Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(46)

Aubrey gasped and sat down on the couch, her eyes wide with shock. “Iris? Oh my God. She’s dead?”

“Quite dead.” Shane also sat down on the couch and stretched his long legs out to rest his feet on the coffee table. “The question is did she kill herself because her lover is dead? Did she kill herself because she felt guilty about murdering that lover? Or…and this is the question I like…did someone help her drown? And did that person have something to do with Bruce’s death?”

Travis raked his fingers through his hair and groaned. “Shit. What in the hell is going on here? Two murders in less than a week. That has to be a record for this establishment. Do Caroline and Alana know yet?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them. I only took a few minutes to bring my bag upstairs and then I spent the rest of the time out back.” Shane gulped down the last of his beer and slapped the bottle on the coffee table. “What are you thinking right now?”

Another good question.

“That I’m stunned by the turn of events and haven’t quite wrapped my mind around what’s happened. Iris’s death brings up many more questions than it answers, I’m afraid.”

“But it does clear up one thing,” Aubrey offered as she kicked off her shoes and curled up on the sofa, her legs tucked underneath her. “Martin couldn’t possibly have done this because he’s in jail awaiting arraignment. Since the two deaths are probably linked I would say that’s a compelling argument for releasing him.”

Travis’s chest puffed out with pride. “That’s my girl. You’re starting to think like a detective. You’re absolutely right. If Iris died from foul play then Martin should be cleared from both deaths.”

Her answering smile made his heart ache in his chest.

Shane groaned and rolled his eyes. “Can you two cool the goo-goo eyes and kisses for just a few minutes? Should I leave you two alone?”


Aubrey grabbed one of the throw pillows from the couch and smacked Shane right in the face, much to his shock. “We were not kissing, although I’ll admit to the goo-goo eyes. But you can’t blame a girl. I was warned the Anderson men were lethal but I still couldn’t resist.”

She always knew what to say and this occasion was no different. Shane grinned and practically beamed with pride. He enjoyed his reputation as a ladies’ man. Hell, he reveled in it.

“So back to the issue at hand.” Travis steered the conversation to today’s events. “It looks like we need to find out some details about Iris’s death but I don’t think Prather is going to be very forthcoming. He already has a shit attitude about pretty much everything.”

Leaning forward, the throw pillow on his lap, Shane waggled his eyebrows as if he was the villain in a silent movie. “I’m already on that, cousin. There were reporters there and I talked to one of them who would be willing to give us some information as long as we promise to give him an exclusive regarding Anderson Industries. He says he has an in with the forensic team and the coroner. I think he’s probably the best shot we have to learn anything.”

“Not one lead has panned out,” Travis groused, getting two more beers from the refrigerator and a soda for Aubrey. He handed the longneck bottle to Shane before opening his own. “You didn’t learn shit in New York. The bookie wanted Bruce alive so he’d get paid. We can’t find a photo of Martin’s cufflinks the night of the party and no one we talk to seems to know a damn thing and yet everyone has a motive.”

“Call Jason and West.”

Aubrey’s soft voice pulled Travis out of his frustrated misery. “What? Why?”

She looked almost afraid to answer as if he would be offended. “Because they’re cops and they’ll know what to do when we hit a dead end like this.”

Shane grinned and slapped his thigh with glee. “Damn, woman, you’re right. We’re so entrenched in this mess we can’t see what the hell we’re doing. I’ll get one of them on the phone right now.”

“At least one of us is thinking straight.”

Aubrey scooted onto Travis’s lap and laid her head on his shoulder. His pulse sped up at the delightful female that was currently nestled against him. “You need to give yourself a break. First you were trying to clear me and now Martin. You’re emotionally invested in this case and that doesn’t make thinking clearly easy.”

She’d brought up a salient point. Was he blinded by his respect and admiration for his friend? Martin had plenty of motive to kill Bruce but Travis honestly couldn’t imagine the man doing it. If he couldn’t keep an open mind and make logical decisions he wasn’t going to do any better than Detective Prather.

Shane fished his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Jason. Or West. Wait, which one do you think will answer their phone?”

Travis had no doubt at all. “West. He told me that he keeps it on twenty-four-seven. It’s a cop thing.”

“But he’s the mayor now.” Shane was pressing buttons on his phone.

“I’m guessing the habit hasn’t died.”

It hadn’t. West picked up on the second ring and Shane put the phone on speaker.

“Brother, we need your advice. We’re at a dead end here and I don’t know our next move.”