“Chuck said he was friends with both of them. Maybe Dan was tired of waiting for his share of the hundred grand. How are you guys doing financially?”
Gale paused and lowered her head. When she looked up she said, “Not that good. Dan seems to fall for a lot of get-rich-quick schemes.”
“And I take it you haven’t gotten rich.”
“No, we certainly haven’t. Damn, I never pictured him a kidnapper, but this whole thing sounds like something Dan would either cook up or fall for if someone suggested it.”
“If Lori’s in on it then it's not really a kidnapping, is it?” Margot pointed out.
“I’m not sure conning your brother out of his share of a hundred grand is that much better.”
“It’s not, though. As it turns out, he’s only conning him out of his share of ten grand. That would explain why the whole thing is probably in limbo.”
“Ten grand?”
“Turns out dad’s coin collection had a lot more sentimental value than monetary value.”
Gale laughed. “Are you telling me that, for all these years, the whole family has been fighting over ten thousand dollars?”
“According to Dave, yeah.”
“What do we do now? Go to the police?”
“They’d probably go check out Chuck if the bullets are a possible match for his rifle. I can honestly say he threatened me with it, but they won’t know that for a few days. Even that’s thin and everything else is just speculation on our part.”
“It sounds right though. Feels right.”
“I agree, but they can’t get search warrants based on our feelings. Even if they could, I don’t think we should wait too long. If Lori isn’t in on this, her life is in danger. She didn’t bust up her own face.”
“So we go out to Chuck’s?”
“I figure we start with your husband. You’re probably going to have to tell him some things you don’t want to.”
“Yeah, well, even if he’s innocent in all this, he was still screwing around.” Gale checked her phone. “He should have just got home.”
“Then let’s go.”
Since they drove out separately, Margot followed Gale. She parked on the street while Gale pulled into her garage. Margot was walking up to the front door when she heard the gunshot.
Chapter 12
Margot got down low since she couldn’t be sure where the shot was coming from. If Chuck or somebody else was doing the sniper thing like back at Layla’s West, she was out in the open. She heard the second shot and saw the muzzle flash through the front window. This time the shooter was doing things up close and personal.
Margot drew her gun and kicked open the front door. She quickly stepped to the side and waited a full three seconds. When no one fired through the open door, she glanced in for a half a second. That was enough to see Dan dead on the floor with what looked like a head wound. Margot went in quickly, looking for threats. She wasn’t in long before she saw Chuck’s back. He was aiming his gun towards where the garage door connected with the kitchen.
“Drop it or I drop you,” Margot commanded.
Chuck moved his head just enough to see her behind him.
“Didn’t we just do this already?”
“Put down the gun. I’m not going to ask again.”
“You’d shoot me in the back?”
“Yeah.”
“But what are you going to do about her?” Chuck replied, jerking his head in the direction of a woman standing nearby.