The Presley woman bit her lip. “That kind of thing can get a hold of you.”
“Was your relationship amicable?” Jane’s voice was deceptively soft.
“He was . . . difficult. Always wanting more and more time with Bexley, our daughter. He’d fly into a rage when it wasn’t convenient.”
“You say you’re surprised he tried to help. Anything that might let us know why he went in there when he was told not to?”
Amy lifted her chin. “I thought maybe he tried to kill her.”
“I see. Did he threaten Ms. Briscoe?”
“He said someone should end her reign of terror. He was planning on suing her. I tried to talk him out of it, but he could be bullheaded.”
“Were you surprised when the test results came back?”
“Not really.”
“You wanted to find something to use against him.”
Relief lit Mrs. Presley’s eyes at the sound of a child calling for Mommy. “I’d better go. That’s all I know anyway.”
When she vanished inside the house, Reid took Jane’s arm and they walked back toward the SUV.
“What did you make of her story?” Jane asked.
Reid loved the way she trusted his opinion. “I dislike women like her—ones who use power over their children to hurt their exes. And she was lying about believing he was doing drugs. She was probably more surprised than anyone when it came back positive. Something is fishy about the whole thing.”
“I think so too. But her point about the test being falsified needs investigation. Maybe something’s there. The team is checking out disgruntled customers. I’d call Finn one of those.”
“Me too,” he agreed. “It sounds like a setup. It makes me wonder if maybe Mrs. Presley knew Gail and asked her to falsify the results. I didn’t believe her to be credible at all.”
Jane smiled. “You’re picking up police terminology.”
They got in the SUV, and she started the engine. “That didn’t take long. Will won’t be ready to go.”
“We can hang out and watch him play for a while. It’s a hot day. He’ll be ready to get ice cream soon.”
Reid buckled his seat belt. “Have you heard if they’ve searched my house yet?”
She glanced at her watch. “They should be there now. You want to grab Will and head back to watch?”
“Scott is there and told me to stay away. He’s probably right. I don’t think I could stop from interfering.”
She squeezed his hand. “Augusta has it under control. She’ll figure out who really did this.”
Reid wished he could believe her, but he was getting more and more worried about their son. If it looked like Will would be arrested, he planned to confess himself. He couldn’t let their son’s life be ruined.
Eighteen
Watching the seabirds swoop and catch fish should have calmed her. Jane sat on a rock overlooking the water and watched Will throw a ball for Parker. The whitecaps deposited more seashells on the sand before rolling back out in a soothing motion, and she tasted salt on her lips. The wind lifted her hair, and she knotted her hands together and tried to breathe through her anxiety.
Was this one of her boy’s last free days?
She couldn’t bear the thought of what seemed to be barreling down on them. And to be shut out of the investigation added more stress. They could be finding something at Reid’s house right this minute that would further implicate Will.
Beside her on the rock, Reid plucked her hand off her knee and held it. “Rough day today for all of us. Will seems calm though.”
The boy shouted and dropped to the sand before he threw his arms around Parker’s neck. The volleyball game was still going on with teenagers down the beach, and Will had been invited to continue to play, but he didn’t seem to want to be too far from his parents. It was the only sign of stress Jane detected in him.
She let sand trickle through the fingers of her free hand. “I should have gone to the house. It’s hard to wait here not knowing what’s happening.”
“Augusta would have kicked you out anyway. And a reporter might have snapped a picture of you there. It wouldn’t have ended well.”
He was right, but it didn’t make the wait any easier. His hand enveloping hers calmed her racing fears and slowed her pulse. She brushed the sand from her hands and exhaled as she lifted her face to the salt-laden breeze. Out in the distance she could see a big boat cruising by a couple of the oil platforms.
“What did you make of Amy Presley’s information?”
She turned her head to Reid and smiled. “I know what you’re trying to do. And I love you for it. I need to talk to some of Gail’s coworkers and see if they know whether Finn threatened her. What if he started the fire himself and it moved faster than expected? He might have been caught inside.”
“All neatly tied up with a bow and then you can move on to figuring out Will’s problem.”
“Maybe. It’s hard to know. There’s still a lot of investigation to go. Gail’s ex still looks good for it too, and Finn could have been caught up in that war.”
Will got up and brushed the sand from his legs before sauntering toward them. He dropped to the beach in front of them. “Anything from the search warrant?”
“Not yet. Try not to worry though. Things like this take a while. And be prepared to have to clean up a mess when we get back. They’ll be taking fingerprints and pulling belongings out of dressers and closets. I’ll help tidy up. And I thought I’d make some gumbo for dinner. Maybe Olivia and Megan can join us.”
At the sound of Megan’s name, his lips curved. “I haven’t seen her for a few days. She’s been at cheer camp. I think it ended yesterday though.”
“She’s probably ready to see you too.”
The budding romance between the two was cute to watch. She glanced at Reid. Did other people see the love sizzling between them? Probably. Neither she nor Reid had made much effort to hide it.
Reid shaded his eyes with his hand. “Speak of the devil. There’s Megan and Olivia heading this way. The beach must have been calling them too.”
Jane winced to see Olivia using a walker. Was ALS supposed to move this fast? She’d thought Olivia’s decline would be much more gradual. Megan walked beside her with two beach chairs.
The other two hadn’t seen them yet, so she lifted her hand and waved. “Olivia, Megan, over here.”
Olivia’s smile was lopsided, and she was winded when she reached them. Megan unfolded a chair for her mother and dropped the other to the sand to help her mom sit. Once her mom was settled, Megan spared a quick smile Will’s way.
“Hey,” he said.
“I talked Mom into coming as soon as I got your text.”
He colored and shot an apologetic look at Jane. “Uh, sure. Mom was just saying she was going to invite you to dinner once we clean up the mess at the house.”
“I’ll help.”
Megan seemed to know all about what was going on, so Olivia would too. Jane removed a bottle of water from the cooler and handed it to her friend. When Olivia struggled to uncap it, Jane took it and untwisted the cap, then handed it back.