"And then what happens? The investigation ends?"
"Yes," Ryan admitted. "Unless some new evidence comes up, which can happen."
He wanted to give them hope, but not raise their expectations too high.
Skip stroked his chin. "That's all we can ask for. Your best. I know you're trying, Ryan. If you can't solve this, I doubt anyone could. Lilly and I may just have to learn to live with not knowing."
Ryan only wished he had better news for the family.
"What's next?" Skip asked. "Where do you go from here?"
"I'll talk to Caroline and Danny again. Maybe Theo. See if any of them noticed Brad's gambling. We'll try and talk to the bookies that he was using. If we can find them. One's in prison and the other is deceased. The latter might have had business associates that we can talk to."
"Anything else?"
"I still need to talk to Isla. She's been busy but I'm hoping to speak with her tomorrow."
Skip seemed to recognize that there wasn't much to go on. He had an utterly sad and defeated expression on his face, as if he'd aged ten years in a mere five minutes.
"Thank you for coming here and telling us in person."
"I wouldn't do anything else."
A corner of Skip's mouth quirked up. "You're a Beck, that's for sure. Your dad would have done the same."
Before yesterday Ryan wouldn't have taken that statement very well. Today? It wasn't so bad.
The minute Ryan walked into Mariah’s apartment later, she knew immediately that he'd had a shitty day. He hadn't expected his meeting with the Harringtons to go well, and it looked like he was right. His shoulders were slumped and there were lines around his eyes and mouth that hadn't been there this morning.
"Shit, you look like hell," Knox said to Ryan. "I should have gone with you."
Both she and Knox had offered to accompany Ryan when he met with Lilly and Skip but he'd said that he would be better if only he were there. Knox had finished his meetings about an hour ago and he'd been sitting in her living room telling her fun stories about the cases he'd worked on with Ryan. Her man appeared to be well-liked by his coworker and for some reason that made her happy. It was clear that Knox thought that Ryan was damn good at his job.
As for Knox, she liked him. He seemed to be a straightforward guy with an optimistic nature, although serious as hell about his job. She'd asked him if he was married or had kids and he'd laughed loud and long. He said he wasn't the marrying kind so she kind of got the idea that he might be a little bit of a ladies' man. He was certainly good-looking enough to attract the opposite sex with his dark blond hair and soft brown eyes. Plus his grin was positively infectious. It was hard to be around him and not be smiling, too.
"How about a beer?" she offered, not waiting for him to reply. She grabbed one from the fridge and placed it on the kitchen counter. "I guess it didn't go well."
"Lilly Harrington cried."
Tears. Ryan couldn't deal with a woman crying. He never had been able to and from what she could see that hadn't changed in the last twelve years or so. Even happy tears were hard for him to deal with. He'd told her when they were younger that someone crying made him feel helpless and he hated that feeling.
Ryan took a long draw from the beer bottle before continuing. "They say that they had no idea that Brad was gambling. Actually, no. That isn't what they said. They said that they couldn't believe it, although I assured them that Brad had been in touch with at least two bookies. Then Lilly wanted to go lie down, and Skip asked me if I thought I could really solve this case."
"What did you say?" Knox asked, his smile gone for the moment, replaced with a worried frown.
"I was honest about the odds, just as I was in the beginning. I wasn't going to sugarcoat it. It isn't going to be easy. I told him we'd work the case as long as there were leads to follow." Ryan swung his gaze to Knox. "Speaking of leads, how did your afternoon go? I hope better than mine."
"I wish I had better news," Knox said with a grimace. "Steve Alton doesn't remember that night at all. He did say that he saw Trent Aldridge come and go because his balcony was right over the parking lot, but he doesn't have any recollection of that particular night. His exact words were 'Do you know how long ago that was? Shit, I barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Nights that long ago all blend together.' So, he's not going to be any help. As for Isla Foster's roommates, Jared found one still in Chicago and I went to see her."
"Let me guess, they don't remember Brad either?" Ryan said, taking another drink from the beer. "This is what happens when it's a cold case."
"They remember Brad, and they confirm that Isla was sleeping with him and that they all had some group sex a few times, but they don't know about that night in particular. They don't remember."
A muscle ticked in Ryan's jaw. "And Isla, who might remember, keeps cancelling. It's like she has something to hide from me."
Isla had always been a little different but the idea that she might have had something to do with Brad's death seemed crazy to Mariah.
"You think Isla killed Brad?"
Rubbing at his temple, Ryan shrugged. "Shit, I don't know. Not really. But she might know about his gambling. Maybe that's why she doesn't want to meet with me. She doesn't want to speak ill of the dead."
"There are a lot of people like that," Knox agreed. "Unfortunately, murder cases don't care about politeness."
"I'm not going to take no for an answer tomorrow," Ryan replied grimly. "I'm going to show up at her office and not leave until she talks to me. If she gives me a hard time, I'll call the detective on the case and they can bring her downtown. Perhaps she'll get the idea that we're not playing a game here."
They talked about Knox and Ryan meeting with Caroline, Danny, and Theo again. If anyone would know about Brad's gambling, it would be one of those.
"How about I order us some dinner?" Mariah offered. Ryan had had such a shit day she didn't want to ask him to fix a meal. And heaven knew she couldn't cook. She'd poison all three of them. "Pizza? Italian? Chinese? Burgers? There's a new sports bar that dropped off a menu a few weeks ago. There's cheese fries."
Ryan loved cheese fries. Or at least he had.
Knox placed his hand over his heart and sighed. "I would crawl over hot coals for a double cheeseburger. Do they have wings, too?"
"You bet."
She retrieved the menu from a drawer in the kitchen and everyone put in their order, plus she said she'd add several items to share. They'd have leftovers, too.
"Do you guys mind if I go lie down while we wait for the food?" Knox asked, his hand on the doorknob. "I didn't sleep well on the flight."
"Go ahead," Ryan urged him. "Make yourself at home."
Knox was sleeping in the guest room of Ryan's apartment.
"He may have been tired but I think he also wanted to give us some time alone," Ryan said.
"He sounds like a good friend."