Page 15 of Whispers Left Behind (Kinsley Aspen #1)
Chapter Fifteen
Kinsley Aspen October Monday — 6:03 pm
The atmosphere at The Bucket was surprisingly lively for a Monday. That wasn’t unusual during football season, but there were still a couple of hours before kickoff. It seemed that everyone wanted to fill their stomachs and quench their thirst before settling in for the game.
Kinsley wouldn’t mind a bite to eat herself. She had spent most of the morning and early afternoon driving to and from Bismarck to pick up the hotel’s security footage. She had driven through a fast-food joint, but that was all the sustenance she had consumed throughout the day. Her stomach let it be known that the scents of sizzling grease and strong liquor were an acceptable combination.
The dim lighting cast a warm glow over the worn oak booths and matching bar. Casual conversations were taking place at several tables that hadn’t been replaced in decades, though the clinking of glasses and occasional bursts of laughter made it rather difficult to hear one another.
Kinsley stood still for a moment, allowing the warmth from the overhead heater to chase away the cold. The temperature was supposed to drop below freezing tonight. She had exchanged her blazer for her thick sweater coat once she had returned to town.
“The usual, Kin?” a voice called out over the crowd.
She nodded toward Tap’s question. Russell ‘Tap’ Hughes had owned the bar ever since his father had passed away six years ago. She had to give the man credit, because he had changed very little after taking over the place. The two men had been very close, and Tap had wanted to honor his father’s memory. She got the sense that the décor would remain the same for decades to come.
Kinsley zeroed in on Alex sitting at their usual table in the back. He was scrolling through his phone, but she didn’t doubt that he had noticed her entrance. He observed everything about his surroundings at any given minute. Now that she was somewhat warm, she took a step forward to join him, only the sight of her youngest brother brought her up short.
“Owen? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Kin.” Owen set his bottle of beer down on the table before pushing back his chair. He had been sitting with a few friends, and they all greeted her in unison, not that she had formally met any of them. The Bucket wasn’t Owen’s usual hangout. “I had a business meeting with the bank regarding their online website and mobile app. I spoke to Alex briefly. Is he doing okay? Seems a bit off.”
“Alex is fine,” Kinsley replied, gesturing toward the corner opposite the jukebox. “Can I borrow you for a second?”
“Sure.” Owen motioned to his friends that he wouldn’t be but a minute. Once he joined her, he widened his stance and crossed his arms as was his usual posture. “Are you doing okay? I saw the news about Gantz. Is that why dinner last Thursday was extra tense between you and Dad? You thought Gantz might be back in town?”
“No.” Kinsley internally winced when she realized her answer came a little too quickly. She could have used such knowledge as an excuse for the tension at dinner. The only individual in attendance who understood the significance of the month was Noah. “I just had a bad week at work. Anyway, I was hoping you could do me a favor. But since you brought up the family, I’d like this favor to stay between us.”
“Is this for the investigation?”
Kinsley hesitated, which prompted Owen to eye her suspiciously.
“Damn it, Kin.” Owen ran a hand through his already unkempt blond hair. “Thursday nights have become a broken record. We’re all stuck on that one song no one wants to hear but are forced to listen to it anyway. I’m pretty sure that Olivia muted us last week.”
Kinsley wouldn’t put it past Olivia to go about her own family dinner without the unwanted tension of the Aspen weekly get-togethers. There were times that Kinsley believed Olivia had been the smart one to move away from Fallbrook and start a brand-new life. Noah and Olivia were twins, but she had opted to attend medical school on the East Coast where she had eventually met her future husband. They had ultimately exchanged vows, attained accomplished careers, and were blessed with two adorable children.
Not even being over fifteen hundred miles away from home was an excuse to miss Thursday night dinner. Owen had been the one to set up a small television in their parents’ kitchen as a video monitor to include Olivia’s family in on the weekly tradition.
“Forget I asked, Owen.” Kinsley shouldn’t have involved her youngest brother in the first place. She patted his arm as she made a move to brush past him, only he side-stepped to prevent her from doing so. “Seriously, it’s not important.”
“It is, or else you wouldn’t have asked me in the first place. Is it about Gantz?”
“Gantz is gone,” Kinsley snapped, clenching her fists to reign in her frustration. “Sorry. I’m on edge. No, it’s not about Gantz. Okay?”
“Okay,” Owen repeated slowly before gesturing that she should continue. “What is it that you need?”
“Is it possible to enhance video footage from a home security system? I need better lighting on a sidewalk to see if anyone was using a large tree as camouflage.”
“Send it to me, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“The footage is from my security system, Owen.” Kinsley did her best to give a valid reason for her concern. “This case has stirred up some buried resentment. I think there are some members of the press who might be taking their jobs a little too seriously.”
“I spoke to Mom over the weekend. She mentioned that someone vandalized Dad’s car at work.”
“Like I said, people don’t forget,” Kinsley muttered, garnering a narrowed stare of caution from her brother. “I spoke to Mom, too. We both know that Dad won’t file a police report. My hands are tied, Owen. On the subject of Mom, she is the reason that I would rather keep this favor between us. Okay? There is no need to worry her when she is already beside herself about Dad. Besides, I can take of myself.”
“Fine. I’ll keep this between us…for now.”
