“When I get back, we can finish going through those manila folders we found in your dad’s study. There’s a couple we haven’t looked at.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Cassidy hurried back to the bedroom and grabbed her jacket, then left the house in Beau’s Lamborghini. It was hard to stay depressed when you were driving a car that felt like you were flying.
She wondered what her dad would say if he saw it, and made a mental note to call him and her brother Brandon later. Maybe she could Skype Shawn in Afghanistan when she got back to Beau’s house.
She’d only gotten as far as Lemmon Avenue, heading for Uptown, when her phone rang. Careful to keep her eyes on the road, she pulled her cell out of her purse, saw it was Jase, and found a spot to pull over.
“Have you found something?” she asked.
“Maybe. I’m at the office. What time are you coming in?”
“I’m on my way now. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.” She ended the call. She hadn’t reminded Beau she was stopping at the office before she left town. He didn’t like the idea of her meeting with Jase, even though she’d told him there was nothing going on between them. As soon as she was finished, she could drive out to the cemetery.
Jase was sitting at his desk when she walked in. He and Connie were the only ones there, but with the odd hours they all worked, someone else could show up anytime.
Cassidy waved at Connie, who was on the phone, then crossed the room and sat down in the chair next to Jase’s desk. “Tell me you got something.”
“I got something. Not sure it’ll help.” He leaned back in his chair, shoved his boots out in front of him. “I can tell you Vaughn is connected to some very powerful people, but you probably knew that already.”
“It’s not surprising, with the big-money loans he makes. He’s getting the money to make those loans somewhere. What else?”
“His right-hand man is a guy named Clifford Jennings. He’s not on the company payroll. He works directly for Vaughn.”
“That’s news.”
“Jennings doesn’t know squat about the loan business. He handles collections, makes sure the money gets paid back. Usually a threat from Jennings is enough to get it done. If there’s a problem, word on the street is Jennings will do whatever it takes to make his boss happy.”
“Does that include murder?”
“He’s not a killer. He just handles things. He knows who to call to get it done.”
“Senator Reese owned a construction and development company. They were building a big set of apartments in Iron Springs when an arson fire burned the project down. Reese collected the insurance money, which went to payVaughn. Do you think Jennings could have arranged the fire?”
“I think he can make just about anything happen.”
“So Vaughn controls Jennings. Any idea who pulls Vaughn’s strings?”
“He uses three or four different people to fund those big loans. I don’t know their names, but they’d be able to exert plenty of pressure.”
“There’s an old saying: ‘He who holds the gold, rules.’”
Jase chuckled.
“There’s a chance Jess Milford found out who arranged the apartment fire,” she said. “Good chance Vaughn was behind it. Milford might have tried to blackmail him, and Vaughn had him killed.”
“If you could get something on Jennings, maybe he’d roll on Vaughn.”
She nodded, thinking the same thing. “It looks like the senator had only paid back part of the money he owed Equity Advance when he was murdered, but I can’t see Vaughn killing him over the debt. Reese recently retired from politics. He still carried plenty of juice with people in Texas, even kept files with information he used to get what he wanted. He had to have something Vaughn could have used.”
“I know the cops are looking at your friend Beau for the murder,” Jase said. “But from what you’ve told me, I think both men were killed by the same guy. No prints, no DNA, both hits quick and deadly. Gotta be a pro, and if it was, could be Vaughn was involved.”
“Sounds about right,” Cassidy said.
“So maybe there’s two different things going on here. Maybe Milford was killed to keep him quiet, but the senator was killed for a completely different reason.”
“Like what?”
