“Is Yvette dead?” Jennifer came out and asked. “Was that her blood all over the house?”
“We’re looking into that,” Grace settled for saying. “Who do you think might have had the motive to do that?”
Jennifer laughed, a single burst of air, but there was no humor in it. “Yvette was a ‘recovering’ drug addict and alcoholic.” She putrecoveringin air quotes. “I’m sure she’s made a lot of enemies over the years.”
“Including you?” Livvy asked.
“Including me,” Jennifer verified. She paused for what seemed like a full minute. “And Shane.”
“Shane?” Grace immediately questioned.
Both Judson and Addie moved closer to the monitor. Obviously, neither of them had expected Jennifer to admit that.
Jennifer dragged in a long breath before she said anything else. “Shane didn’t want Yvette involved with Trevor. He thought Trevor was only after Yvette’s money. I agree with that, by the way. But Yvette couldn’t seem to see that, and she refused to have him sign a prenup or try to protect her assets in any kind of way.” Another pause. “She and Shane argued about that.”
“Did you actually hear any of these arguments, or is this something Shane told you?” Grace asked.
“I heard two phone conversations he had with her. Shane made those calls when he was pleading with her to do the prenup or else sign over half of her estate to him so that he could keep the money safe from Trevor. We’re talking nearly a half million dollars,” she explained. “But Yvette flat-out refused, and Shane was furious.”
“Furious enough to threaten her?” Livvy pressed.
Jennifer didn’t jump to deny that, and she finally nodded. “Shane said some harsh things to her. Things she deserved.”
Then Grace asked the question that was flashing through Judson’s head. “Did he threaten to kill her?”
Jennifer groaned and shook her head, but the headshake didn’t seem to be a denial. “Yes. But he didn’t mean it,” she was quick to add. “I know he didn’t.”
The woman didn’t seem at all convinced of that last part. And neither was Judson. Money was always a powerful motive. But that was a motive for murdering Yvette, not Courtney. Unless…
“If Shane helped his mother set up the twins’ abduction, maybe Courtney found out about that,” Judson muttered.
Addie’s immediate sound of agreement let him know she was thinking the same thing. “Shane and Yvette could have been talking about it, or arguing about it, when Courtney showed up. If she heard something they hadn’t wanted her to hear, they might have killed her.”
She stopped, her forehead bunching up, and made a sigh of frustration as something else seemed to occur to her.
“It could have played out a different way,” Addie concluded. “If Courtney had indeed heard that Shane had had a part in taking the twins, then Jennifer might have wanted to silence her to protect her brother.”
Yeah, Judson could see that happening, too. And that meant they were essentially back to square one in this investigation.
“I really need to see Shane now,” Jennifer pleaded. “And Elijah. He’ll be worried about me.”
At the mention of the boyfriend, Judson was reminded they possibly had another key player in this case. One who wasn’t responding to attempts to contact him. Was that because he had something to hide? Of course, it could also be that he didn’t care enough about Jennifer to want to get caught up in this.
Grace’s phone made a sound dinging sound, and when she glanced at the screen, she immediately got to her feet. “Interview paused,” Grace said, heading toward the door.
“Sheriff Granger is exiting the room,” Livvy added for the benefit of the recording.
Addie and Judson stood, too, and came out of observation just as Grace was stepping into the hall.
“The search team found Courtney in her car about a half mile from the Cateses’,” Grace let them know. “She’s alive.”
“Alive,” Addie said through a rush of breath.
“Barely,” Grace qualified. “The EMTs are rushing her to the hospital now, and that’s where I’m heading. I want her to tell me who left her for dead.”
CHAPTER SIX
Addie sat in Grace’s office, as Grace had instructed, while Judson worked at her desk. The sheriff was driving to the Bulverde hospital to try to question Courtney.
