Page 21 of Marked For Revenge

“Let me check and see if Marnie will verify that,” Theo said, stepping outside the interview room to make the call.

“I didn’t kill anybody,” Aaron repeated to Harley and her. “I know it looks bad because I was in Austin during this shooting, but if I’d wanted you dead, I would have gone after you a long time ago.”

That put some ice in her blood and, while that seemed to be logical on the surface, there was another factor here. Christina’s death. It could have triggered Aaron to want to do something to get back at the world. Or, more specifically, to get back at her for the old wrongs that had been done to him. Yes, those wrongs had been her father’s doing, but maybe punishing and ultimately killing her was the way for Aaron to get back at Edgar.

“Have you told anyone about me having your baby when I was a teenager?” Ava asked.

“Christina knew,” he readily admitted. He paused, his mouth suddenly a little unsteady. “She was sorry that I hadn’t been able to raise my son, so she wanted to have a baby. I thought maybe that would be a good thing, and I told her if she stayed clean for six months, we’d try.” He shook his head and groaned. “According to the medical examiner, Christina was about four weeks pregnant when she died.”

Oh, mercy. Hearing that could have definitely been a trigger for Aaron.

“I’m sorry,” Ava told him, and she meant it.

She couldn’t imagine losing the baby she was carrying. Couldn’t imagine having something bad happen to Caleb. But someone obviously wanted bad things for him because they’d tried to set him up by leaving that note with the bomb.

“Were you aware that my father had a PI following you?” Ava asked. Again, she studied his response to see how much alarm that would cause Aaron.

It caused him plenty.

“When?” Aaron demanded.

“Recently,” she supplied. She didn’t add that the PI hadn’t been on Aaron during the murders, and she recalled Duran explaining that was because the investigator hadn’t been able to find him. Ironic since Aaron was claiming to have been at Marnie’s on three separate occasions. So, either her father’s PI had simply missed spotting Aaron on those dates or someone was lying.

Aaron muttered some profanity. “I don’t have to ask why your SOB of a father would do that,” he snarled. “He’s worried I’ll rat him out. And I’ve thought about doing just that over the years. Trust me, I’ve thought of doing a lot of things—”

His tirade came to a quick stop, and Ava wished it hadn’t because it had seemed as if Aaron had been on the verge of spilling something. She didn’t get a chance to press him on it, either, because Theo came back into the room and immediately speared Aaron with his cop’s glare.

“I just talked to Marnie,” Theo stated, “and she said she’s not sure if those are the dates you stayed over at her house. In other words, she can’t confirm your alibis.”

Ava got a jolt of the firestorm of emotions that raced through her. If Aaron had lied about being at Marnie’s, then he could have also lied about why he was here in Austin.

And it soared him to the top of their suspect list.

Aaron cursed again, but this time it wasn’t muttered. It was raw and vicious. “Marnie.” He spat her name out like a continuation of the profanity. “She’s lying. She has to remember I was over at her place for Christina’s birthday and the anniversary of her death. Hell, Marnie invited me over there for those dates.”

Theo lifted his shoulder and the gesture conveyed he wasn’t the least bit convinced with Aaron’s denial. “Why would Marnie lie about something like that?” he asked.

“Because she hates my guts, that’s why,” Aaron insisted. “Marnie’s always thought I should have done more to help her sister stay off drugs. I tried my damnedest to do that, but Christina just couldn’t quit. Marnie never got that, and she blamed me when Christina died.”

Ava worked that explanation through her mind and immediately saw a flaw in Aaron’s logic. “If Marnie hates you, then why would she have allowed you to come to her house, much less stay there, as you’ve claimed.”

Oh, if looks could kill, Aaron would have blasted her to smithereens. “Claimed,” he snapped. “You think I’m guilty. You think I murdered those women. Well, I didn’t.”

Ava was ready to pepper him with a few more questions. Ready to try to hit Aaron’s hot buttons to get him to blurt out something that might end up incriminating him. She hadn’t remembered Aaron having much of a temper when they’d been teenagers, but considering the life he’d led, it could have turned him bitter, and bitterness often manifested itself as rage.

“You want to know who’s capable of these murders?” Aaron asked before she could continue. He didn’t wait for any of them to respond. “Marnie, that’s who. You’re looking for a killer? Well, look straight in Marnie’s direction.”

Chapter Seven

Harley pulled Ava’s car to a stop in front of her house and waited for her to open the garage. After she had, they went through the same security precautions they’d taken the night before. Searching her house again with weapons drawn had to be another jolting reminder of just how dangerous her life had become.

And exhausting.

Harley had seen the signs of fatigue from the spent adrenaline and the lack of sleep the night before. That’s why he’d hoped she would nap on the drive back to Silver Creek, but she’d instead spent the time on her phone, trying to get updates on the Austin PD investigation. Specifically, trying to learn if the cops there could dig up enough to arrest Aaron for either the shooting or the murders.

Harley wasn’t betting on either.

Simply put, there was no evidence to link Aaron to the crimes, and even with Marnie unable or unwilling to confirm his alibis, the cops would need to find some kind of smoking gun, maybe a literal one, to get any charges to stick.

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