“The bedroom’s a mess, and I think we should keep that as is for the police.”
“Office it is.”
He followed her down the hall to the closed French doors that led to a large room decked out with leather-bound books, a massive cherry wood desk, and a couple of matching filecabinets. “Does he work out of the office at all? Or is this just for show?”
“He’d split his time pretty evenly between home and the office.” She flicked on the light and hurried to one of the file cabinets.
“And what does he do?” He hated asking about her ex-husband but he needed to know more about the other man if he wanted to get to the bottom of whatever the hell had happened to him. Not like he gave two shits about the man. But if his gambling problem led to Celine’s life being in danger, he had to connect the dots fast.
“He’s a certified public accountant.” She opened a drawer and thumbed through the manila folders. “This looks like work stuff. Tax information on clients and stuff.”
Lane pulled open the top drawer of the second cabinet. “Same here. No way we can go through all of this before police show up. Maybe look in the desk.”
Celine shifted to sit at the brown leather chair and poured through the contents.
He walked to the built-in shelves and studied the titles of the books, tugging on the bindings of certain tomes to see if anything lurked behind. “He have any trouble at work?”
Frowning, Celine dipped her fingers into the narrow top desk drawer. “I don’t think so. At least nothing he ever complained about. Why?”
“If he owed money and works in finance, he could have tried to embezzle money from clients or something. I mean, I’m not sure what all he did or if he handled their money. If he doesn’t show up soon, we may want to talk to his boss.”
“Bobbi’s a sweetheart,” Celine said, rolling back the chair to peer into the drawer. “She and I always got along. I’m sure she’d discuss whatever she could with us, but I don’t want to get him in trouble if this is a non-issue.”
He swallowed his frustration. He couldn’t care less about getting the asshole in trouble with his employer. From where he stood, Kevin deserved that and a whole lot more. “A conversation won’t hurt and could be beneficial. We’ll talk to her when we’re done here if you’re okay with that.”
“Sure.” She yanked back her hand and held out a matchbook. “That’s strange. Kevin doesn’t smoke. Why would he keep a matchbook?”
Lane glanced around the room. “I don’t see any candles for him to light either. Where’s the matchbook from?”
She flipped it over. “Wild Stallion Casino.”
“I guess we know at least one place he liked to blow his money. Makes sense,” he said. “I don’t remember hearing about this casino. Is it new?”
“A couple years old, just outside of town. There was a big uproar when the developers purchased some old ranch land. People were afraid it’d bring in the wrong crowd. Looks like it might have also brought out the worst in the ones already here.”
His mind worked over the information. A lot of people got caught up in the lights and glamor of casinos. Thought they’d be the lucky ones to hit it big and beat the house, making their fortune and setting themselves up for life.
Unfortunately, that rarely happened. But to get into as much debt as Kevin appeared to have wasn’t the norm either.
“Have you heard any rumblings about underground groups at this place?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Mafia type, cartel. Criminal organizations that make their money by preying on big spenders who can’t pay their tabs. If Kevin got caught up in something like that, there’s no telling how far their reach is or what they’d do to collect their payment.”
Her shoulders shook and fear tightened the lines of her face. “I’d have no clue if that was an issue. I wouldn’t even know howto find out, except for asking Kevin, who clearly isn’t around to answer any of our questions.”
The blast of the doorbell made his heart jump. “Sounds like a deputy’s here.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Celine said and stood. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything else sitting around to find anyway,”
Lane plucked the matchbook from her palm and pocketed it. “I think you found the most important piece. Besides, it gives us another angle we didn’t have before.” He led the way down the hall and stood to the side as Celine opened the door.
Deputy Sanders stood with a solemn face. “Sorry to keep meeting you guys this way. Can I come in?”
Celine let him in then closed the door behind him.
“Want to let me know what’s going on?”
