Page 80 of Trace of Doubt
“What incredible news,” she said. “But at the hospital you indicated noninterest.”
“Weird, huh? I don’t understand it all myself.”
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
I shared with her about my mamaw, her influence on my life, and my coming to faith. “Do you think I sound like a kid when I’m a grown man?” Another trait I admired about her—compassion for others.
“I think we’re supposed to have childlike faith.”
I widened my grin across my bruised face. “Guess I qualify, and I’m confident about my decision.”
“Are your parents Christians?”
“Yes, and I called them earlier. Woke them up.” I paused, remembering. “Mom had given up on me finding faith.”
“My mom and Marissa spent more time at church than Dad and I combined. We were buds back then. No matter what I’d done, he always found time for me.”
“Made Friday extra hard.”
“Yep.”
I stared into her face, so pretty... “Missed not seeing you yesterday.”
She picked up Joy and avoided my gaze. “I missed you too.”
I chose not to tell her about Mom’s question of when I planned to get married. Time to get back to business.
“The men who attacked you, Aaron, and Isaac are known felons and have worked with Eli Chandler off and on for the past ten years. The FBI’s interrogating the man in custody and the dead men’s families and friends. The investigation shows a common denominator—they all worked for the same money-laundering racketeer, a person who remains nameless.”
“Has my dad been mentioned?”
I told her about his person-of-interest status.
She worried her lip. “I’m confused. You and Mike drove to question Dad when you should have been at home recovering from surgery. Have you uncovered additional evidence against him?”
“Neither for nor against. Another piece of info came to my attention. The truck abandoned by the shooters at my trailer not only didn’t have a front license plate, but it also had the lettersDATon the rear plate.”
She nodded. “Isaac and I noted from the security camera at the tank that the pickup was missing a front plate.”
“The tank?” I thought about my run-down trailer. “Guess you’re right.”
“Fitting, don’t you think? I’ve been thinking. Probably two men followed you on the way back to Valleysburg. They rear-ended you, then got into the firefight at the tank. Then two more men attempted to finish the job at the hotel. Two men are dead, Nick Hanson is in custody, and Eli Chandler is out there somewhere.”
“You got it.”
Shelby bored her gaze into an empty wall. “I wish I knew why I had a price on my head.” She hesitated. “I have a theory.”
“Good because I’m swimming upstream.”
“What’s been uncovered confirms the threats and attacks are connected to a money-laundering operation. Most likely, the kingpin got started with Marissa and Travis’s money, and as long as I stayed behind bars, he felt safe. He’s targeted me because he thinks I’ll identify him.”
“We’re on the same page.”
“But I have the same three questions. Why not get rid of me in prison? Why initially push my suicide? And what happened to escalate the aggression and risk losing two shooters?”
“The FBI has discussed the same thing.”
“I hate to suspect Dad, but he could have reservations about eliminating his own daughter, where suicide... doesn’t affect him.” She shook her head. “Makes me sick to say it, and hearing my own words seems very wrong.”
