NINETEEN

If only cloning were possible, Amanda would be the first in line. They needed to notify Eve’s next of kin, talk to the other bidders, trace Eve’s last steps, and those were just the highlights. Assuming Eve ingested pentobarbital, where had she gotten it? But they had their marching orders from Malone.

She and Trent returned to Central to get the information on the two bidders. Before they were going to show up at either’s door, they wanted to be armed with some intel. They were in Trent’s cubicle.

He sat down and flicked on his monitor. “I noticed in your recap to Malone about why we were in Eve’s office, you left out the bit about Alicia’s phone history.”

“Why go there?” She should feel guilty for going behind Malone’s back, but she didn’t. “Besides, you saw what he was like back there. Something’s off about him.” Like his mind isn’t as sharp.

“I noticed.” He started typing. “Okay, so the bidders’ names are Rocco Lopez of Smart Acquisitions and Dale Reynolds of Acne Buster Inc. Both companies are in Woodbridge.”

“The business names seem straightforward enough, but we still need to dig.” She gestured toward his monitor. “Start with Lopez.”

Trent proceeded to bring up the man’s personal background and information on the company. “His company acquires failing businesses around the world, makes them profitable, then flips them.”

“Just as the name told me. Though New Belle wasn’t operating in the red.” It made her curious about Lopez’s interest in Alicia’s company.

He went to the internet and did a Google search. “Ooh.” He slumped back in his chair. “Rocco Lopez is shaaaady,” he said, dragging out the word. “Clean criminal record, but look at these.” He pointed to the articles that had come back with his search.

“They allege Lopez kept close company with Congressman Eugene Davis.” She drew back, feeling sick. And angry. Just when she’d thought and hoped she’d heard the last of the man, that he’d be rotting in some prison, his name was thrust back in her face. The congressman had been behind a sex-trafficking ring that operated in the Prince William County area. It wasn’t even a year ago she had him slammed behind bars. “If this Lopez guy is some perv, I will take him down.”

“And I’ll be right by your side.”

“Just keeping company with the likes of Davis… that makes him a despicable human being. Someone who probably wouldn’t have any qualms about killing to ensure he gets what he wants.”

“Or hiring someone to do the dirty work.”

“Precisely. What about the other bidder, Reynolds?”

Trent clicked away on his keyboard. A few minutes later, he said, “On paper, this guy’s rather boring compared to Lopez.”

“In this case, boring is good.”

“No argument there.”

“All right, we start with Lopez, go from there.” Just saying his name and knowing his associate’s transgression had her redhead temper boiling her blood.

Trent turned off his monitor, and they left for Smart Acquisitions.

Just when Amanda was starting to look at the world with a touch more optimism, Eugene Davis’s name regurgitated like a horrid hangover.

“So, being an acquisition company, this Lopez guy could very well have a lot of money at his disposal. Just thinking, how could Eve Kelley be expected to compete with that?”

Trent looked over at her from behind the wheel. “I wonder if Alicia Gordon set Kelley up to fail—putting on a front that she was doing her a favor, but knowing all along that other interested parties could far outbid her.”

“Cruel, if that’s the case. Alicia Gordon’s been painted many different ways—as someone who cares about her employees, wants to sell her business to spend more time with her family, and offers a college friend the chance to get a deal on a lucrative cosmetics company. But there are also the dark aspects to her personality. Vindictiveness. And if she did steal Eve Kelley’s formula in college, a thief. If she was backing out of the deal she made with Eve, as Eve told us, then she was also a liar. Not someone to rely on.”

“It could be that Eve interpreted her conversation with Alicia as her backing out of the deal…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if the other offers were sky-high, out of Eve’s reach, Eve could have felt she was being squeezed out.”

“Possible.”

Trent pulled into the parking lot of a shopping plaza and chose a spot near the front doors of Smart Acquisitions.

They entered the office, a small place that wasn’t very impressive. Basic and functional at best. Bland and cheap at worst. But she supposed the company didn’t need to have much space for their work. They just needed a flush bank account. Business didn’t need to be transacted in person anymore. Not with online video conferencing, and inherit legalities that could be handled via secure documents and electronic signatures.

“Hello? Can I help you?” A stiff-looking woman in a gray skirt suit came from a hallway into the front area, which consisted of a few chairs and a long coffee table.

Amanda and Trent held up their badges.

“Detectives Steele and Stenson with Prince William County PD. We’d like to speak with Rocco Lopez.”

“Do you have an appointment with him?” The woman clasped her hands and leaned her long, lean neck to the side.

“We don’t, but it’s urgent and imperative that we speak with him right away,” Amanda said, measuring her tone with equal parts firmness and respect. “Is he in?”

“He is. I’ll see if he can speak with you now.” The woman turned slowly and receded down the hall from which she had come.

Amanda glanced at Trent. The place gave her a bit of the creeps, but maybe it was more the fact her mind was tainted against Rocco Lopez before they’d arrived.

“Detectives?” A man emerged from the hall. “I’m Rocco Lopez.” He shook Trent’s hand and extended his for Amanda’s, but she wanted nothing to do with it. He pulled his hand back, showing no sign of being affected by her rejection. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you have a private area where we could talk?” Not that there was another soul in sight. Not even the woman.

“Yes, certainly. This way.” Rocco took them to an office, which was as bare bones as the reception area. If this man was wealthy enough to bid on New Belle, he hid it well. His clothing was on the cheap side, and the suit was ill-fitted to his frame. But maybe his affluence shone more in his financial portfolio.

They all sat, Rocco behind his desk, and Amanda and Trent in plastic bucket chairs. Bucket chairs? Really?

“What is it that I can do for the PWCPD?” Rocco asked.

“Do you know Alicia Gordon?” Amanda said.

“Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”

“She was murdered last week.” She set it out there without tact to see if it netted any reaction.

Rocco slowly leaned back in his chair, swiveled left, right, left, right, left, right. “I didn’t realize she was murdered.”

It was hard to know what to make of his dry response—a lack of empathy or shock? There was a small widening of his eyes that made her wonder if the latter applied, but could she trust facial expression and body language if Rocco was a scumbag? He’d be good at hiding his true feelings. “Alicia was poisoned,” Amanda added. There was no registration on Rocco’s face. Good actor or in the dark?

“How horrible. Her poor family… She had a young boy, didn’t she?”

Amanda recoiled that he went right there, considering his known associate. “Yes, and a college-aged son. She also left behind a husband.”

“I did read this in the paper. It’s all so very tragic.”

Tags: Carolyn Arnold Thriller
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