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Except the cops. They’d been real.
Or had they?
She’d claimed that the reason she’d reached out to me had been because of the detectives, and I’d just accepted it. Had she hired them to give her an excuse to come see me again rather than the usual ‘you left this at my place’ thing people sometimes did?
But she’d asked Royd about Grandad, not me. She’d never even met my grandfather. Why would she care if Royd had ever worked for him? If she was wondering about whether or not I was going to inherit from Grandad, I could see looking into him, but it would’ve made more sense to talk to a lawyer about any legal aspects.
None of this made sense at all.
“I don’t know what this girl told you,” Royd said, “but my gut tells me she ain’t giving you the whole story. I got a lot of experience dealing with people, and she’s a shifty one.”
I nodded absently. “Thank you, Mr. Kichner. Send me your bill.”
“Will do.” He stood up and left without another word.
I appreciated that. I didn’t have it in me to make idle chit-chat just to be polite. I was too busy wondering if Linsey had played me from the very start.
How had it come together? Had she seen my picture somewhere and decided that I looked like the kind of man she could con? Was that what she and Kasey did? Scammed rich men? Had they even lived anywhere else? Had they moved to Houston because of me?
Or had it all been an opportunity thing? Had she recognized me when I’d helped her, and that had been why she’d invited me up to her apartment? Or had it been the cops who’d told her who I was and that was why she’d come to see me? Not to warn me about them, but because she’d thought it was a good way to see if she could keep things going between us?
I’d seen so many people lose their hearts to someone who was just after their money. Was I just another statistic? A man who paid too much attention to the physical and ignored the warning signs?
The longer I thought about it, the angrier I became, until there was only one thing I could do.
I had to talk to her and find out the truth, even if it hurt. Pain would be better than wondering.