Page 32 of Ghostly Bother (Ghostly #9)

Angus took a slice of pizza from the box and sat down.

He stared at the whiteboard where they'd written everything they knew about Eden's case down.

They had a timeline, but it didn't tell them much.

They knew whoever killed Eden had to have known about the meeting, and who it was with since they'd messaged Lucas to cancel the drop.

It had to be someone Eden trusted. Someone who knew that the bribes were taking place and when they were happening.

His phone rang and he forced his attention from the case as he saw his mother's name show up on the screen. "Hey, Mom."

"There's my favorite son." She laughed at her own joke.

"You won't be able to use that line any longer if I get married one day."

"Lance will be my favorite son-in-law. You'll always be my favorite son." His mother sounded happy.

"Thanks, Mom, but I know you didn't call me just to remind me I'm your favorite."

"I might have. I don't want you to forget it, but you're right.

I do have news for you. Betty and Bethany dropped by my place to pass on some information you need to know.

It seems Bethany and Ray dropped by Michael Anderson's home this morning and found him in bed with Eden's sister.

They are for sure having an affair and Bethany told me she thinks it's been going on for a while. They didn't act like new lovers."

Angus sat up straighter. "He's sleeping with his sister-in-law?"

"No doubt about it. Ray and Bethany had to leave when things got a little too exciting in the bedroom. Bethany said they'll go back later tonight and see if she's still there, but they figured you'd want to know." She paused for a moment. "Does this help the case?"

"I don't know. It sure does give us more to look into, especially if it was going on before her murder.

" Angus stood as Franks and Amy stepped back into the conference room.

He had to be careful what he said around Amy as this involved the ghosts, and she knew nothing about them.

He caught Franks attention, gestured to his phone, and stepped out into the empty hallway, thankful it was a weekend and the place was quieter than usual. "Did they find out anything else?"

"No, but they said they were sleeping when they got there, then woke and started doing other things.

" His mother stressed the word 'other'. "They will go back later and see what they can find.

They're helping Isaac with a situation later tonight, then will head over to Michael's once that's finished. "

"Everything okay with Isaac? Something I need to know?

" He hadn't been keeping up with the drug trafficking cases that Captain Marshall was working on.

The narcotics detectives had been following up on leads that the ghosts shared with the captain.

Angus left it to them to handle unless his help was needed.

"No, it's all good. They are planning on making an arrest tonight and Ray and Bethany want to be there to watch it all happen. Nothing for you to worry about. You focus on this case so you can move out of my place and back in with my favorite son-in-law."

"That's the goal. I love you and Dad to death, but I miss Lance. I just need a chance to talk to him without Eden around, and I fear that won't happen until I wrap up this case." Even then, he worried Eden might stick around since she thought Lance was the only living person who could see her.

"Then let's get that done. If I have to find a way to keep her away, you two need to talk.

We'll figure something out tomorrow. For now, I hope that this information helps with your case.

Bethany wanted to make sure you knew about it.

Your father and I are going out tonight, and we'll be gone in the morning for our usual Sunday breakfast, but when we get home, we'll find a way to get Lance and you talking.

Call me if you need anything before then. "

"I will. Love you and Dad. Have fun tonight and please be safe."

"Safe is my middle name." His mother disconnected the call before he could argue.

Angus shoved his phone back into his pocket and headed back into the conference room. "I have news, but it came from an anonymous source." He sat back down at the table.

"Do tell." Amy glanced up with interest.

"Seems Rachel Reese and Michael Anderson are sleeping together, and my source thinks it's been going on for a while."

"Like before the murder?" Franks asked.

"They didn't say, but says they are very comfortable together, and from what they saw whatever this is between them didn't seem new.

" Angus nodded to the chart. "Michael Anderson's alibi is firm.

Neighbor verified he was home with the kids.

Security cameras show him coming home and not leaving again. "

"What do we know about Rachel's alibi?" Amy asked.

"Not much. Said she was home when Eden was killed, but there is no one to verify. We didn't push because she wasn't on our radar as a suspect." Franks stood and went to the whiteboard. "Let's see how she matches up with what we know. Killer was taller than Eden."

"Rachel is about five-eight or so. That's a good four inches taller than Eden, and she's always in those fancy boots…" His voice trailed off.

Franks nodded as he tapped the pen against the while board where they'd written a note about the boot prints in the dirt at the murder site. "We assumed it was a man wearing cowboy boots, but we only had the heel prints."

