Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
I hadn’t mattered, wasn’t important, could live.
Yeah, that logic made sense.
He might even have killed himself, his body in pieces in the ruins of the house.
No way to know. The obsessive searching I’d done on such murderers—who I’d learned were called “family annihilators”—had thrown out an even mix of those who ended their own lives alongside those of their families, and those who walked away to begin a whole new life.
As if now that they’d erased their family, they’d also erased their shame and worry.
My mind was still struggling to comprehend the cold psychopathy of the entire thing when I woke the next morning. But I couldn’t afford to be distracted by my horror at what Bobby had done. I needed more to bolster my case, had decided to focus on Ajay’s comment about Bobby’s teenage trouble. I knew it was flimsy, but it was all I had.
Hopefully, the more incidents I could add to his pattern of antisocial behavior, the better I’d look in comparison.
The only problem was that I had no idea where to start my research.
Standing in front of the motel bathroom’s chipped sink as I finished shaving, I thought back to the engagement party.
My mind flickered with a collage of images.
How Diya’s father had smiled indulgently at her, how her mother had brushed back her hair now and then.
Love.
Yet they’d allowed the blame for Ani’s violent death to be placed on her head. Protecting their bigger, stronger son because he wouldn’t make as sympathetic a subject as Diya. Blame the innocent little girl, sweep the whole thing under the rug. Even if that meant giving her a psychic wound that festered until she needed medication to fight it.
Richard—that’s it!
My mind snagged on the name of the husky blond man with a small red birthmark near his left cheekbone whom Bobby had introduced as his fishing buddy.
“Known each other since the first day of high school,” Richard had said. “Bobby’s uniform was ironed, his hair in this real tight cut, and I thought for sure he was going to be a swot.”
They’d both laughed then, because the next day, they’d turned up to try out for the school’s junior rugby team, ended up together in the scrum, and that was it. A friendship that had lasted through school and differing career paths.
Richard hadn’t gone to college, I thought with a frown, trying to follow that thread to lock down a way to get hold of him. He and Bobby had been chatting about how Bobby would invite him and his— “Apprenticeship!” I tapped a fisted hand against the cold porcelain of the sink.
Bobby had groaned that the apprentice electricians had been a bigger hit at the college parties than fellow students like Bobby. “I shot myself in the foot inviting you lot,” he’d said with a laugh. “All the girls wanted the buff blue-collar guys, not the nerds.”
But when I grabbed my phone and looked up “Richard + electrician + Rotorua,” I got several hits and all of them came with a face attached that wasn’t of the man I’d met.
I tried to remember who else I might’ve seen chatting with Richard.
A vague memory emerged, of neighbor Tim in an enthusiastic discussion with the younger man. Could be nothing, but at least it was a start. But first, I had more important business.
Chapter 44
Private notes: Detective Callum Baxter (LAPD)
Date: Feb 23
Time: 09:06
Bastard must’ve been born under a lucky star. The partial fingerprint on the fucking critical engine component isn’t enough for a match.
Time: 19:09
Perez thinks we missed something. Because either Tavish Advani is a master criminal…or we’re looking in the wrong place. I can’t see it. Advani fits every single parameter. He has the motive. He had the means—access to Virna’s house and vehicles. And he’s got a track record of dead lovers.
Man is also the kind of smart that’s dangerous.
Virna had no enemies, and her son has his own millions. He didn’t need to kill Mom to get his hands on the inheritance. There are no other suspects.
Chapter 45
My wife lay unmoving, but the tube down her throat was gone, the ventilator silent.
“She doesn’t need it anymore,” said the senior nurse who was there when I arrived, her face holding a smile. “That’s excellent improvement, given her injuries. Your wife’s a real fighter.” She made a note on the chart.
“Do you think the doctors will bring her out of the coma soon?”
“They’ve already started the process—her team is very concerned about the brain injury and wants to assess her while she’s conscious.”
“That’s from the stab wound to her head?” I said, unable to comprehend how Bobby could’ve done that to the sister he’d kissed so lovingly on the forehead before our engagement party.
Can’t believe you got married by Elvis, kiddo. What a story for your grandkids.