Page 84 of Tactically Acquired

“What about hinting at it?” he asked.

I thought it over, but it just wasn’t like that in my life. “No, not that I can think of.”

“Family? Distant relatives?”

I sank down in the nearest chair, still a little lightheaded from the concussion. The light streaming in from the window was bothering me more than I wanted to admit. As if Thumper knew exactly what I was feeling, he strode over and pulled the blinds, dimming the light immediately.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Family?” he asked again.

“I doubt it. My mom is on husband number five. I think.”

“Wow. That many?”

I smiled at him despite the depressing facts. “Ginger Taylor? Old Hollywood legend. Don’t you know her?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Sorry. Don’t watch much TV.”

“Well, you’re lucky. I was, unfortunately, raised by her. I mean, as much as one can be raised by a woman who chases one man to the next and bounces from movies to theater as the wind blows.”

He gave a sympathetic nod, but didn’t say anything else.

“Right, so, would she do it? No,” I shook my head. “She doesn’t need the money. Too many divorces with too many payouts.”

“Okay. We’ll look into all relatives just to be certain there are no skeletons, but if we have names and dates of birth, it’ll be faster. It just narrows the pool of suspects for us.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“What about Spencer? Anyone that might be after him?”

“You’d have to ask him that. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like Spencer. He’s just not the type of person to make enemies.”

“Sometimes that’s worse. If you’re an easy target, people will walk all over you. And if everyone knows how much you mean to him, they’d go after you because they would know he’d do anything for you.”

“Including giving any amount of money,” I surmised.

“Exactly.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“In the meantime, get me that list.”

I nodded just as Baldy walked into the room. He quickly averted his eyes, giving a chin lift to Thumper. “Did Rae find anything last night?”

Thumper looked from him to me and then back. “Uh…not yet.”

“Right. I’ll do a perimeter sweep.”

“I’ll go with you,” I spoke up, needing to get out of the house.

“Clients don’t come with,” Baldy snapped, giving me the cold shoulder.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s not like anything’s going to happen.” I spun and gave Thumper a pointed look. “Tell him nothing’s going to happen.”

He chuckled, holding up his hands. “I’m not getting in the middle of a marital spat.”

“It’s not a marital spat,” I argued. “I just want to get some fresh air.”

---