Knox rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "I don't want to speak ill of your friend, but you did say he was something of a womanizer. Maybe he was running from a jealous boyfriend or husband. Hell, maybe he was just avoiding a woman that couldn't take a hint. I've been known to duck out of a bar when someone arrives that I was hoping not to see."
That was a distinct possibility. Ryan could picture a pissed-off boyfriend tracking down Brad to have it out.
"And that's the crux of this whole investigation, isn't it?" Mariah asked. "The reason Brad didn't go out the front door is probably the reason he ended up dead that night. But if we can't figure out the reason..."
She'd hit the nail on the head. Ryan believed that the reason Brad was dead was tied to why he didn't leave the bar the way the rest of them had that night. The big question was could he ever figure out what was going on?
"You've talked to all of Brad's friends and family," Knox said. "No one knew of anything strange going on."
"Except for Isla," Ryan said, his tone laced with frustration. "I haven't been able to talk to her."
"We'll definitely talk to her tomorrow," Knox promised. "Even if we have to have the cops bring her to the precinct. No more excuses."
"And Brad didn't show up at the airport or get on the plane," Mariah said. "Does that mean that we can assume that he never left the bar and construction site that night?"
Taking another sip of his now lukewarm beer, Ryan pondered that question. "We know he didn't get on the plane, and TSA didn't find any sign of him entering the airport when they investigated back then. Yes, I think we can say that it's likely that Brad didn't leave the area that night."
"This is good. What else can we say for sure?" Knox queried, pointing to the file. "We know that he was hit on the head, probably with that metal pipe found with his body. We know that the wound was on the side of his head, above his ear so there's a fifty-fifty chance that he was facing his attacker. We don't know if he had any defensive wounds because of the state of the body years later."
"We know that he was in touch with bookies," Ryan said. "We know that he spent a lot of money on women, partying, and booze. We also know that he had some struggles that semester in school but he pulled out good grades in the end."
"We know that he was cheating on Caroline," Mariah added. "We know that he was sleeping with Isla, and probably other women as well. We also know that Caroline was planning on ending it with Brad."
That was it. No one else spoke until eventually Knox broke the silence.
"Well...that's not a lot," he conceded. "But that's how these cold cases are. Nothing until you finally get a break. Let's hope that our talk with your friend Isla goes better tomorrow."
Mariah's phone buzzed with a call from her parents so she went into the bedroom to talk, leaving Ryan and Knox in the living room.
"I'm going to play Logan here," Knox said. "What's your gut telling you? That's what he'd ask."
Logan Wright's gut instincts were legendary. He'd caught a serial killer with them, after all.
Ryan didn't have to give it much thought. That was the point. Listen to his gut, not his brain.
"Not that my gut is anything like Logan's, but I'm kind of feeling like maybe the gambling isn't what got Brad killed. That there might be something else out there that we don't know. Mariah made an excellent point that Brad could find the money to pay his debts. Hell, he could have even come clean with his dad and Skip would have paid them. He was close with his parents and they wouldn't have let anything happen to him."
Knox nodded approvingly. "Mariah is a smart one. I'm leaning toward your theory as well. He had money to burn, basically, and while he might have been gambling big it doesn't seem like he was having any trouble from it. So then it has to be something else."
Something else. But what?
"Or a random tragedy," Knox added. "He may have pissed the wrong person off or been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It may have been completely unforeseen and nothing he brought on himself."
"Is that what you think?" Ryan asked. "The old chaos theory explanation?"
It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
"Look at the crime. A hit to the head by a piece of metal that was probably lying on the ground near where they were standing. This isn't premeditated anything. This is a crime of passion or opportunity. A bookie's enforcer doesn't come to collect a debt but not bring his own weapon. That's not good planning. At least that's what my gut is telling me."
"I can't argue your logic."
"That leaves us one big open question, though," Knox replied.
"And that is?"
"Why in the fuck didn't your friend exit the bar through the goddamn front door? It doesn't make any sense."
The whole investigation was beginning to go in circles, all leading back to Brad having a fun evening with not a care in the world.
Until he was hit on the head with a pipe.
Ryan wasn't sure they'd ever know what truly happened that night, and he was afraid that this was one case he wasn't going to be able to solve.
25
At some point last night, it had been decided that Mariah would accompany Ryan and Knox when they talked to Caroline and Danny again. They'd gone back and forth but eventually felt that if Caroline became upset it would be good to have Mariah there to be a shoulder to lean on.
Mariah was fine with the decision and anxious to see Caroline again. Both she and Liza had made a vow to keep in touch with their friends from the past a bit better, and this was step one in that plan. She and Caroline had drifted apart, and they didn't have to be best friends who talked all the time, but they didn't have to be strangers either. There had to be a happy medium somewhere.
If Danny and Caroline thought it was strange that they were back to ask more questions, they were too polite to say so. As before, they were invited in and offered refreshments by the pool by the smiling couple. Knox was introduced and he made fast friends with the family dog. It was love at first sight between the two of them.
