She grabbed her bag and followed Zander out of her house.
Minutes later she had Mason on the phone, updating him on her conversation with Jayne.
“You understand why I’m cautious about taking her seriously,” Mason said.
“I do. I feel the same way. But I can’t not do anything.”
“You were right to call Mercy. She knows that area, even though it’s closer to Portland than Bend.”
“She was the first person I thought of when I saw the call originated near The Dalles.”
“I’ve got another call,” said Mason. “It’s the crime lab.”
“Go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Ava ended the call and looked at Zander, intent on his driving. “I feel better now that I talked to Mercy. I don’t know why I waited so long to ask her to be my attendant.”
“Yes, you do. We all know.”
“Mercy said if Jayne can’t do it, then she will. She understood how I felt about wanting Jayne to be there if possible.”
Ava pictured her twin standing beside her on one of the biggest days of her life. Pregnant. “It’s got to be Brady Shurr’s baby. Jayne hasn’t been gone long enough for it to be anyone else’s, judging by her size.” Ava grimaced. “Assuming she was faithful to Brady.” Jayne didn’t know the meaning of the word.
“If there is a baby,” Zander reminded her.
Ava’s phone rang. Mason was calling her back. “That was fast,” she answered.
“The call from the crime lab was about the ammunition used in Kaden Schroeder’s murder.” He sounded breathless.
“Are you all right?” Ava asked.
“The firearm examiner retrieving the ballistics information followed a hunch because the results felt familiar. He’d recently processed the bullets from another murder, and when he compared them to Kaden’s, he discovered they matched.”
“That’s great. Do they have a suspect in the other murder?” Ava was thrilled for him. The bullets would have eventually been linked through a database, but the examiner had saved a lot of time.
“No suspect. But Ava.” Mason paused. “The bullets he compared them to are from David’s murder. The weapon used on Kaden Schroeder matches the one used on your father.”
Ava went still.
“What does that mean?” she whispered into the phone as her mind raced.
“Your sister just told you she is with the man who killed David. If she’s telling the truth about that, then he also killed Kaden or is connected in some way with the weapon that killed Kaden.”
“How else would she know David was murdered unless she was there? It didn’t make the news,” Ava said, trying to keep her thoughts straight. “She must be telling the truth.”
“You have to agree that we never know when Jayne is telling the truth. But either way, it was the same weapon.”
Ava didn’t know what to say.
“I’d like to know if this is tied to Reuben Braswell’s murder,” Mason said. “There’s a strong possibility that Reuben’s murder is related to Kaden’s since they were across the street from one another.”
“Are you saying Jayne could be with Shawn Braswell? The man we suspect killed law enforcement at the courthouse?” Nausea burned up her esophagus. “Jayne is connected to those deaths?”
Oh, Jayne. What have you done?
She faintly registered that Zander had pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and was watching her with concern.
“Shawn Braswell is a prime suspect for Reuben’s death and those officers,” said Mason. “I suspect he’s involved in Kaden’s death, and now that means he could have killed David too.”
Ava’s brain continued to spin, grasping at straws. “What about Tony Schroeder? He’s a suspect in Kaden’s death, right?”
“He is.”
“He could be with Jayne and have shot David.” Ava fought to keep the four incidents straight in her head. “But the stolen weapons found in Kaden’s home are from the same theft as the weapon used at the courthouse. No matter how we look at it, Jayne is tied to the courthouse murders.” Ava couldn’t see a way Jayne wasn’t indirectly involved. Unless she had lied about who had killed David.
“Ava . . . your name was in Reuben’s notes about the bomb.”
“Right. Your point?” Ava asked.
“That means that both you and Jayne are linked in some way to the courthouse deaths.”
He’s right.
“Why?” she breathed. “I don’t understand. Jayne’s supposed to be out of the country.” She kept returning to that fact as if it proved Jayne couldn’t be involved.
“She’s here. Somewhere,” Mason said.
“I need to go to The Dalles,” Ava said. “I’ll take this information to the task force and make them send me.”
Zander cleared his throat.
“Me and Zander,” Ava corrected.
“The lab is calling again. I cut our earlier conversation short because I wanted to tell you.”
“Call me when you’re done,” Ava told Mason. She ended the call and stared out the windshield, feeling dizzy.
Jayne. David. Kaden. Reuben. Shawn.
She said the names out loud. “They’re all connected,” she told Zander.
“I gathered that.”
“What is going on? How can Jayne be caught up in this?”
“You’re asking me?”
She wasn’t. “I’m thinking out loud.”
“We both know Jayne has ended up in some insane situations,” Zander said. “Several illegal. If Reuben Braswell was your informant and Jayne has a way of weaseling into every aspect of your life, then I’m not completely shocked to find out she might be with his brother.”
“How could she possibly know about an informant of mine?”
“Maybe she followed you to a meeting. Maybe it was the other way around . . . Reuben or Shawn searched her out.”
Ava gasped as the air left her lungs. “Reuben . . . he was attracted to me. He was upset when he saw my engagement ring. Tried to warn me that women can be physically hurt in marriage but said he would never do that to me.”
“Jesus. Why didn’t you say that before?”
“Because it wasn’t relevant!”
“He could find all sorts of information about you on the internet. Especially with the trouble that Jayne has gotten into. It’s possible he discovered you had a twin and went looking for her. And now she’s with his brother somehow.”
“That’s ridiculous. We’re making connections that don’t make sense and jumping to conclusions.” The car seemed to spin.
This can’t be true.
“I’m not saying this is what happened, but it’s possible.” Zander restarted the car. “The task force will be very interested to know we’ve got a possible lead on Shawn Braswell’s location. I have no doubt they’ll send us to The Dalles.”
26
Zander was wrong.
The sheriff wasn’t impressed with Ava’s report on Jayne’s phone call. Especially when an officer standing nearby asked if Jayne was the same crazy sister who had stolen Ava’s car and crashed it while drunk.