“I need you to think about this. Did she know who you were?” He’s staring at me. “Do you remember what she said to you?”
Dylan raises his head and lowers it slowly. “She asked me….” He swallows visibly. “She asked me if I wanted to get Tayler back.”
Okay. This is getting weird. “What did she mean?”
Turning toward me, Dylan steps back into the room. “She said she’d help me get Tayler back.”
“Why?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“And did she? Help you?”
The look on Dylan’s face reminds me of the times my little brother was caught doing something he shouldn’t have been. “She did surveillance.”
“Surveillance?”
“On Tayler. She took the photos. Most of ’em.”
“She was in Ames? Helping you?” Her dad promised he’d do his best to keep Kara out of Ames after the incidents with Quinn Maxwell. It was either that or Quinn was going to press charges. “Was she staying in her apartment at that time?”
“Off and on. Her dad made her come home sometimes.”
So Dad knew. Interesting.
If his daughter weren’t dead, I’d have him in here to answer a few questions. But now’s not the time for that.
“Thanks, Dylan.” I turn to head back into the booth.
“Can I leave now?” His voice is calmer than before.
“That’s up to the captain. I’ll see what I can do.”
“All right.”
When I hear the door click closed, I move into the booth with the captain as he mutters, “That little girl was up to no good.”
I know he’s referring to Kara, and I think he’s right. “Did you hear Dylan say she had ‘a bunch of irons in the fire’?” I shake my head. “Blackmail.”
The captain nods and chews on what looks to be a cookie. Where’d he get a cookie? “You’ll need to go through her place with a fine-tooth comb. See if she’s got anything there that can help us figure out who she was extracting money from.”
“Me? What about Trumbull?”
“He’s got some personal, er, stuff going on.”
I arch my brow and wait for more.
He sighs. “His wife’s fucking around on him. His head isn’t in the game.”
“And?” What does this all mean to me?
“And congratulations,” he deadpans. “You’re now the detective in charge of this case.”
“But—”
“Now get to work.” And with that, he’s up and out of the booth before I can say another word.
I sure as hell hope I get a raise for this.