"I'm sorry that we have to bother you again," Ryan apologized when they were all settled around the table. It was a typically hot summer day so Danny had opened the large striped umbrella to shelter them from the sun. "But I have a few more questions that have come up during the investigation."
Danny put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "As we said before, we have no secrets. You can ask us anything you want."
Clearing his throat, Ryan took the lead on asking the questions. That had also been decided last night. Knox had said that he would stay mostly out of it, if possible. He was there for back up only if Ryan missed a follow-up question.
"During the investigation we've found that Brad was communicating with several bookies on a daily basis. Based on the amount of money he was withdrawing and depositing in his account, we think he was heavily involved in gambling. We were wondering if you were aware of this."
Caroline's eyes had gone wide and even the usual unflappable Danny looked shocked.
"Gambling?" she repeated. "Are you saying he was addicted to gambling? Because I know that he placed bets from time to time. He'd tell me about them. I never thought it was a big deal."
"You think this is what got him killed?" Danny asked, before anyone could answer his wife. "That he owed money and they murdered him?"
Ryan shook his head. "Not necessarily. It's simply one avenue that we're looking at. Did either of you see Brad worried about finances at all?"
"Brad was never worried about money," Caroline replied firmly. "Ever. He never worried about what anything cost or where the money would come from. I never saw him concerned about it in the least."
That would have been Mariah's response as well. Brad wasn't a person who worried about much of anything, especially money. And for good reason; he didn't have the worries that average people did.
"Me neither," Danny agreed. "I don't ever remember Brad worried about much of anything except his grades that last s
emester. He said that if he didn't fix them then his mom and dad would be disappointed. That's it. That's all that I ever remember him being concerned about."
"Did Brad have any new friends during that time?" Knox asked, giving the dog a scratch behind the ears. "Did he use any new names that you weren't familiar with?"
Danny shook his head, but Caroline nodded. "Actually, he did. We were out at a movie the night after he got back to Chicago. His phone was off during the film but afterward he checked his messages and he said that he needed to return Aaron's call. I have no clue who Aaron was, and I think that I said that, but I don't remember him answering me. He just said that he was going to call him back and told me to go ahead inside of the restaurant and order for both of us. I did and when he came back he didn't say anything about the call. I guess I just assumed that he was a friend from college."
"Aaron," Ryan repeated. "No last name?"
"No last name," Caroline confirmed. "He only mentioned him that one time. That's why I didn't think it was important."
It wasn't much to go on in Mariah's eyes. If Ryan and Knox could find out anything about some mysterious guy from over ten years ago with no last name that would be amazing.
They chatted a little bit more but Caroline and Danny didn't have anything else to add. Brad hadn't been acting strangely and he didn't seem worried about anything.
Mariah gave her friend a hug when they all stood up to leave. "Liza and I are going to call you and take you out to lunch soon. If you want to, that is."
Caroline smiled and hugged back. "I'd like nothing more. If you don't call me, I'm going to call you."
Danny walked them to the front door. "So I guess we'll see you at the party tonight. Caroline and I are excited to have an evening out of the house without the kids."
Mariah hadn't even realized that Caroline and Danny were invited, which when she thought about it was kind of stupid. Of course, Liza would have invited them and their parents, too. All their families had been friends for years. That's why their generation had ended up together.
"It's going to be a great party," Ryan remarked. "Liza has party planning down to an art."
She did, and it would be.
Danny's smile fell and he hesitated for a moment. "There's not going to be clowns there, right? Like at your twenty-first?"
Liza had gone behind Ryan's back and ordered a couple of clowns for his twenty-first birthday party. Ryan hated clowns, and Mariah wasn't all that fond of them either. They were a little creepy in her opinion but she realized that some people loved them. She just wasn't one of them.
Anyway, it had been a prank between brother and sister, but it turned out that several people at the party didn't like clowns so Ryan had ordered them to leave, telling them that they'd get paid either way. They'd exited the venue immediately.
"No clowns," Ryan assured Danny. "Mom wasn't happy about that and it's her birthday. I think Liza has learned her lesson."
"It's pink-themed," Mariah said when the three of them were in her car and driving away. "You know...everything is pink. The tablecloths, the champagne, twinkle lights, the cake. She said your mother loves pink."
"My mother does love pink," Ryan replied. "I hope she loves it when everything around her looks like a five-year-old's room exploded."
"I don't think Liza chose a pink that bright. She used the words soft and classic."
"I'm just grateful that she didn't ask all of us to wear pink. That's where I draw the line."
Knox laughed. "Aw, come on. A pink bow tie and a matching pocket square. That could be tasteful. Do you think it's too girly?"
"I'm secure enough to wear pink," Ryan chuckled. "I just don't think it's my color."
Mariah had to ask. She'd been thinking about since Caroline had mentioned it.
"So does what Caroline told you about this guy named Aaron help? Can you do anything with that?"
"We can," Knox replied confidently. "It won't be easy, but if we dig deep we might find something. I'll go back through Brad's phone records and see if any of the numbers belong to an Aaron. We'll also go back through his credit card statements and emails."
