Page 37 of His Forgotten Colton Fiancee
Everyone waited.
West scrubbed a hand over the bristles on his jaw.“Noel Larson was in Quinn’s hospital room this morning.”
Every head in the room stared. Brayden glared at him as if West had personally escorted the man inside. Guilt and anger knotted his guts. “I sure as hell didn’t invite him. I was downstairs, grabbing coffee, and caught him fiddling with Quinn’s morphine drip. I kicked him out.”
“Larson might have intended to finish the job. My sistercould have been his next victim,” Shane grated out.
“Either way, Quinn is in danger. She’s the only witness and once she regains her memory, whoever did this will want her silenced,” Finn said, frowning.
More murmurs, but West ignored them. His gray matter was spinning off facts and what he knew about the Larsons.
“If Larson killed Tia, it wasn’t over a failed romance. He’d give ithis own spin. He’s slick enough. This was over something much more important to him.” West scanned the room. “Money.”
He used the laser pointer to gesture to the next slide. “I found this key chain in the rubble. Pine Paradise Cabins.”
Telling them what he’d encountered with Tia, and leaving out the part about wanting to rent a cabin with Quinn, he concluded, “Property like that is worthmillions.”
Shane stretched out his legs. “Rumor has it Tia owned the property and planned to sell to Larson. But the deal fell through.”
“Why?” West asked.
Shane frowned. “No one knows for certain. Tia backed out at the last minute. She was selling for a cool two million dollars. She hated the headache of managing all those cabin rentals.”
His mind clicked over the facts. If Tiahad backed out, either she didn’t trust the twins, or she had good reason to cancel the sale. Maybe the cabins offered another source of income.
His gaze raked over the Colton officers in the room. Maybe income from blackmailing a certain Colton, on the run with a baby, rumored to be the Groom Killer. Or Tia wanted to protect Demi from being found.
Could Demi Colton be hiding out at PineParadise?
On impulse, he decided to throw out a nugget. See how the others reacted, especially the Coltons. Maybe some of them did know where Demi Colton hid.
“Maybe the Larsons aren’t connected at all,” he told them.
Continuing to stand in front of the room, he snapped the pointer shut. Looked at all the expectant faces, waiting for him to speak.
“What if Demi Colton decided tohide out and Tia was helping her? Maybe Tia wanted to kill Larson for dumping her.”
His theory was off the charts. Hell, he didn’t believe it.
His crazy theory didn’t matter.
Their reactions did.
Silence draped the room. Blank shock on the faces of most of the Colton K-9 detectives. Brayden looked secretive and guarded. Shane’s expression smooth and blank.
Finally Carson Gagespoke up. “That’s ridiculous. Demi and Tia had no real connection. Tia socialized in different circles than Demi.”
West shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m a stranger to town. Just thought I’d toss out an idea, seeing there’s already one serial killer in town.”
Murmurs started about Demi Colton. Nothing overt, nothing new. Chief Colton waved a hand. “Enough already.”
Finn made a note onhis pad. “Check out for certain who now owns Pine Paradise.”
The chief’s gaze hardened. “Tia’s cell phone is missing. We searched her house and nothing turned up.”
West figured the unsub took it. He hoped they could find it. Phone records would show who called Tia last. It was all standard operating procedure.
“I want a guard 24/7 on Quinn Colton.” Finn stared at the others. “Not becauseshe’s my cousin, but she’s the only witness we have, and once she gets her memory back, we could have a suspect.”
As the chief dismissed them, West’s concern centered on Quinn.
Because if the Larsons were behind this bombing and the killer screwed up in leaving a witness behind, she would be next to die.
