“You’re not gonna believe this.” He lowered his voice. “It belongs to Louis Luongo.”
“That guy!” Dev blinked at the chief until he could get his shock under control and think straight. “The guy who everyone thinks killed his wife but got away with it because he bribed a juror?”
“One and the same.” The chief grimaced. “I don’t like the fact that this guy is in my jurisdiction. I don’t even like the fact that he’d be anywhere near my jurisdiction. But one of my men tells me he’s buying the Addison property.”
Dev knew that place. Everyone in town did. “The biggest house on the lake.”
“Apparently not big enough for him. Rumor has it that he’s planning to remodel the whole place and seriously enlarge it. Who knows, maybe he’ll just tear it down and start over.”
Dev thought back to everything he knew about this man. He made his money in numerous concrete driveways all over the Portland metro area. In fact, there was serious consideration at one point that he buried his wife in fresh concrete on one of his job sites. But X-rays proved that rumor wrong, and they never found her body.
“Did he retire after all the bad publicity from the trial or does he still run his company?” Dev asked.
“I think his son’s in charge now, but Luongo’s still the official head of the corporation. Probably making backdoor deals with some of the most unethical contractors out there.”
Had Kinsley run into Luongo on one of her investigations and made him mad? He couldn’t have known she would be here, could he, and this was likely just coincidental? But Dev didn’t believe in coincidences. He would have to look into Luongo. First, by asking Kinsley if he’d ever been part of one of her investigations and had threatened her.
“Looks like you think this is important,” Gibson said.
“Could be. Kinsley is a forensic engineer and could possibly have shut down one of his projects due to malfeasance. If so, he could be mad and seeking revenge. Even if he didn’t know she was coming here, he could’ve easily figured it out while he was in town.”
“Let’s hope he’s not coming back for the foreseeable future. I don’t need a murderer in my town gunning for one of my guests.”
“Is there any way you can determine how long he hung around yesterday? If he wasn’t here during the shooting, he might not be our perpetrator. Or not. He could’ve hired someone else or has someone else on his payroll to do the shooting for him. Sounds like just the thing he might do.”
“I’ll ask around. See what I can find out.” The chief eyed him. “Until we know something concrete—no pun unintended—I urge you to be extra careful and diligent with Kinsley’s safety. I hope she’s at the campground now under the supervision of your brother or one of your teammates.”
Dev’s stomach churned. “Actually, she’s in the T-shirt shop, but I fully intend to tell her about Luongo and encourage her to go back to the cabin. I can’t say she’ll go—she’s pretty strong-willed—but she should take it seriously.”
He tried to fill his words with confidence, but he wasn’t at all sure she would comply. Especially if she didn’t have any interaction with Luongo in the past. She might go about her business in town, putting herself at further risk. Maybe not for immediate attack, but anyone who saw her could find out where she was located. The grapevine was rampant in this town, and it wouldn’t be long before the entire town knew she was staying at the cabin. Even if Luongo wasn’t their guy, that bit of news spreading rapidly could very well get back to the shooter and end her life.
Kinsley stood with Jada next to the steaming T-shirt press where the store associate, whose nametag read Stella, was preparing vintage T-shirts. Kinsley requested a design very much like the ones she and Jada had worn as kids. The heat transfer for the logo emitted a hot smell as it melted the custom transfer onto the fabric, the familiar odor taking her back to the start of summer every year.
“Do you remember when we would come here?” Kinsley could barely contain her excitement as she fired off memories with Jada, who responded a bit less enthusiastically. Still, they giggled like schoolgirls, earning frequent eyerolls from the older sales associate who was new to the shop since Kinsley had last been there.
The door swung open and banged into a metal display rack holding sample T-shirts. Kinsley startled and spun to face the door.
Dev raced into the room. He took one look at Kinsley and charged across the space.
“We have to go now!” His frantic tone erased her fun and sent her heart beating.
She took a deep breath to stop from falling victim to her emotions. “Our T-shirts aren’t ready yet, and we want to go to three more stores.”
He took her by the arm and led her to the back of the store, steps hurried and urgent. Jada rushed to keep up with them. When they stopped, he released Kinsley’s arm, but Jada took hold of her.
Dev glanced around the room, then moved even closer to her. “I just talked to Chief Gibson. I don’t want to get into details here, but trust me when I say we need to get out of here.”
“I don’t know.” Kinsley looked at Jada to see if she wanted to leave.
Her cheerful expression had evaporated. “I know my brother, and he only gets this look on his face when he’s seriously freaked out about something. We need to listen to him.”
“Then let’s go.” Kinsley’s worry ramped up even higher. She extricated her arm from Jada’s hold and turned to leave.
Dev grabbed her shoulder. “Hold up. I don’t want you on Main Street.”
She didn’t fight his touch but remained in place. “Then how do you propose I leave?”
“Through the back door.” He faced Jada. “Since I was at the parking lot shooting, our shooter could associate me with Kinsley, but not likely with you. In case he’s watching, can you get the vehicle and bring it around back while I wait here with Kinsley?”
