Countdown (Rachel Ryder Book 4) by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Author:Carolyn Ridder Aspenson [Ridder Aspenson, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn River Publishing
Published: 2022-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

10

Bishop dragged his hand down the sides of his face. “Shit.”

Ashley grimaced. “A grandmother? That woman is going to hell in a handbasket right quick.”

I smiled. She was so unbelievably Southern sometimes. It was endearing.

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions, but we definitely need to move on this,” Jimmy said.

“We don’t know what the money is for,” Bishop said. “It could be payment for helping with the boy or even financial support. Mary Hagerty’s divorced, and she doesn’t work. She might be struggling financially.”

I laughed loudly. “You’re joking, right? First, it’s going into a separate account entirely under M. Hagerty. Explain that. Second, she divorced one of the highest-paid lawyers in the Southeast. Money isn’t a problem for her.”

“Unless she doesn’t know how to manage it,” he replied.

He had a point, but I didn’t see the woman struggling. Mary Hagerty played tennis and golf and spent a lot of cash on clothing and social events. She lived the country club lifestyle. She wasn’t doing that on a few thousand bucks a month. That could lead to mismanaging her cash flow, but based on what we’d already learned about her finances, she’d have to spend a hell of a lot of cash to be struggling. Possible, but not likely.

I paced a circle around the large conference table. “We’ve got to get moving on this. The mayor’s on Jimmy’s ass.” I glanced at the chief. “No disrespect intended.”

“None taken.”

“When we hear from Agent Olsen about the biological mother, that may give us a suspect,” Bishop said. “But I still think she’s the one to focus on here.”

“She’s been off grid for three years. That doesn’t look good for a white woman stranded in Mexico.”

Ashley cringed. “I hate to think what could have happened to her.”

“Any number of things,” I said. “Tijuana is one of the largest human trafficking locations. It’s possible the sister could have sold her into it or she’d been abducted into it.”

“Wow,” Ashley said.

“Here’s where we are.” I grabbed a dry erase marker and stood in front of the board with the list of persons of interest. I added Ana Flores to the list since she’d gone entirely MIA after supposedly claiming Steve Rockman got her pregnant. Under Ana was revenge for being fired, the possible pregnancy, and money. I also added Heather Maynor to the suspect list, with secret crush not returned as a possible motive. Listed under Melodie were two things: revenge and Ryan. Mary Hagerty’s possible motives included money and passion killing for discovering the switch. I added blackmail in parentheses. I also added Charles Haus. “I think he’s connected to the mother, whether it’s to manipulate her for cash, or something else. I’m not sure yet.”

“You’re assuming Hagerty knows what happened to her daughter,” Bishop said.

I whipped around and glared at him. “Yes, I am.”

“But we don’t know that she does.”

“Bishop, stop defending the woman. Anyone can commit murder. The drive-through girl at Dunkin’, the pastor at your church. This is detective 101. Stop letting your emotions get in the way of this.

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