“Thank you,” Kinsley replied softly as she stepped forward. He lowered his arms and accepted her quick hug. “Alex is waiting for me. I’ll send that footage to you. Any chance you can enhance it by morning?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Kinsley weaved through the tables until she reached the last booth. Alex had already dug into his teriyaki chicken wings and fries, even going so far as to roll up his sleeves and tuck a napkin into the collar of his dress shirt.
“Everything okay?” Alex asked, his gaze drifting over her shoulder to where her brother had reclaimed his chair. “This isn’t Owen’s usual hangout.”
“He had a business meeting at the bank. Something about their website and mobile app.” Kinsley didn’t have to go into detail regarding Owen’s cybersecurity firm. He and a friend opened their own firm over six years ago, and they had made quite the name for themselves. “I was just saying hi. How did the interview go with Joe Cider?”
“What interview?” Alex shoveled a few more fries into his mouth before reaching for a napkin. He didn’t continue until after he had swallowed his food. “I spent the morning and early afternoon interviewing everyone at the car dealership. Who knew there were so many departments? Sales, finance, service, not to mention marketing. By the time I was able to concentrate on Cider, I found that he had moved to Mott. He works at a used car place down there, and he moved apartments, too. I’ll take a drive and pay him a visit tomorrow.”
“Learn anything else from the vic’s coworkers?”
“Nothing that stands out.” Alex took a sip of his beer. “What about you? Please tell me you turned in our reports.”
“I can tell you that Sebastian Hanson’s alibi is solid.” Kinsley smiled when Alex groaned at her omission. She hadn’t technically finished their paperwork, but she had made a good dent in it. “I drove to Bismarck this morning with the warrant in hand after discovering the three-million-dollar life insurance policy in Sebastian’s name. Needless to say, the hotel manager didn’t want a detective standing in their hotel lobby making a scene. Anyway, Hanson entered his room around eleven o’clock on Wednesday night. He didn’t exit until the following morning.”
“Hanson could have hired someone to kill his wife,” Alex proposed as he reached for the ketchup bottle. The man loved his ketchup. “You and I have already floated the theory that the brothers could have done it together.”
Kinsley would have responded, but the waitress suddenly appeared to deliver her order. She and Alex paused their discussion.
“Alex, can I get you another beer?”
“No, thanks.” Alex gave a pointed stare in Kinsley’s direction. “Someone didn’t keep their end of the bargain, and I have to go into the station early tomorrow morning.”
Kinsley kicked him under the table.
“I got some forms turned in.” She reached over and snatched the ketchup bottle from his hand. “Don’t believe a word he says, Sherry."
“Seriously, I’m good for now,” Alex said to Sherry before she left their table. His gaze didn’t immediately swing back to Kinsley, though. “Do you know that guy?”
Kinsley peered over her shoulder. She immediately made eye contact with Beck Serra. He was sitting at the opposite end of the bar near the entrance. In the brief moment that she studied him, he didn’t seem to be with anyone, either.
“He’s that reporter who managed to convince my father to give an interview before the Gantz trial.” Kinsley attempted to make herself as comfortable as possible, but she was relatively certain that Alex had caught her unease. “Getting back to the possibility of Jack Hanson being the one to commit the actual murder, it doesn’t explain why the brothers would want to kill Gage Baird. His name wasn’t listed on the life insurance policy.”
Kinsley hadn’t uttered Gantz’s name so many times in such a short period since the trial. Once was way too many in her opinion. In all likelihood, Serra was in town on the belief that Gantz could have been responsible for Hanson’s death. The press release last week should have already forced him to move on to another story. As far as she was concerned, he could crawl back under his rock.
“I remember him now,” Alex said as he picked up another wing. Kinsley had failed to shift his focus. “Serra. Beck Serra. Didn’t he also interview Gantz when—”
“Did I mention that I had to reschedule the interview with Tobias Zayn?” Kinsley asked, not in the least bit apologetic that she had interrupted him. She had lost her appetite, but she forced herself to squeeze some ketchup next to her fries. “As long as there is no change in Gage Baird’s condition, Zayn agreed to meet me up in Halliday.”
“Halliday? Why not the station or the hospital?”
“I want to question J.J. Callahan,” Kinsley replied, relaxing somewhat now that Alex’s focus had swung away from Serra. She was still uneasy at the thought she had attracted unwanted attention from the reporter, but at least Alex had gone along with the switch in topics. “You remember. The farmhand who I mentioned last week. The rancher from Leeds left me a voicemail while I was in Bismarck. Apparently, he wasn’t the one who met with Gage Baird. There is a third party who handles those types of sales. I have a call into the guy. Anyway, I was hoping that maybe J.J. could shed some light on Gage and Tobias. We might be missing something there.”
Kinsley pointed a fry in Alex’s direction.
“And no jokes about bull semen while I’m eating, okay?”
Alex laughed, forcing Kinsley to return his smile. She couldn’t help but want to find her own rock to crawl under until the press relinquished Gantz’s name from their networks. On the other hand, maybe she deserved to be reminded of her sins every five minutes.
A large, rustic mirror hung between the two restrooms, positioned high on the far wall. Despite its distance, she could still make out Beck Serra at the end of the bar. It was obvious that he was monitoring their booth, though his expression was inscrutable.
Why was Serra still in Fallbrook?
A part of her feared that she was the reason.
Kinsley shifted her gaze back to Alex. She forced herself to pick up her beer as if everything in her life was normal. She was allowing her imagination to run, and that was dangerous. That was when a situation could spiral out of control. She reassured herself that no one but Noah was a witness to what had taken place that fateful night.
No one.