Page 8 of Marked For Revenge

That Caleb had used the note as a way to make them believe he was innocent.

A sort of reverse psychology. One that would involve him in the investigation where he might have an easier time getting to her. So he could kill her.

“Is Caleb’s bio father in the picture?” Theo pressed.

“Not if he listened to my father’s threats, he isn’t.” Ava didn’t bother mincing words that might have painted Edgar in a better light. “His name is Aaron Walsh, but he’s apparently been using the name Eddie Walker. My father threatened him with jail time if he didn’t disappear, so that’s what he did. I just learned my father has had a PI keeping an eye on him. We should have the PI records soon.” If not, she’d have a conversation with her dad.

“I’ll go ahead and order a background check on him and the alias,” Theo said, shifting his attention to his laptop. While he typed in the request, Ava gave him Aaron’s birthdate and the address where he’d lived when they’d dated.

“If Aaron was run out of town,” Theo went on after he’d finished the request, “it’s possible he’s holding a grudge. Maybe against Edgar. Maybe against you, too,” he added to Ava.

Harley made a sound of agreement. “And according to Edgar, Aaron’s girlfriend died of an overdose about a year ago. That could be the trigger that got him to start planning and executing the murders.”

The icy chill went through Ava, skin to bone. It was something she should have considered right off—and she probably would have had the note not put an F-5 tornado in her head.

“All right, we’ll locate Aaron and bring him in for questioning,” Theo continued. “Give me the names of anyone else who knew that you’d had a child.”

“Harley and I were going over that when we were in the bullpen,” Ava said. “The only living people are my father, Duran, Harley, me and now you. The couple I lived with when I was pregnant have both passed away. So has the doctor who delivered the baby.”

“Passed away of natural causes?” Theo asked, obviously latching right onto the possibility of foul play.

“Yes. I checked,” Ava assured him. She glanced at Harley. “Because I know my father is capable of pretty much anything and can’t be trusted.”

Harley didn’t wince, didn’t dodge her gaze, either, but he had to know she’d just sent a zing his way. “I agree with you,” he readily admitted. “But Edgar was set up for those black-market land deals, and I had no choice but to drop the investigation.”

Theo turned to Harley. “I remember you mentioning that. It happened...when, about six months ago?”

“Five months,” Harley verified. Since Theo knew that Ava was five months pregnant and the baby was Harley’s, he could no doubt figure out why Ava and he had split.

And that was something else Ava had yet to consider. Even though it was a bitter pill to swallow, she had to accept that her father had undeniably been innocent and framed, and that meant there was someone out there who wanted to ruin Edgar. Maybe it had escalated into the murders because going after her could be a way to get back at Edgar.

“I can check my father’s alibis for the times of the murders,” she suggested. “Because if it is someone trying again to set him up, we could use the alibis to establish his innocence. If we make that public, it could stop someone else from being killed.”

Of course, that was a long shot, but it was something they needed to at least consider. A big problem, though, would be getting her father to agree to it. He likely wouldn’t want it known that he was possibly the reason these murders were happening.

“At my father’s insistence, I used an alias when I was pregnant and delivered the baby,” Ava continued. “There are medical records under that name Alyssa Monroe. I don’t think there’s anything in them, though, that could link back to me, but we should take a closer look just in case.”

Theo nodded and jotted down the name. “Have you gotten any messages or threats over the years that have to do with the child you gave up?”

“No.” She didn’t have to search her memory for that particular answer. If someone had contacted her about Caleb or Aaron, she would have remembered.

Another nod from Theo. This time, he leaned back in his chair. “What do you think Caleb would have done if he’d found out he’s adopted and you’re his birth mother? A birth mother who’s now pregnant and intends on keeping her child?”

This time, she had to pause, and then she shook her head. “I don’t have a clue because I don’t know him. I don’t know his adoptive parents, either, and don’t have any idea how they’d react if they knew a senator’s daughter had given birth to their son.”

But it was definitely something to think about, and Ava had already gotten started on that thinking when her phone dinged. It was a short text from Duran.

“The PI just emailed the sheriff the info on Aaron Walsh,” Ava relayed.

Ava immediately showed the text to Harley and Theo, and Theo went to his emails while Harley and she positioned themselves behind him so they could see the laptop screen. When Theo opened the file, she was shocked to see that it was over a thousand pages of reports.

“Well,” Theo muttered, “this surveillance has obviously been going on a while.”

It had been indeed and had started the same week Aaron had left San Antonio, and Ava. Theo quickly scanned through the years until he got to the most recent ones where Aaron had been living in Bulverde as Eddie Walker.

There was an attached coroner’s report of his girlfriend’s death that Ava would want to take a look at later but, for now, they focused on the PI’s latest attempts to find Aaron. The PI had highlighted the name and phone number of the dead girlfriend’s sister, Marnie Dunbar, who also lived in Bulverde, and he had added a note that he was certain Marnie knew Aaron’s whereabouts.

Ava checked the time. It was close to midnight, late to be making a call, but she didn’t want to wait until morning. Obviously, Theo thought so as well, because he took out his phone, pressed in the number and put the call on speaker. It took four rings, but someone finally answered.

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