The Body In the Trench: A Jazzi Zanders Mystery Book 7 by Judi Lynn

Author:Judi Lynn [Lynn, Judi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Gaff took a seat behind the utilitarian desk in the small room, and Trey sat across from him. Ansel and Jazzi stood to one side, with George curled near Ansel’s feet.

“Well, what do you have to tell us?” Gaff asked. “The faster you give us information, the sooner you can go.”

“What do you want to know?”

Jazzi studied him. He was shorter than Ansel, only six feet, and his blond hair was darker. He had stormy gray eyes, and his lips curled down in a permanent sneer. He could have been good-looking. Not gorgeous like her husband, but plenty attractive, except that he never looked happy.

Ansel squared his shoulders, his voice strained. “I want to know why you called Gaff when you saw the toolbox in Hammer’s truck instead of talking to your dad.”

Trey’s jaw tightened, and he locked gazes with her Viking. “Because Dad’s too soft on the men. If Hammer swore he didn’t take it, Dad would believe him. I don’t.” He raised his chin in defiance. “And yeah, I think Hammer’s stupid enough to bring it to work with him.”

“So, you think he killed Xavier?” Jazzi asked.

“Who else could it be? You expect me to believe someone snuck on the job site after all of us left to sabotage the wall? It would have been easy for Hammer. He built it. He could have nailed in the supporting board and then removed it, to make it look like someone else did, and none of us would have noticed. We trusted him.”

Gaff laid his notepad on the desk and poised his pen over it. “But why kill Xavier?”

“Because the idiot was making noises like he knew who was taking stuff, and he was going to go to Dad to let him know who it was.”

“Why didn’t Xavier do that as soon as he knew?” Gaff had already asked that question once, she knew, but he liked to repeat things, to see if the person answered the same way as before.

“Because he was hoping whoever it was would buy him off. Xavier was stupid, too, in his own way. Always thought he could manipulate people and did his best to try.”

Ansel’s expression darkened. He was clearly irritated. “Is there anyone you think might be as smart as you?”

Trey gave him a direct look. “You are. That’s why I had to get rid of you. You were a threat. Dad always trusted you more than he did me, and he’d trust you more the longer you stayed on. Might have decided the business would be safer if you ran it.”

“I doubt it. You and Willy are his sons.”

“And he doesn’t think we can make it on our own. He knew you’d never cheat us and you’d split the profits three ways. Knowing him, he’d decide that was safer in the long run than retiring and handing over the company to us.”

Ansel didn’t have an answer for that. Len had already voiced plenty of concerns about leaving it to Trey and Willy.

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