Page 5 of Marked For Revenge

Yeah. Harley mentally played with that for a couple of moments. Maybe the jail time and experience with Ava’s father had left Aaron bitter enough to disappear.

Or to kill.

“If it is Aaron who’s doing this, why wait twenty years to start killing?” Harley muttered, hoping that by saying it aloud, a good theory would come to him. But he came up with nothing.

Ava shook her head. “I told Theo about my former boyfriends, including Aaron. I didn’t tell him about the baby,” she quickly added. “But I briefed Theo on anyone from my past who could play into this.” She paused. “Now, I need to tell him that I had a child. Until tonight, I wasn’t sure a pregnancy or baby was part of the profile. I mean the others had had miscarriages, but I never did.”

Harley picked up on that thread. “You were thinking more along the lines of someone tormenting you because you’d failed to get justice or had gotten justice that was a trigger for the killer to go after you?”

“Yes. And that might still be what this is. I don’t want to dismiss it in case the killer is using my face on those masks as some kind of diversion to throw us off his scent.” She paused. Probably had to, because all of this was no doubt hitting her hard. “But with the third victim having had a miscarriage, there’s a strong possibility that it’s connected.”

Harley made a sound of agreement but didn’t add more because Deputy Diana Warner walked past them, heading to Theo’s office with some call memos.

“Any reason you didn’t run for sheriff when my uncle Grayson retired?” Harley asked Ava while he glanced around the bullpen. Better to switch to a less personal topic with Diana in hearing range. “You’re the most experienced deputy.”

“Because I dislike paperwork and politics.” Ava shrugged. “Plus, Theo’s a lot better as sheriff than I’d ever be.”

Harley figured that was true about Theo, who had a way of soothing ruffled feathers while still staying in control of a situation. Theo was born to be a cop, and so was Ava. Ironic, since she was practically Texas royalty. Four generations of state senators, congressmen, judges, etcetera. Four generations of old money that had added even more money to the family coffers. Harley figured her ancestors were shaking their heads over why she’d want to ditch all of that and pin on a badge.

She opened her mouth to say something else but obviously rethought it when Diana returned from Theo’s office and passed by them again. “You’ll be staying with your folks at the family ranch?” she asked him instead.

Harley nodded, though the term family ranch wasn’t an adequate description. It was more of a sprawling estate with an equally sprawling ranch and multiple homes for the three generations of the still-growing Ryland clan. Many of his siblings and cousins lived there.

“Mom’s baking and Dad wants us to go fishing,” Harley added to the conversation. He probably wouldn’t have time for a fishing trip, but he needed to carve out a few hours with his folks. His adoptive dad, Boone, was in his eighties now, so Harley needed to make more of an effort to be with him and his mom.

Theo was finishing up a phone call when he finally came out of his office and made a beeline toward them while slipping his phone into the pocket of his jeans. “The bomb wasn’t active. It was the real deal with enough explosives to take out anyone within ten feet of the body, but there was no timer or switch to detonate it.”

“So why put it there?” Harley had to ask.

Theo shook his head and, in a weary gesture, he scrubbed his hand over his face. “Maybe just to add another layer of fear.”

Maybe. The killer was definitely playing games with them. “The Ranger lab might be able to find out if the bomb has a signature.” A long shot, especially considering the killer hadn’t used such a device before. Still, he’d either made it himself or gotten it from someone who could have left a signature with other bombs.

“Mind if we go into your office?” Ava asked Theo. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Theo stared at her a moment before shifting his gaze to Harley. Then he nodded and motioned for them to follow him. However, they’d only made it a few steps before the front door flew open and the visitors stormed in.

The operative words being flew and stormed.

Senator Edgar Lawson entered, followed by Duran Davidson, and they brought with them an urgency that seemed to radiate off them in thick, hot waves.

“Ava,” Edgar immediately said. There was plenty of concern in his voice, but Harley wasn’t sure how genuine it was.

Edgar was one of those people who had a powerful presence just by coming into a room. That was in part because of his size. He was six-foot-four. And, even though he was in his sixties, he still sported the body that had earned him plenty of accolades back in the day when he’d been a college football star. He modeled the good-ol’-boy looks, too, which he no doubt kept fresh with the occasional plastic surgery that made him look a good decade younger.

Duran was a different story and had a presence of a totally different kind. Lanky to the point of being bony, with sharp features and ink-black hair that only emphasized his too-pale skin. His movements were jerky, clumsy and he always seemed to be on the verge of tripping over his own feet. Or apologizing. Harley had discovered the man was good at that. Placating, apologizing, groveling or doing whatever it took to keep his boss in a favorable limelight.

Harley didn’t trust either of them one little bit.

And, despite Duran’s wimpy demeanor, Harley suspected the man was capable of just about anything. He’d have to be to have stayed this close to Edgar for all this time.

Edgar slid his gaze over them and scowled when his attention landed on Ava’s stomach. Publicly, Edgar had played up the fact that he’d soon be a grandfather, but Harley figured the man despised him for getting Ava pregnant. Worse, Edgar couldn’t shove Harley out of the picture the way he had Aaron. That almost certainly overrode Edgar’s feelings of gratitude over Harley’s part in keeping him out of jail. If the man had such feelings, that is. Edgar might have dismissed it as Harley simply doing his job.

“I heard about the latest murder,” Edgar said, aiming his comment not at Ava or Theo but at Harley. “And I want to know what the heck you’re doing about it. My daughter is obviously in danger.”

“Your daughter is a cop who can take care of herself,” Ava snarled, and she added a huff to that. “We’re in the middle of an investigation, so unless you have pertinent info, you need to leave.”

Well, that took care of Edgar’s concerned look. His eyes didn’t narrow. His jaw didn’t go stiff. But Harley detected some anger simmering behind that oily façade.

---