get revenge for what he did to me. Understand?”
“We understand,” Lois snapped.
The corner of Duran’s mouth lifted. “I’m not going away. And I’m not backing down. I’m staying in Willow Ridge, and I plan to haunt you, your daughter and her fiancé until you lead me to Dexter.”
“Just make sure your threats stay verbal,” the sheriff warned Duran. “Because you’ll be the one arrested if you cross the line.”
Duran mumbled something and turned to leave. Lucky followed him. Marin would have no doubt done the same, but the phone rang, and several seconds later, one of the housekeepers announced that the call was for Marin.
Lucky went to the porch and caught Duran’s arm before he could head down the steps. “Talk to me about Kinley Ford. What do you know about her?”
“She’s dead.” He paused, studied Lucky’s expression and then shook off his grip with far more force than necessary. “At least the police think she is. You have any information to the contrary?”
“No,” Lucky lied.
Duran kept staring. “Kinley Ford was at the research facility the night of the explosion. I know, because I was there, too.”
“You saw her?” But Lucky already knew the answer. Or rather the answer that Duran had given the investigators when they had first interviewed him.
“I did see her. Dexter, Brenna and Kinley.” Duran glanced around the grounds. The vigilant glance of a man who was wary of his surroundings. “Something was off, but I didn’t know what. Dexter was acting even less normal than usual. I mean, he was forever pulling that prima donna genius crap where he’d say he couldn’t be interrupted. But that night, he was wound up so tight that I could see he was about to snap.”
Probably because Dexter was about to put his plan into action. “Did you ask why he was on edge?”
He lifted a shoulder, glanced around again “The prototype of the chemical project was due within forty-eight hours. Dexter kept saying it was ready, but that I couldn’t see it until he’d given it one final test.” Duran cursed. “I should have forced him to show it to me.”
Lucky gave that some thought. “So, if the prototype wasn’t ready, you think Dexter could have set the explosion, run with his research project and then faked his death?”
Duran met him eye to eye. “I think he faked not only his own death but maybe Kinley Ford’s and Brenna Martel’s.”
Yes. After seeing his sister on that surveillance video, Lucky had toyed with that idea, too. Still, there was all that blood. “Why would Dexter have done that?”
“Simple. Because he needed their help to finish the project. Plus, he knew what a fortune that chemical weapon would make, and he didn’t want to hand it over to the investors. Maybe he thought he could get away with it if everyone associated with the project was presumed dead. Then, he could wait a year or two and use an alias when he tried to sell it on the black market.”
“There’s a big problem with that theory. Kinley Ford wouldn’t have cooperated with Dexter’s illegal plan. She wasn’t a criminal,” Lucky insisted.
Duran shrugged. “Maybe she wasn’t a willing participant.”
Hell. That theory raced through and left him with more questions than when he’d started this investigation. “What could Dexter have used to force her to cooperate?”
“Right off the top of my head, I’d say maybe she was a fool for love. Brenna certainly was.” Another glance around. “But I know that Dexter had already broken things off with Brenna.”
Lucky hated to even put this out there, but it was something he had to know. “And you think that Dexter then started an affair with Kinley?”
Another shrug. “Something was going on between them. Hell for all I know, maybe Kinley Ford was the mastermind of that explosion. Or Brenna. Women, ” he added like profanity.
Lucky dismissed his sister’s involvement. He had to. Because he couldn’t deal with the
“We understand,” Lois snapped.
The corner of Duran’s mouth lifted. “I’m not going away. And I’m not backing down. I’m staying in Willow Ridge, and I plan to haunt you, your daughter and her fiancé until you lead me to Dexter.”
“Just make sure your threats stay verbal,” the sheriff warned Duran. “Because you’ll be the one arrested if you cross the line.”
Duran mumbled something and turned to leave. Lucky followed him. Marin would have no doubt done the same, but the phone rang, and several seconds later, one of the housekeepers announced that the call was for Marin.
Lucky went to the porch and caught Duran’s arm before he could head down the steps. “Talk to me about Kinley Ford. What do you know about her?”
“She’s dead.” He paused, studied Lucky’s expression and then shook off his grip with far more force than necessary. “At least the police think she is. You have any information to the contrary?”
“No,” Lucky lied.
Duran kept staring. “Kinley Ford was at the research facility the night of the explosion. I know, because I was there, too.”
“You saw her?” But Lucky already knew the answer. Or rather the answer that Duran had given the investigators when they had first interviewed him.
“I did see her. Dexter, Brenna and Kinley.” Duran glanced around the grounds. The vigilant glance of a man who was wary of his surroundings. “Something was off, but I didn’t know what. Dexter was acting even less normal than usual. I mean, he was forever pulling that prima donna genius crap where he’d say he couldn’t be interrupted. But that night, he was wound up so tight that I could see he was about to snap.”
Probably because Dexter was about to put his plan into action. “Did you ask why he was on edge?”
He lifted a shoulder, glanced around again “The prototype of the chemical project was due within forty-eight hours. Dexter kept saying it was ready, but that I couldn’t see it until he’d given it one final test.” Duran cursed. “I should have forced him to show it to me.”
Lucky gave that some thought. “So, if the prototype wasn’t ready, you think Dexter could have set the explosion, run with his research project and then faked his death?”
Duran met him eye to eye. “I think he faked not only his own death but maybe Kinley Ford’s and Brenna Martel’s.”
Yes. After seeing his sister on that surveillance video, Lucky had toyed with that idea, too. Still, there was all that blood. “Why would Dexter have done that?”
“Simple. Because he needed their help to finish the project. Plus, he knew what a fortune that chemical weapon would make, and he didn’t want to hand it over to the investors. Maybe he thought he could get away with it if everyone associated with the project was presumed dead. Then, he could wait a year or two and use an alias when he tried to sell it on the black market.”
“There’s a big problem with that theory. Kinley Ford wouldn’t have cooperated with Dexter’s illegal plan. She wasn’t a criminal,” Lucky insisted.
Duran shrugged. “Maybe she wasn’t a willing participant.”
Hell. That theory raced through and left him with more questions than when he’d started this investigation. “What could Dexter have used to force her to cooperate?”
“Right off the top of my head, I’d say maybe she was a fool for love. Brenna certainly was.” Another glance around. “But I know that Dexter had already broken things off with Brenna.”
Lucky hated to even put this out there, but it was something he had to know. “And you think that Dexter then started an affair with Kinley?”
Another shrug. “Something was going on between them. Hell for all I know, maybe Kinley Ford was the mastermind of that explosion. Or Brenna. Women, ” he added like profanity.
Lucky dismissed his sister’s involvement. He had to. Because he couldn’t deal with the
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