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“Your dad may have been alerted because Desert West hired Angelhart Investigations,” I said. Might as well come clean, since she’d figure it out eventually. “They ran a background on you starting two weeks ago. They found nothing, but one of their feelers may have tipped him off.” And though I wasn’t part of the business, I said, “I’ll ask them to show you what they did. Maybe you’ll see something that we don’t.”
“Jennifer White only exists on paper,” she said. “Which is really all you need for a job. But if something tipped my dad, it’s because something touched his business—or the business Uncle Jimmy used to run. I had to put my parents’ names on some documents early on, and I used Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Maureen, said they were deceased so no one would ever try to find them.”
“I don’t know for certain,” I said, “but I think the background check alerted him, and he hired a local firm to confirm your identity. That’s why you saw two men outside your work and house.” Frank and Andy, I thought.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said.
“First, he can’t make you do anything you don’t want to,” I said. “He can manipulate you, which isn’t a crime, or threaten you, which may be a crime. But you said he was responsible for a bombing?”
“Yes. To avenge Uncle Jimmy and his family, my father had all those people in the nightclub killed because the club was owned by his enemies.”
“Can you prove it?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I overheard my father planning the bombing. I don’t know who he was speaking with, but I’d recognize him. And I thought, how could my father bring a killer into our home? That’s when I knew my father himself was a killer.”
A plan started to form, but I didn’t know if it would work, or if Jennifer would go along with it. “If you saw your father in person, do you think he would hurt you?” I asked. “Like take a gun out and shoot you?”
“No.” She bit her lip. “Maybe. I don’t know. He loved me, but I hurt him.”
“I can help you disappear,” Logan said.
“Before we go there,” I interjected, “we need to resolve the situation at Desert West and determine if Brad Parsons is a threat. Because right now, he’s the top suspect—at least to me and my brother Jack—in both poisoning the two of you on Sunday, and the arson last night. And you, Jennifer, are the only person with the evidence of his crime.”
“But I can’t prove it was him!”
“Fortunately, I have a sister as smart as you, and she’s working on it. Between her and your copy of the code, that should put Parsons in jail for theft at a minimum—but there could be other charges, like attempted murder.” I glanced at Logan. If Brittney was part of Parsons’s plans, she could go down for accessory. Did Logan realize this?
“Okay,” Jennifer said quietly. “And the police want to talk to me. I’m scared.”
“Of your father?”
She shook her head. “If the police find out I’m Virginia Bonetti, I’ll get in trouble for faking my death.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” I said. “It’s complicated. Did you receive insurance money?”
“No, I was dead. I don’t know if my father did. I mean, the boat would have been insured...”
“But you didn’t profit. Your father would have to go after you civilly if he collected insurance money and then had to pay it back. Don’t talk without a lawyer. I know a good one who will help. We’ll prove you were nowhere near the fire, and less is more—don’t answer any questions they don’t ask. Your lawyer will guide you through it.”
“Okay,” she said, sounding young and defeated.
“Chin up,” Logan said. “You can stay with me.”
“She needs protection,” I said. “I have a place where she’ll be safe and no one would think to look for her there.”
I picked up my phone and hit a familiar number.
“Mom, I have someone who needs help.”
Forty-Four
Peter Carillo
The priest had light brown skin and black hair, of average height and slight build.
Peter had waited until the children left for the day and the younger priest had gone into a meeting in the social hall, leaving Father Raphael Morales—the uncle of Margo Angelhart—alone in the church.
And he fumed.
