Page 28 of Marked For Revenge

“I don’t have any details about Ava’s pregnancy that you don’t already know,” Duran started. “Edgar was furious when he found out she was pregnant, and he did tell Aaron he’d be arrested if he didn’t leave town and never contact Ava again. By the way, even if that was criminally wrong, the statute of limitations has long passed. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone else to know about it.”

“I’ll determine that,” Ava said, and she made a keep-going motion with her hand.

Duran sighed again, but he did, indeed, keep going. “Edgar asked me to keep an eye on Aaron to make sure he stayed away, so I’m the one who hired the private investigators. One to monitor Aaron’s whereabouts. Another to keep an eye on you.”

Ava knew she shouldn’t have been surprised about that last part, but it was a bit of a shock to hear it confirmed. “How long did you keep PIs on me?” She wanted to know.

“Until you went to the police academy. I figured you’d notice someone following you around, and I didn’t want it to lead to a potentially embarrassing situation for your father.”

There was a definite creep factor in having her under surveillance for all those years, but the PIs wouldn’t have seen anything worth reporting back to Duran or her father. After she’d given up Caleb for adoption, she’d followed the straight and narrow. No boyfriends, no parties, no social stuff whatsoever. Ava had focused on her studies so she could become a cop. It had become an obsession, probably because she’d wanted to right wrongs. She could thank her father for that particular legacy.

“I want the names of the PIs,” Ava ordered.

Duran reluctantly nodded. “The one who was on you died a few years ago. Pancreatic cancer. His name was Don Stewart. The one on Aaron is Darcel Harrison. He’s good,” Duran added. “He’s been on Aaron all these years with calls and cursory checks to make sure he’s staying away from you.”

Harley fired off a text, no doubt to one of his fellow Rangers so they could do a background check on the PIs. Harrison would also have to be interviewed.

“Did the PI actually lose touch with Aaron after Christina’s death?” Ava came out and asked.

“Yes,” Duran readily answered. “For a while, anyway. Aaron lost his job and moved from his apartment, but he resurfaced a couple of months later.”

“Resurfaced at Marnie’s?” Ava pressed, hoping that the PI had been on Aaron when he’d visited the woman.

“No. You’re wanting to know if I had Marnie’s house under surveillance during the dates of the murders? I didn’t,” Duran supplied before Ava could confirm that was absolutely what she wanted. “I have no idea of either Marnie’s or Aaron’s whereabouts for those dates.”

Duran stopped, but Ava could tell there was something else he was holding back. “Spill it,” she ordered.

The man looked at Harley. “I’m about to tell you both something...sensitive. Something that we must keep among just the three of us.”

“No,” Harley said without hesitation. “If what you’re withholding can catch a killer, it won’t be kept hush-hush.” He leaned in closer, violating the man’s personal space. “Now, talk.”

Duran swallowed hard and paused a long time. “Aaron has been trying to blackmail Edgar for months now. Edgar doesn’t know,” he quickly added. “I took the initial call from Aaron, and I’m the one who’s been dealing with him.”

Ava was certain the look she gave Duran was loaded with skepticism. “Someone was trying to blackmail my father, and you didn’t let him know? Why would you keep something like that from him?”

“Because I didn’t want Edgar to be involved in something that could be potentially construed as unsavory, possibly even criminal. Aaron demanded hush money, and I reasoned with him that he didn’t have a shred of proof that Edgar had had any part in what happened twenty years ago. Aaron said he’d go to the press, and that they’d believe him. I assured him that they wouldn’t, that it’d be his word against a sitting state senator.”

She could see it possibly happening that way. Possibly. But she was almost positive Edgar knew. Then again, if he had, and Aaron had continued to push the idea of spilling the truth, Aaron might have had some kind of fatal “accident” to get him completely out of the picture.

“You said Aaron had been trying to blackmail Edgar for months,” Harley restated. “How long exactly? And how much have you paid him?”

Duran’s mouth tightened. “Seven months.” He paused again. “I gave Aaron a one-time payment of ten thousand dollars. I emphasized that was all he was going to get.”

Ava zoomed right in on the seven months. “Did Aaron make the contact before or after his girlfriend’s death?”

“Right before. In fact, I had the PI deliver the money in cash, and that night his girlfriend died.”

Oh, mercy. That was either a horrible coincidence or else Aaron had given Christina the money to get the drugs that had killed her.

“And Aaron hasn’t contacted you since about getting another round of cash?” Harley asked.

“He did,” Duran admitted. “But I informed him if he pressed the matter, that I’d tell everyone he was responsible for his girlfriend’s death. I believe he’s worried how Marnie would react to that.”

“Should Aaron be worried about Marnie?” Ava asked.

Duran’s mouth tightened again. “Yes, I think he should. I’ve had a background check done on the woman, and Marnie practically raised her after their folks died. She was fiercely protective of Christina. She already despises Aaron, so news like this wouldn’t sit well with her.”

“‘Protective,’” Ava repeated in a mutter. “Protective enough that Marnie would kill and try to set up Aaron?”

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