"As far as we know, she's the only one who might have known where Eden was meeting Lucas.

The question is, why kill her? Eden was giving her a life of luxury.

Killing Eden ended the bribery and cuts off the income.

" Angus stared at the whiteboard. "She makes a good suspect.

Do we think she's strong enough to strangle someone? "

"I think so. She appears fit. She works at the gym as a trainer and yoga instructor. With the height advantage and catching Eden by surprise, it's very possible. And that stray hair we wound on the scarf would about match Rachel's hair color. Do we have her DNA on file?"

Angus shrugged. "I haven't looked. If not, we need to get it. No matter how good she looks for this murder, we need to focus on the why. Everything says she has too much to lose with Eden dying. She was bringing in tens of thousands of dollars a month. Why put an end to the gravy train?"

"Maybe she knew the audit would end things anyway? How close was the audit to filing charges against Eden?" Franks asked Amy.

"I can't answer for sure, but I'm guessing it was still a month or two away.

They were slow gathering evidence and even slower putting it all together.

My honest feeling was they were hoping to let the mayor's term run its course then they'd have all the time in the world to go after her once a new mayor was elected.

I got the feeling the city was trying to protect itself from the media frenzy a bribery scandal would cause.

Look at how hard we had to push to get them to work with us on a murder investigation.

We had to file warrants for information they should have been willing to just hand over.

" Amy reached for her drink. "Time was running out for Eden, but she still had time to make a few more deals before they were on to her. "

Angus wished Eden would talk. These were questions she could answer.

He wondered if he should try one more time to get her to talk.

Maybe with the new information they had she'd be willing to open up a bit more about what was going on.

He had no clue how she'd react to finding out her sister was under investigation for her murder; let alone the fact she was now sleeping with her husband.

"Let's find out all we can about Rachel Reese.

I've already been digging into her properties and looking for any titles in her name, but let's get a warrant for her phone records and start surveillance on her.

Let's find out where she's going and who she's seeing.

Our next question should be, if Rachel is our killer, and she is having an ongoing affair with Michael Anderson, was he aware of the murder plot? "

"Kill the wife so they can be together. Live happily ever after on the money Eden stole for them?" Franks shook his head. "I hate to think what that would mean for those two young kids."

"Proving he was aware of it won't be easy, but let's see where things lead us." Angus stood up. "I need to make a quick call. I'll be right back." He stepped from the room again and quickly dialed Lance's number.

"Hi," Lance said softly.

"Hey, miss you."

"Miss you too."

Angus cleared his throat. "I'd planned on calling tonight to talk things over, but something's come up and I might need to put our personal conversation off for a night, but I don't want you to think it's not important."

"It's okay. I know this case is putting pressure on both of us. The sooner you get done, the sooner we can try and go back to normal," Lance said.

"Try?" Angus asked softly.

"You just left me," Lance said.

"I know. I wasn't thinking. Just reacting. Listen, I messed up. I know that, and as badly as I would love to get into all of it right now, I think clearing up this case might help more than us talking right now. Once it's closed, then the focus can be on us. Is Eden there right now?"

"Of course. She never leaves. She's out back with Ray right now." Lance's voice was filled with irritation.

"Would you be willing to let Franks and I drop by for a bit to talk with her? I know you don't want to be involved, but I need to ask her some questions."

"She won't answer. We've all tried to get her to talk."

"I know, but this time I have some information that might help get her talking," Angus told him.

"Is this about whatever Bethany and Ray found out?" Lance asked.

"You know about that?"

"I don't all the details. I wouldn't let them tell me in front of Eden, but I know they figured something out and were going to tell your mom about it. Eden was mad they wouldn't tell her, but she still refused to leave here to go with them to find out."

"Yeah, Mom called with the information. It's what I want to confront Eden with tonight.

Can we drop by? Maybe once I talk to her, we can have our conversation.

I hate being away from you. I hate that I did this to us.

" Angus prayed this didn't hurt their relationship.

He couldn't imagine his life without Lance beside him.

"Okay. Cel's here and we're cooking, so come hungry," Lance told him. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour."

"We may be a bit longer than that, but we'll be there. Thanks, Lance."

"I want this case closed as badly as you do. I'll see you in a bit." Lance ended the call without another word.

Angus leaned against the wall. He had to get this case closed and do whatever it took to salvage his relationship.

If it was possible to kill Eden again for the problems she'd caused, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

He just prayed, once they figured out who killed her, she would go on her way and leave them the hell alone.