"It might not be helpful though," Ryan. "Aaron may just be someone that Brad met at school. He may not have anything to do with what happened to him that night."
"But it's a lead?" Mariah pressed. "It might be helpful?"
"It might," Ryan agreed. "We have to follow every available trail until we've exhausted them all."
"Then we start all over again," Knox added. "We don't give up until there's literally nothing left to go on. We still have leads to follow. Your friend Isla might know something. She's been ducking Ryan's calls and that's sort of suspicious to me."
"She's not going to duck me any longer," Ryan said grimly. "That's where I'm going next. I'm going to talk to her whether she likes it or not."
When Ryan Beck was determined to do something, no one was going to stop him.
Knox went to meet with Theo while Ryan headed to Isla's day spa just outside of Chicago in one of the well-to-do suburbs. She had a whole string of day spas but one call to the downtown location and he was able to find out which one she was at today. It hadn't even been difficult. They'd easily offered him the information. He should have done this two days ago instead of calling Isla directly and leaving messages. He'd thought he was being polite and understanding for an old friend but now he was simply annoyed.
The waiting room of the day spa had a tinkling waterfall on one wall, soft carpet, deep leather couches, and the scent of some sort of potpourri or candle hung in the air. Maybe jasmine? He wasn't an expert. The woman behind the counter welcomed him with a big smile and a soft voice. There was a sign on the wall asking people to silence their phones.
This was a quiet, stress-free zone, apparently.
"I need to speak to Isla Norton."
The woman frowned and glanced at her computer screen. "Do you have an appointment? She's very busy."
He'd had enough of Isla's runaround. It wasn't this person's fault, but he wasn't going to be shown to the door.
"So am I. I'm an old friend of Isla's and she knows why I'm here. She can either talk to me right now or I can have the police come down here and escort her to the station. You can tell her it's her choice. I'll wait while you do that."
And then he did just that, declining to take a seat when it was offered. He stood at the counter while the obviously flustered woman hurried through a side door while the other patrons gave him curious looks. It was only a moment later when she stepped out of that doorway and addressed him.
"Isla will see you now."
"Thank you."
The woman gave him a scowl as he walked past, letting him know in no uncertain terms she found him to be a rude asshole.
She's not the first. Definitely won't be the last.
Isla's office was as opulent as her waiting room, with a large glass desk positioned in front of a picture window. There was another leather couch against the wall and a second waterfall to Ryan's left. Even the carpet seemed design to muffle any steps or noise.
"Ryan! It's so good to see you."
Isla gave him a hug, all smiles and welcome which surprised him. He'd assumed she would be angry at the way he'd butted into her office.
"It's good to finally see you too, Isla. I've been trying to talk to you for a couple of days now."
She threw up her hands and laughed. "I've been so busy lately. We're expanding to a new location and I swear I have nothing but meetings all day."
He had to tamp down the annoyance that immediately rose at her seemingly careless attitude. He needed her cooperation.
"I've been trying to talk to you about Brad," Ryan said. "I'm investigating his murder, as you know."
"I do know," she said, waving her arm toward the couch. "Let's sit down and catch up."
Ryan didn't want to catch up with Isla, he wanted answers to his questions.
"We need to talk about Brad. Why haven't you return
ed my calls?"
Her eyes widened and she appeared shocked at his frustrated tone. "I got your messages but I didn't think it was all that important."
Christ on a crutch, had Isla always been like this?
Yes, she had. He was now remembering how difficult she'd always been. And not for any particular reason, just because she liked to be in control and have her way.
"You didn't think a murder investigation was important? What would be important in your eyes, Isla?"
She pursed her lips and shrugged. "Brad's been gone a long time. What's a few more days?"
"Your empathy is overwhelming. I take it you didn't like Brad that much."
Hopping up from the couch, Isla shook her finger at Ryan. "I liked Brad. He was a nice guy. I liked the real him, the person you all didn't even know. But he's been gone for a long time and does it really matter how it all happened? It won't bring him back."
As usual, Isla wasn't thinking about anyone but herself.
"It matters to his family. Just because it doesn't matter to you doesn't mean that everyone thinks like you do."
"It won't bring him back," she repeated, her chin lifted. "Besides, I don't see how I can help your investigation. I don't know what happened to Brad that night. I left the bar and never saw him again."
"But you were seeing him," Ryan stated. "Everyone knows you were sleeping with Brad."
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed a water bottle from her desk and took a drink before replying. "Yes, we were sleeping together. That doesn't mean I know what happened to him that night. We weren't a couple. We were fucking."
"That means that you were spending time with Brad those last weeks before he disappeared. We know that he was in contact with multiple bookies and he was spending tens of thousands of dollars. Did you know he had a gambling problem? Was he upset or worried about anything? Did he mention anyone new? Perhaps an Aaron?"
He didn't mean to throw out all of his questions at once, but he was trying to get Isla to realize that this wasn't a social call. This was a serious murder investigation.
Her brows pinched together, she shook her head. "Brad was not addicted to gambling. Yes, he gambled but he wasn't addicted."
Gilded Craving: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 3) Page 18
