Page 54 of Defending You

Asher clicked through each file quickly. When nothing jumped out, he slowed down, studying each mug shot.

None looked familiar to him.

Cici shook her head. “Maybe the guys following us aren’t organized crime?”

“Maybe.” He gazed at the photos on the screen. “They’re definitely organized, and definitely criminals, so this seemed like the place to start.” He clicked on one of the lists, then began the painstaking task of pasting each name into Google and searching for a photo.

There were hundreds of names.

They’d gone through about ten when he stifled a yawn.

“I feel the same way.” Cici sat back, frustration etching her face. “We’re never going to find him like this. Can you cross-reference the names with Maine?”

Asher raised an eyebrow. “Why Maine?”

“That’s where Forbes’s parents lived, where the necklace was stolen. It just makes sense that the thief is from there,or somewhere in Northern New England. New Hampshire, Vermont?”

“You’re assuming the man tracking you stole the necklace. What if he bought it from the thief?”

“No.” She spoke the word as if there were no doubt. “The necklace never hit the black market. If the thief sold it, then he had to have known the buyer personally, and the buyer would have to have been willing to spend money on a piece of jewelry he could never showcase, a collector who didn’t care about showing off his collection. Those people exist, but they’re rare. Usually, when something as famous as The Crimson Duchess is stolen, the thief already has a buyer lined up, but this was a crime of convenience. I’d bet money the thief has held onto it all these years.”

Asher started to argue, but she lifted her hand to put him off. “Plus, the guy murdered the store owner when he could’ve just asked to buy the piece back. No, I’m convinced it was one of the smugglers, an accomplice in the Ballentine murders. He wanted his necklace back, but mostly, he didn’t want to be linked to a double homicide. He needed to destroy all of Mr. D’s records. Would someone guilty of buying stolen property cover up that minor crime—relatively speaking—by committing murder and arson? I don’t think so.”

“Then why sell it in the first place?”

She rubbed her lips together. “He didn’t sell it. He said that his son had worked with the other clerk—Mr. D’s niece. I’m guessing the son stole the items from his dad and sold them to the jewelry store.”

“Let’s go back, though.” Not that Asher didn’t agree with Cici, but he wanted to look at this from every angle. “You’re assuming the theft of the necklace was…what did you call it? A crime of convenience. But what if the Ballentine murders were relatedto the necklace? What if the necklace was the reason for the murders?”

“We know why the Ballentines were targeted, and it had nothing to do with jewelry.”

Asher let his raised eyebrows ask the obvious question. The crime had happened in his hometown, so he’d read about the recent developments in the old murder case. But if the authorities knew the murderers’ motives, that information hadn’t been released to the press.

“Forbes’s father was a confidential informant,” Cici explained. “He was gathering intel on a smuggling ring that operated through an inlet—you remember the Haunted Inlet?”

Asher nodded. Like everyone else in town, he’d heard the stories.

“Charles Ballentine was being coerced into letting the smugglers operate on his property. He agreed, but then he passed intel along to an FBI agent.”

“They’re holding that information close to the vest.”

“Still trying to gather up everyone who was involved at the time.”

“But you know it because…?”

“Because Brooklynn is dating Forbes. It’s a long story, but they’ve discovered two of the people involved in his parents’ deaths. One is dead and the other is in critical condition.”

“Meaning he’s not talking.”

“She. But yes, she’s not talking. They’re still trying to round up everyone else. They’re keeping what they know quiet because they don’t want those people to go to ground.”

Asher considered that. “So you’re saying the Ballentines were killed because the smugglers found out he betrayed them? The father?”

“Right. The killers and their accomplices searched the house after the murders. The necklace must have been found during that search.”

“Was it just…lying around?”

Her head tilted to the side, her eyes scrunching. “If memory serves, Charles and Grace Ballentine had gone to some kind of charity function where she’d worn it. My guess is they hadn’t returned it to the safe yet.”