Sadie's Game (Ashby Crime Family)

Thomas gave a short nod of acknowledgment and straightened his shoulders. “I’ll get the refreshments ready.”

“Perfect. I’ll call the boys. They should be here for this.” I looked at the half-full glass with longing and left it on my desk as I went in search of Jasper, Virgil, and Calvin. By the time the law came to my door, my sons were seated around the dining room table, Jasper to my right, Cal and Virgil to my left. On the other side of the table, Beck sat between Agent Marshall and Officer Ellison.

It was clear this was Beck’s show, and as a powerful woman myself, I respected that. Not enough to take it easy on her, but enough to answer her silly questions without my attorney present.

“Sadie,” she began as if we were old friends.

“Ms. Ashby,” I corrected her. “Sadie is reserved for my friends. Friends like Jack.”

The mention of her father had the intended effect of knocking Agent Beck off her game. “Interesting, but my questions today are about more current events. The night Dietrich Mueller and Bonnie Ashby were murdered, where were you?”

“Ah, yes. Jack and I became good friends after a while. He was such a good listener.”

The truth was her father had been a damn good employee and losing him wasn’t something I took lightly. Not now and not then.

“Do you have an alibi for the night your daughter-in-law was killed?”

“He needed extra cash to help take care of his child, a smart kid too. A daughter, I think?” I let my gaze linger on Beck to let her know I knew why she was so preoccupied with my family. “Jack needed the money, so I offered him a job transporting goods for one of my companies.”

Agent Beck sucked in a shaky breath. “If you can’t account for your whereabouts Ms. Ashby, you’ll be bumped up from person of interest to suspect.”

I sat back in my chair and grinned. “Interesting.”

“Not really, now answer the damn question.” She was getting annoyed and that would make her interrogation sloppy at best.

“What night was that? Specifically?”

Beck scoffed. “You don’t remember the night your daughter-in-law was killed?”

I shrugged. “It’s been a terrible tragedy for the family. I thought you, of all people, would understand that I was too stricken with grief to worry about things like calendars and timelines.”

She stopped shuffling her papers and glared at me. “Leave him out of it.”

“Him? Oh, Jack.” I smiled wistfully; the emotion was genuine, and it helped get a rise out of the redheaded bitch. “The best thing about him, other than his listening skills, was the way he fucked me. Damn, he was good. He knew just what I liked, and it got him off just to get me off, a fine trait in a lover.”

“Ma,” Jasper groaned and dropped his face in his hands.

Calvin and Virgil remained silent, supportive and strong but silent. Agent Beck, though, was ready to spit fire at me. The bitch would probably cuff me now if she could justify it.

“Yeah, and I’ll bet once he was of no more use to you—”

Agent Marshall chose that moment to step in before his partner said something that would get her thrown off the investigation. “The seventeenth, Ms. Ashby. Where were you on the evening of the seventeenth, from seven in the evening until midnight?”

I liked Agent Marshall. He was competent and fair, even good-looking in that broke cop kind of way with his cheap suits and old but comfortable shoes. He did his job, and that was it. He didn’t have a personal stake in the outcome of the cases he investigated. He was a bit like the cops Colm and Cillian dealt with back in the day. I’d have to get him on our payroll.

“I was at home all evening. I spent part of it with my granddaughter, and I’m afraid she’s too young to confirm my alibi.”

“You didn’t leave at all the whole night?”

I shrugged. “Maybe a walk around the property to clear my head, but otherwise, no. I’m a bit of a homebody, Agent Marshall.”

He nodded. “Right.”

“Maybe Bonnie fell off the wagon, and that’s why she was meeting with Mueller. It’s no secret he was into some pretty shady things.”

Beck scoffed at my words and leaned forward, glaring hard enough to pop a blood vessel. “Bullshit. You’ve had a beef with Mueller for years. Funny how his death benefits you most, but you had nothing to do with it. Kind of hard to believe, don’t you think?”

I opened my mouth to cut the little bitch off at the knees, but Jasper beat me to it. “What I think is that those pretty blue eyes see a lot, but not as much as you think.”

Pretty? As a woman trying to gain respect in a man’s world, Addison Beck wouldn’t fall for such a weak ploy.