theo not held up his hand to stop her.

“No confession. He claims he’s the victim, that someone is trying to set him up so it looks as if he tried to kill you. He says he’s here to set the record straight.”

Ava had to take a couple of moments to process that. “Does Aaron know who I am?”

Theo nodded. “He mentioned you by name.”

“I want to talk to him,” she insisted.

“Me, too,” Harley piped in.

“Figured you would, and Lieutenant O’Malley is going to give you a few minutes with him.” Theo motioned for Harley and her to follow him. “Aaron’s been Mirandized, so he might just clam up and wait for a lawyer. If that happens, then the lieutenant doesn’t want us pressing Aaron on anything.”

Ava understood because that kind of pressure could hurt with a conviction. “Is there enough to arrest Aaron?” she asked as they walked down a long corridor lined with interview rooms.

Theo stopped outside one of the doors and shook his head. “Aaron consented to a gunshot residue test, and it came back negative.”

That didn’t mean the man hadn’t recently fired a gun, especially if he’d fired a rifle, but since he’d agreed to the test, it likely meant he knew he was going to be clean.

“Can any witnesses put Aaron on the roof of that building where the shots were fired?” Harley asked, keeping his voice low.

“Not so far, and Aaron told Lieutenant O’Malley he was in the area so he could visit Caleb. He’d parked up the street and claims he was walking to Caleb’s apartment when the shots started. The Austin cops found his car and verified that it would have been the nearest parking since all the visitor spots were filled for the parking lot at Caleb’s building.”

Ava groaned because that was a plausible explanation. Not necessarily a truthful one but being in the vicinity of a shooting wasn’t enough to arrest the man. If Aaron was the killer, she could only hope he’d say something incriminating that could be used to hold him.

“Marnie said Aaron had told her that Caleb had threatened him,” Ava reminded them. “It’s possible Marnie got it wrong, but if Aaron came here to try to silence Caleb, he might have planned on shooting him.”

Harley made a sound of agreement but then shook his head. “Caleb came outside his apartment after the shots started, but the gunman still continued firing at us.”

True. That was possibly some kind of ploy. Ava couldn’t wrap her mind around it just yet, but she intended to give it plenty of thought.

“I’m going to insult you by asking you if you’re sure you’re up to talking with Aaron,” Theo told her. “You could just watch from observation if you want.”

Ava wasn’t insulted. Okay, maybe she was a little. “I’m a cop. If I can’t be objective, I’ll just keep quiet and let Harley and you do the questioning.”

Theo nodded in approval, opened the door and they went in.

Aaron wasn’t seated at the lone table in the room. He was pacing, and he came to an abrupt stop, his eyes spearing hers.

“Ava,” he said, looking her over, his attention stopping only briefly when he noticed her baby bump.

“Aaron,” she greeted back.

The past twenty years hadn’t been kind to the man. Even though he wasn’t yet forty, there was plenty of gray in his sandy-blond hair, and his thin almost gaunt face was lined with wrinkles.

As she’d done with Caleb, she looked for any hatred or venom aimed at her, but she didn’t see it. Maybe because Aaron was good at keeping it concealed. Or maybe because it wasn’t there. Still, he was a suspect, and even though they’d once been in love, Ava had no intentions of letting the past sway her opinion of him.

Especially since the past might be at the root of the murders.

“You look good, Ava,” Aaron commented. “And you got that badge you always wanted.” He shifted his attention to Harley, who was standing side by side with her. “Is this your husband?”

“No,” she replied and kept it at that.

Even though Aaron didn’t add more to his question, she could see that he sensed Harley and she were together, and Aaron didn’t seem ready to say anything snarky. Such as, Are you going to keep this baby after you gave up ours? Nope, no snark. But he shook his head the way a person did when they couldn’t believe something was happening to them.

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