Page 39 of Marked For Revenge

“One more thing,” Theo went on. “I’m trying to get the militia member, Lionel Henderson, in for an interview to find out about his explosives training and to ask him about his possible relationships with Marnie, Aaron and any of our victims. So far, though, he hasn’t returned any of my calls and he wasn’t home when I sent someone out to his place. His boss says he hasn’t showed up for work in the past two days.”

Ava groaned softly. “He could be on the run.”

That’d be Harley’s guess. If Lionel had gotten word that both Marnie and Aaron had been brought in for questioning, then he might have figured it was time to disappear rather than face law enforcement with questions about his training with explosives. It was entirely possible Lionel had had nothing to do with the murders directly, but he’d almost certainly be able to tell them who’d hired him.

“Considering Aaron’s mood, why don’t Harley and you observe the first part of the interview?” Theo suggested. “If you see something in his body language, or if he says something that I’m not picking up on, then you can come in and let me know.”

That arrangement suited Harley just fine, and it would give Ava a chance to catch her breath. Theo would ask the necessary questions and it was likely he’d be able to get a lot more out of Aaron than Ava would. Considering the brief encounter Aaron had had with Ava in the hall, Caleb and their past would be playing into this.

Harley didn’t ask Ava if she was okay when they went into the interview room, but he did touch her arm and rub it lightly. Just enough to let her know he was there. She winced a little, causing him to yank back his hand. Then her own hand went to her stomach.

“That was the strongest movement she’s ever had,” Ava muttered. “I’ve felt flutters before, but this felt like she turned over or something.”

That sent a whole lot of alarm through him. “Is that normal? Is the baby all right?”

“It’s normal,” she assured him. “I don’t think you’ll be able to feel it yet.”

Still, she took his hand and pressed it to her stomach. He didn’t feel anything. Well, nothing physical anyway, but touching Ava this way definitely had to break down some personal barriers for her.

“Sorry,” Ava added. “She’s still now.”

There might have been an awkward silence if there’d actually been a chance for that, but just as Harley drew back his hand, Theo started the interview on the other side of the observation glass.

Theo recited the Miranda warning to Aaron again and jumped right into a key question.

“Why didn’t you volunteer that you’d had a relationship with Theresa Darnell?” Theo demanded.

Clearly, Aaron hadn’t been expecting that because he opened his mouth, closed it and then cursed. “Marnie told you. Of course she did. She wants to get back at me any way she can.”

Theo stared at him. “Answer the question.”

Aaron huffed. “I didn’t tell you because I thought it would look bad that I’d been involved with her.”

“It does look bad,” Theo verified. “And it looks especially bad when you’ve been questioned by law enforcement and you didn’t come clean. Did you kill her?” Theo added without so much as a pause.

“No,” Aaron howled. “Of course not. I haven’t killed anybody. Theresa and I hung out for a while, that’s all, and when Christina and I got back together, Theresa didn’t like it much. She had words with Marnie when she went looking for me.”

Theo continued to level that lethal cop’s stare on Aaron. “How about Sandy Russo? Did you know her, too?”

“No.” Aaron spewed off another round of profanity.

“Well, Theresa and she were friends,” Theo said, maybe stretching the truth there. The women knew each other, but Harley wasn’t sure they’d been actual friends. Still, a cop was allowed to outright lie during an interview. “Did both women rile you enough to make them targets?”

Aaron stood so fast that the chair he’d been sitting in went flying back. “That’s it. I want a lawyer.”

Theo nodded, tucked his small notepad back into his pocket. “Call one and we’ll resume this interview.” He started for the door then stopped. “Oh, and when your lawyer arrives, I’ll be questioning you about some info I recently learned. Info that you’re the one who supplied Christina the drugs that killed her. Mention that to your lawyer, why don’t you?”

Aaron did more cursing, but the moment Theo was out of the room, the man began to pace as well. Clearly agitated, Aaron took out his phone and made a call. Since it was likely to a lawyer, Harley turned off the sound in the observation room.

A moment later, Theo opened the door and peered in at them. “I figured I could push at least another button or two before he lawyered up.”

“Good idea,” Harley assured him, and then he spoke aloud what they were all thinking. “You don’t have enough to hold Aaron.”

Theo made a quick sound of agreement. “Not unless we can get something on the drug purchase.”

“Then that’s where I’ll start digging,” Ava assured him.

Theo stepped back as if to let her get started on that, but his phone rang. He tensed when he glanced at the screen and then answered it. Seconds later, the sickening dread washed over Theo’s face.

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