Page 12 of Three Girls Gone (Detective Amanda Steele #14)

TEN

Amanda saw Trent’s viewpoint on Mara Bennett, but she wasn’t ready to release her from suspicion yet.

She had commented she didn’t have money for children of her own.

Had she taken Hailey, even worked with someone with ransom as the goal?

Not a new theory, but McGee would have requested her financials having considered her a suspect himself at one point.

He never mentioned why he’d released her from suspicion, but in his defense, Amanda hadn’t bothered to ask.

Her phone history couldn’t have revealed any sinister plan to take Hailey with an accomplice or McGee would have pursued her.

Amanda called McGee for more details on Mara, but had to leave a message . Just one more person to wait on…

The CSIs who processed Hailey’s bedroom hadn’t reached out yet.

They should have finished by now. Amanda had left her card but was now wishing she’d gotten theirs too.

If she didn’t hear from them soon, she’d call the lab in Manassas or even CSI Emma Blair for their number.

She’d like to convince herself no news was just that, but assumptions tanked investigations.

She’d give them a bit more time before she followed up.

Trent parked in the long and empty driveway in front of Nick Potter’s house. It was a McMansion in a nice neighborhood.

“Let’s hope his car is in the garage,” he said and turned off the vehicle.

He beat her to the door, but her steps were slowed by the images forming in her mind.

None of them were new, but they were crystalizing into clearer focus being here.

Two people close to Hailey may have worked together and exploited the girl’s trust. But if Mara and Nick were an item, money wouldn’t be an issue if they headed off into the sunset together.

Nick had enough to finance the trip. It was hard to consider this revenge for what Vincent had done to Nick, from Mara’s perspective anyhow.

She’d said that Vincent felt bad for what had happened.

Though, that didn’t mean that she excused his behavior.

And the relationship between Mara and Nick could have been more serious than she let on.

How that escalated to killing Hailey was unclear.

Trent knocked and followed up by ringing the bell right after.

The door swung open, and Nick stood there with his cell phone to his ear.

“Listen, I’ve got to go.” His voice petered out as he spoke, his gaze taking in the badges they were holding up.

He almost had his phone in a pocket when it started ringing again.

He held up his left index finger to them while he consulted the screen.

“I really need to take this.” He answered.

Amanda looked at Trent. Unbelievable.

“Yes, I know you need an answer on this today. Five minutes,” Nick said and swept his phone from his ear to his pocket in a swift, fluid motion. “Yes, what can I do for you?”

“Detective Steele, and this is Detective Stenson,” Amanda began. “You’re Nick Potter?”

“I am.”

“We need to talk to you about Hailey Tanner. If we could come inside…” She didn’t present this happening as an option .

“Ah, sure.” He fumbled backward to let them into the house.

“Do you want water, coffee—” His ringtone cut him off, and he swore before removing his phone from his pocket and swiping left to refuse the call.

“I’ll set this thing to silent, or we won’t get a minute of peace.

” He moved a finger around the screen. “All right, that’s done.

So, as I was trying to say, can I get either of you anything? ”

“I’m fine,” she said, and Trent declined the offer too. She’d normally accept as she found these concessions made the person being questioned more cooperative. But factoring in her suspicions, Nick might be trying to distract them with kindness.

“All right, then.” He took them to the living room and told them to sit wherever they liked. He dropped onto the couch and said, “I haven’t met you two before. I spoke with Detective McGee a couple of times over the weekend.”

“The Hailey Tanner investigation is no longer a Missing Persons case,” Trent said.

“I don’t understand.” His face pinched, and his eyes squinted.

If he was acting, he was good. “You haven’t heard the news?”

“Just on the stock markets.”

She somehow believed him. “We’re sorry to bring you the unfortunate news that Hailey Tanner’s body was found this morning.”

“Her— What now?” Nick puffed out a deep breath and raked a hand through his hair, leaving strands standing up in his wake. “No, this can’t… No, it’s not possible.”

“I assure you it is, Mr.Potter,” Amanda said. “And we have some questions for you.”

“Sure, I’ll answer anything you ask. Wow. I’m just in shock.” He popped to his feet and helped himself to a generous pour of amber liquid from the bar cart in the corner of the room. He took a few anxious gulps .

Amanda and Trent gave him a few moments, and in that time, he emptied the glass and refilled it.

“Mr. Potter,” Amanda prompted.

“Ah, yes, sorry. I’m just in shock. And heartbroken.” He dragged one of his hands under his nose and returned to the chair he’d been in before, with his drink. “I hope you don’t mind.” He met Amanda’s eyes and lifted his glass.

It’s your liver… But she was more interested in what had him reaching for the bottle. Was it grief? Guilt? A blend of both? Or did he fear he’d been caught? “If you need to drink, don’t let us stop you.”

“Well, I don’t need to, but it will help me through this. I know why you’re here.” He slung back some booze.

“And why is that?” she asked.

Nick pointed at the tablet in Trent’s hands. “You’re not here for a friendly conversation. You think I’m involved somehow.”

“Are you?” Hailey could have been held in this very house. McGee never would have gotten a search warrant with a verified alibi. Speaking of, they never got into what that was.

“Absolutely not.” Nick tossed back the rest of his drink and wiped his mouth with his palm. “Can you not see how destroyed I am? That girl was a special light. There’s no one else like her and never will be again.” Silent tears fell.

Amanda braced herself. Letting her guard down and giving in to empathy wasn’t an option. “Where were you on Friday, the day Hailey disappeared?”

“You now? You really think I killed her?” He looked at the empty rocks glass in his hand, as he balanced it on the edge of the chair arm.

“If you didn’t, you shouldn’t have a problem telling us where you were,” Amanda said. “Though I’m sure I could look it up in Detective McGee’s reports. But save me the trouble.”

“I was here. Not exactly a rock-solid alibi, I know. But he must have believed me. Can’t you trace my phone? It would show I was here during the time Hailey was taken.”

“That would only prove the device was here,” Amanda said, thinking, The Devil’s in the details…

“All I can say is you’re wasting your time looking at me.”

“But you see how you have motive?” She left that dangling, curious what he’d come up with.

“Are you referring to how Vince screwed me over? You think I killed Hailey over seven hundred thousand? Sometimes I make that much in a day. What ticked me off was the fact Vince betrayed me. He lost my trust when he didn’t tell me to back out when he did.”

“And then he fired you,” Trent said.

“After I decked him and told him I quit.”

Vincent left that part out. “Tell us about your relationship with Mara Bennett.”

“I assume she told you we slept together for a bit?”

“She did,” Amanda admitted, keeping it brief to encourage Nick to continue talking.

“It wasn’t anything serious. It lasted less than a month between the end of December and into the start of January.”

“When was the last time you were inside the Tanner home?” she asked.

“Just before the holidays. I brought over a Christmas present for Hailey. It was just after that Mara and I started seeing each other.”

“And that was the last time?” She leveled her gaze at him. “You never went over since to hook up with Mara?”

“Once, during the first week of January. I couldn’t tell you the day.”

That lined up with what Mara told them. Amanda got up and walked over to Nick. “Here’s my card,” she said as she handed it to him. “Stay in town. We might be back with more questions. Understood? ”

“Understood.” He plucked her card from her fingers.

“And we’re very sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks.” Nick was already back at the bar cart by the time Amanda and Trent hit the entry.

She was part way down the front walk when her phone rang. Rideout’s name splashed up on Caller ID, and she answered on speaker. “You have something for us?”

“Oh, yeah. Hailey’s murder just became a bigger nightmare.”