Page 75 of Love Again

Finn whistles a low note. “Damn. She’s serious. Working behind his back—that’s gutsy.”

Nic folds his arms. “And you’ve been helping her?”

Carlson sniffs. “Let’s just say, I’ve looked the other way when she wanted some information.”

“What happened two years ago?”

“I found something in Boston that linked Barr to the mob. At least, that was what I was working on. Then my houseboat blew up.”

“You think it was a hit?” Mateus asks.

“No. If it was, I’d be dead. It was too messy. It was an amateur, and then there was that crazy tooth left behind. But Barr’s name is coming up a lot. What did the three of you find out?”

Finn, Mateus, and Nic report out on backyard sales, a cousin, bad stocks, a prostitute, a betting problem, second and third mortgages, and money funneling through several bank accounts—all reports profiling information on Judge Barr. Nothing that links him directly with the fires, to be sure, but the trails from the fire sites seem to somehow meander their way to him. He is attached to or is close to someone attached to every property.

Devon is standing right next to me, and just as Nic finishes up, she slips her hand in mine, gives it a quick squeeze, and drops it again.

Touching base.

Nic reaches over and picks up the device. “This is the best piece of evidence we have so far, besides the teeth. Is Jim Whitehead smart enough to construct something like this? One gasoline-soaked rag and an ignition switch, and you’ve got a fire with or without a timer.”

Carlson shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

Nic sets down the device. “Why didn’t the Pratchetts report this?”

I clear my throat. “Andy didn’t know what this was. He found it the same day Kevin Barr was taking pictures of their wills. Pratchett says the device is why he fired Kevin, though. He thought it was a listening device.”

“And that’s why Kevin Barr is sitting in the interrogation room right now,” says Carlson. “I want to be clear about how and what we’re interrogating him over before we go in there. Is it his relationship with Jim? Are we treating him as a person of interest or as a suspect?”

“Suspect,” says Finn, and Carlson looks surprised.

“Does he know I’m here?” Devon’s voice is small.

Carlson looks at Devon. “No, of course not. He was escorted in way before any of you arrived. Which one of you wants to do this?”

Mateus and I look at each other and start the same sentence. “Both of us—"

Finn and Nic share a glance. Finn holds up a hand. “Before we go in there, Nic and I think we have a better idea.”

΅

Kevin Barr is as twitchy as a raw nerve. The moment Mateus and I step into the room, his head swivels around and he grips the small table. He’s not cuffed, as he’s not under arrest, but his thin face is flushed, and his greasy blond hair is slick with sweat. He’s gnawing on a toothpick.

The kid is angry, anxious, and nervous. The air in the room smells of fear. He’s not containing it, and it isn’t helping his cause at all. He knows there are other people watching through the one-way, mirrored glass, but he never glances in that direction over our shoulders.

“Hey, I remember you, chico. From before,” he says, looking at Mateus. “I helped out and you screwed it up. You’re that guy.”

What I gleaned from Mateus on the beach last night—before it was announced that I was married to his girlfriend’s sister—were the details of the capture of a dealer, Professor Cruz. Kevin Barr wore a wire and was supposed to meet him, but the Professor ran. Mateus fought him in the water.

It sounded gut-wrenching. I don’t know how these guys do it. Leaping into a fire from the air sounds safer than dealing with people who lie and want to kill you.

Mateus also told me how Kevin Barr tried to sue for paternity of Cory just to mess with Laurel. I’d heard the fact from Devon, but to hear Mateus’s version of the story makes me want to punch this kid right now.

In short, it’s clear he’s an asshole.

But a murderous, sociopathic asshole? That remains to be determined.

Mateus ignores the put down and throws out a series of pictures of charred debris from five of the eleven fires—the five that are clearly linked to his father. These are photos I uploaded to Colton Security and that he blew up.