Page 80 of Beneath The Truth
“So you don’t think Carver would’vedoneit?”
“I’m not saying that.I’m saying there’s more than one possibility, and we need to look at allofthem.”
“Occam’s razor says when you hearhoofbeats—”
“Think horses, not zebras.Yeah, I know.But guess what, Red?The cartel is a zebra, not a horse.They don’t play by the rules of simplelogic.”
I let that sink in.“Okay, so throw out logic.How do we confirm it?I’m never going to feel safe with Carver around until I know he wasn’tinvolved.”
Rhett was quiet for several long moments before his lips curved up in a smile.“We go old-school.”
43
Rhett
All the informationAri relayed churned through my brain.I tried to put the pieces together as she got dressed so we could findanswers.
Her ex-boyfriend was a top cartel member, and even though I told her there couldn’t be any connection, something was eating at me.Maybe there was.It waspossible.
They’d been working their way into New Orleans for years, and the fact that they’d latched onto her was too convenient.If there was one thing I’d learned from all my years on the force, it was that coincidencesdidhappen.You could go looking for meaning and connections, and all you’d find was lack of causation.Just because A and B happened around the same time didn’t mean they had jack shit to do with eachother.
I wasn’t going to drop the possibility until I had more information,though.
But the last thing I wanted was Ari thinking there was a connection between her and what had happened to my dad.Those events were set into motion years before she’d ever metthisguy.
Years before I knew the cartel was in New Orleans.Years before I had any power tostopit.
A little of my guilt evaporated with those realizations.My dad had hidden it from us all, had covered his tracks well.He didn’t want me to know there was anything going on, and he’d done a damn good job of it.If he’d been getting paid, I had no idea what he did with the money.My parents hadn’t lived a flashy life.The occasional new car and vacationwasit.
I’d tried to talk Ari into staying in the safe room, but she refused.As much as I wanted to lock her inside until I had an answer about Carver, I couldn’t.I would never try to put her in a box and expect her to stay there.Ari was her own boss and would always make her ownchoices.
Which was why she followed me out to my Jeep, and I unearthed the crime-scene kit I rarely ever took out.I’d used it a few times for my PI cases.Fingerprint powder was messy and old-school, but itworked.
Carver had finished washing the car and had his gun apart for cleaning on the coffee table in the garage lounge area.Obviously, the guy was bored out of his mind, which worked out perfectlyforme.
I pulled my pistol and turned it on him.No point in beingsubtle.
“What the fuck?”His expression darkened and he reached for his emptyholster.
“You know about the guy who was here earlier?The one who threatened tokillAri?”
His eyes widened, shooting from me to Ari as she stood behind me, my backup pistol held loosely in her hand.“No.What the fuck?Why didn’t you tell me?Screamforhelp?”
“I did yell, but the boat driving away drowned it out,” shereplied.
“But—”
I interrupted because we didn’t have time for the question-and-answer game.“Security footage is missing for that span of time, Carver, and from what I understand from the boss here, this is a closed system, which means you could’ve been the one toeraseit.”
His eyes got even bigger.“I didn’t do shit.Iswearit.”
I lifted my shoulder, and his gaze shifted to the bag.“That’s what we’re going to find out when we fingerprint thekeyboard.”
“But my hands have been all over it.That’s not going to tell youanything.”
Ari finally cut in.“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong.The series of commands necessary to disable the system or delete footage requires keys you have no reason to use under othercircumstances.”
Carver sat back on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest.“That’s so damncomforting.”
