Page 146 of Noel Secrets

Several of Darby’s neighbors provided video footage from the previous night. He was careful to keep his eye on the house as he moved from door to door. He wasn’t taking his eyes off her, in case the person who’d broken in last night returned.

Clay forwarded several videos to Cooper and spoke with many of her neighbors, who offered their well-wishes.

“She’s such a sweet lady,” one woman said of Darby. “Let her know I’m praying for her and David.”

He assured her he would pass that along.

She’d spoken as if she was alone in the world, but he’d seen differently since this all started. She had people who cared about her.

His cell phone rang. Cooper. “Were you able to identify the guy already?”

“That might not be necessary. I got better footage of the car your suspect got into. I recognized it from other footage I saw yesterday at Foster Auto. The car is a Mercedes-Benz S Class. It was rented three days ago to a man named Grant Rushton.”

Clay recognized the name right away. “That’s Darby’s uncle … the one who’s contesting the will. What was he doing at the car dealership?” There was only one reason he could think of, and it burned him up.

“I’ll turn my focus to digging into his background.” Cooper ended the call and Clay pushed his cell phone back into his pocket.

Made sense Rushton would be searching Darby’s house if he was looking at ways to try to get his hands on her bank account information in order to steal the inheritance he believed he was owed. And, with Brent’s assistance, he knew just where to look.

A Range Rover turned into Darby’s driveway, causing Clay’s pulse to increase. His hand hovered over his weapon as he hurried back to her house. Darby appeared from the back and headed for the vehicle. She smiled as she waved to the driver. Then he spotted Scout on a lead beside her. A woman got out. Darby hugged her then gave Scout one last rubdown before she handed him over.

He took a breath, realizing it was only Scout’s owner, coming to claim him. Darby had told him she was coming by, but everyone he saw now was a potential suspect until he knew differently. He relaxed then greeted her, marking certain to give Scout a pet before his owner loaded him into her vehicle and drove away.

Once they were gone, Clay and Darby returned to salvaging what they could from the house, loading up her car and his pickup. She’d rented a small storage room at a store-it facility, so they took the few belongings and unloaded them there until shecould make other housing arrangements. They took the clothes and bedding to a laundromat.

The place was empty as they entered, so they had use of all the machines. This meant they could clean more items in less time. He stuffed blankets and pillows into the washers while Darby handled the clothes she’d gathered. Once they were all going, she joined him on the hard, plastic chairs along the wall.

It was as good a time as any to raise the subject of her uncle meeting with her ex-husband.

“Darby, I heard back from Cooper. He recognized the vehicle of the person who broke into your house last night and searched your room. He’d seen the car in previous feeds … from the car dealership.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“The car was a rental. Cooper spotted the same vehicle at the car dealership the previous day.” He didn’t want to see the look of disappointment he knew was coming, but he had to plow through. “The man who rented it was named Grant Rushton.”

She covered her mouth with her hands as she mulled over the news. It wasn’t surprise he saw in her but resignation. “I didn’t even think they knew one another. I met him only once, when I was a teenager.”

The buzzer on one of her machines sounded. Darby jumped to her feet and ran to it, opening the washer door. She pitched the clothes into the dryer a little more forceful than necessary, indicating her irritation. “I didn’t like him then either. He had a constant, ugly sneer on his face. I should have known he was involved and that he’d pulled Brent into it.”

“We have to question Brent again.”

Darby stopped and looked at him then turned back to her transferring. After she’d closed both machines and started the dryer, she sat next to Clay again. “This is getting overwhelming. I don’t think I can face Brent again. He’ll insist he’s not involved.”

And do his best to win her over. That cynical thought popped into his head before he had the good sense to bury it. “Will you be tempted to believe him?”

She might. He didn’t like the feeling that knowledge gave him. He did his best to push away his jealousy.

But not quickly enough. Her eyes narrowed as she called him on it. “He was my husband, Clay. I used to love him very much. It’s hard to believe he could do something like this. I know he’s desperate, but killing me? That doesn’t seem like something he could do.”

“It’s possible Rushton approached him about getting access to your accounts. Maybe he’s the one who pulled Brent into this … or maybe he’s not involved.” He had to admit the possibility that, despite Brent’s problems, he might not be directly involved in trying to harm Darby. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but it might be easier for her to accept. “His gambling might have placed him around people who would do things beyond his control. I have to confess, he didn’t seem angry toward you that day at the dealership. I saw true regret in his demeanor.”

“That doesn’t make what’s happening right. He still caused it.”

“True, but sometimes we do things, not realizing how bad the consequences will be.” He understood that. Still, defending Brent Foster didn’t sit right with him. He might have gotten pulled into something he hadn’t wanted, but he hadn’t done much to help them stop it either.

Her eyes probed his. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience. Not your wife and daughter? You couldn’t have stopped that.”

“No, this was something else.” She didn’t need to know the details of Denton, but it felt good to speak about them to someone who might understand. “I was on an assignment, andI made a mistake. A critical error that got an innocent person killed.”