Page 32 of Marked For Revenge

That was because he immediately spotted one of their suspects. Harley had seen Marnie’s DMV photo, so he instantly recognized her face. She was tall and had an athletic build. Some people dressed up for an interview with the cops, but not Marnie. She was wearing capris workout pants, running shoes and a loose top. She had her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.

“What inconsistencies?” the woman demanded the moment she saw Ava and him.

Since she didn’t ask who they were, Marnie must have seen photos of them, too. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to find because of Ava’s background and some of Harley’s high-profile cases.

It took Harley a moment to recall that Theo had insisted Marnie come in for a face-to-face interview because there’d been some inconsistencies in what she’d said to Ava and him. And there had been. Aaron had accused Marnie of trying to set him up for the murders.

“This way,” Theo said, coming out of his office and motioning for all of them to follow him.

He didn’t address Marnie’s question while they made their way to an interview room.

Once inside, Theo Mirandized her, causing Marnie to gasp. “Are you arresting me?” she snapped, aiming the question at Theo.

“No. This interview is to put your statement on record. I read you your rights for your own protection, so I could remind you again that you can have a lawyer present.”

“So you said when you called,” Marnie muttered. Her chin came up and she looked Theo straight in the eyes when she dropped down into one of the chairs. “Well, I have nothing to hide, so ask whatever you want.”

Theo, Ava and he sat as well, and Theo slid a piece of paper toward Marnie. “Look at those dates and tell me if Aaron Walsh was with you on those nights.”

Marnie picked up the paper, looked at it. “I’ve already said I’m not sure if he was there or not. Maybe.”

“Aaron claims you invited him over on those dates,” Ava explained.

“I could have, in a general sort of way. You know, like drop over whenever and pick up that photo you always liked of Christina.” She stopped and huffed. “Look, this isn’t a big deal. I despise Aaron, but if I could say with absolute certainty that he was at my house, I would because that would give him an alibi. That’s what you want, right? To make sure he has an alibi.”

“Do you have alibis for those nights?” Theo asked, turning the tables on her.

Marnie gave him one sharp glare before she shook her head. “If Aaron was there, then he’s my alibi, but since I can’t confirm it, then I guess I don’t have any. Why would I need them? I can’t possibly be a suspect in the murders.”

None of them confirmed that. Because she was.

“You also told us that Aaron was worried about Caleb trying to harm him,” Harley threw out there a moment later. “Aaron says that’s not true.”

“Well, duh.” Marnie dismissed that with the wave of her hand. “He said it when he was drunk and rambling. He doesn’t remember a lot of things.” She paused, her jaw tightening. “Like the name of the person who sold my sister the drugs that killed her.”

“You think Aaron knows that?” Ava asked.

“Damn straight, I do.” Marnie leaned in, her face tight with anger now. “And I also believe Aaron paid for those drugs. Instead of using the money to get her counseling help, he fed her addiction.”

That meshed with what Duran had told them about the timing of the payoff he’d given Aaron. Still, Harley had searched for any connections that Aaron might have known drug dealers and he hadn’t come up with anything solid.

Harley went with a different angle. He took the paper and wrote down the names of the three murdered women. “Do you know any of them?” he asked.

Marnie looked at the list and glanced up at him. Their gazes met for just a second before she looked away. “I knew the second one, Theresa Darnell. I read about her murder.”

Interesting. As far as Harley knew, this was the first time one of the suspects admitted to knowing one of the victims.

“How’d you know her?” Harley pressed.

Marnie groaned and her mouth stayed tight a moment. “Aaron.” She practically spat his name out. “My sister and Aaron had a lot of splits in their stormy relationship, and during one of those splits, he started seeing Theresa. I don’t know how they met, so you’d have to ask him about that. Anyway, when Aaron and Christina got back together, Theresa showed up at my place looking for Aaron, and she made a big scene. I had to threaten to have her arrested before she’d leave.”

Ava shook her head. “There’s no police report about this.”

“No, because I didn’t file one. Theresa and I had words, that’s all. She was looking to confront Christina for stealing her man. A man Theresa had had for a week or two, I might point out.” She added an eye roll to that.

Since Aaron almost certainly knew that Theresa’s name had been one of the murdered women, Harley had to wonder why the man hadn’t just volunteered that info. Because he hadn’t, it made Aaron look downright guilty.

“Since you seem to be digging for anything that could put me in a bad light,” Marnie went on, “you’ll probably find out that one of my old boyfriends, Paul Harmon, was in a militia. One of those groups that plays soldier and stockpiles guns. When I started seeing him, I didn’t know about this, and as soon as I learned of it, I broke it off.”

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