Bucked (The Invincibles 6)

“Yes.” I smiled at him, touched that he expressed concern, and then rolled my shoulders. “Another connection we were able to make was between my aunt, her editor at Associated Press, and Kerr.”

Ali raised a brow.

“Within a year of Barb’s fall from grace, Hennessey and Kerr got married,” said Irish.

Ali gave a slight shake of her head. “Come again.”

“Working theory is that Sally was the one having the affair with Kerr, and they took Barb down together to squelch her Operation Argead story. It was the first piece in years that the AP passed on. They probably acted on the assumption that no one else would pick it up,” I added.

“Give me a minute to get caught up.” Ali’s fingers flew on the keyboard while she typed in her notes. “Have you surmised anything further?”

Irish cleared his throat.

“Go ahead,” I said.

“Again, theorizing. Kerr knew Barb had enough evidence to bring him down, because Sally shared Barb’s story with him. Neither of them thought anyone would pick it up. After it ran, Hennessey wrote the follow up herself, and in it, accused Barb of manufacturing evidence.”

“As well as accusing her of having an affair with Kerr that ended badly,” I added.

Irish looked over to Buck.

“It makes sense that one or both of them threatened your aunt. Like Irish, I’m theorizing,” he said. “Kerr, most likely, delivered the threat, demanding your aunt turn the evidence over to him or he’d kill her.”

“And?” I asked, following where Buck was going with this but wanting him to continue.

“She refused, but he didn’t kill her.”

“Why not?”

“Mutually beneficial arrangement,” said Decker, who had been mostly quiet to that point.

“Meaning?”

“She still had something on him. Probably whatever is in the safe-deposit box. And someone, like Barb’s attorney for example, has instructions for what to do in the event of her untimely death.”

“Wouldn’t that come into play now?” asked Ali.

“Not if Kerr believed he could intercept it,” Buck answered, stroking his beard.

“Because he finally knew where it was?” I asked.

“That’s right, darlin’.” Buck’s gaze rested on me, and it felt like a warm blanket.

“Ahem.”

Both he and I looked at Ali.

“Yes?”

“Back to what we were talking about, I have more questions.”

I looked at Buck, who was smirking in the same way I was over Ali’s tone.

“Go ahead.”

“I still don’t understand the timing.”

“This was the first she told me of the key. There had to be eyes, ears, or both in that apartment, but Rock said Decker didn’t find anything.”