Marie Ferrarella - Cavanaugh Vanguard

“That’s what we’re trying to ascertain, sir,” Brianna said.

Winston grew pale right before her eyes. “Do you have any idea who—who killed them?” he asked, his voice almost failing him.

“Another good question,” Jackson told him, his tone totally devoid of emotion.

Exasperated and momentarily losing his temper, Winston demanded, “Well, do you have any good answers, Detective?”

“Not yet,” Brianna answered quickly before Jackson could say something to further irritate Aurora. “But we’re doing our best.”

Responding to Brianna’s soothing voice, Winston seemed to calm down a little. He took in a deep breath, then slowly released it.

“I’m sorry, Detectives. I didn’t mean to fly off the handle like that,” he apologized. “But I find having bodies uncovered on my former property very upsetting and deeply disturbing.”

“We completely understand, Mr. Aurora—” Brianna began.

An almost shy smile quirked the man’s rather small mouth. “Winston,” he reminded her.

Brianna inclined her head obligingly.

“Winston,” she corrected herself. “We definitely have no desire to upset you. At the moment, we’d just like to establish a few basic things.”

Winston nodded a number of times as he listened to Brianna. “Yes, of course, I quite understand. What can I do to help?”

Jackson thought back to what he’d heard his temporary partner tell Del Campo. It was a good place to start.

“We need the hotel’s guest ledgers going as far back as possible, plus a list of all the hotel’s employees,” Jackson said.

Winston appeared mystified. “You do understand that the hotel is over half a century old.”

“We are aware of that, yes, sir,” Brianna answered.

The billionaire’s next question was unexpected and threw them. “How old are these bodies you say were uncovered?”

You say.

Brianna replayed the question in her head. She wasn’t sure if that was just a slip of the tongue on Aurora’s part, or if he was deliberately implying that the whole thing was merely trumped-up charges.

Jackson was obviously rubbing off on her, she thought.

“We won’t know that until our ME finishes doing the autopsies,” Brianna answered the man.

“If it would help move things along, I know several medical examiners in Sacramento,” Winston told them. “I could put in a call for you and get them down here by the end of the week, perhaps even sooner.”

“That’s very kind of you, sir, but the lab has already put out the word in the department. We have several medical examiners on call already. There’s no shortage of willing hands,” she assured the billionaire. “But thank you for the offer.”

Brianna didn’t want to risk offending the man or getting on his bad side. Most of all, she didn’t want him to think that they were looking at him as a possible suspect. Right now, that wasn’t the case—and it might never be, so they were playing it safe. If it turned out differently down the line, she didn’t want to put Winston on alert.

“Win, what on earth is going on here? Why is there a sedan parked in front of the house?”

A statuesque blonde, appearing to be between her late forties and early fifties, came into the library. Sharp green eyes took immediate measure of the two strangers in the room.

“Who are these people?” she asked, glaring at Jackson and Brianna as if they had just invaded her castle and tracked mud all over the highly polished floors.

“Gloria—” Winston, on his feet, extended his arm out toward his wife, indicating that he wanted her to come stand next to him “—I’d like you to say hello to these two fine young detectives.”

“Detectives,” Gloria Aurora repeated. “Police or private?” she asked in a tone that had icicles attached to it.

“We’re with the city’s police department, Mrs. Aurora,” Brianna told the woman, doing her best not to react to the judgmental tone.

The woman said nothing to either detective. Instead, she turned toward her husband and demanded, “What are they doing here?” When he didn’t answer her as quickly as she wanted, Gloria turned on the two people and questioned them herself. “Why are you here?”

Winston cleared his throat. It was obvious that he didn’t want his wife to create a scene, especially not in front of the detectives. He and his brothers had been raised to believe that image was everything.

“There’s a problem with the hotel,” Winston began to explain.

“The hotel,” Gloria repeated, almost with loathing. “Didn’t I tell you to get rid of that old relic years ago? Why he hung on to it I’ll never know,” she said, addressing her words to Jackson. “The man’s just too sentimental for his own good. I swear he has a heart like a bowl of mush sometimes. You’d never guess that he’s considered to be such a shrewd businessman by his competitors.” Mrs. Aurora sighed. “If they’d only seen him the way I have.”

“Gloria, these detectives are not here to listen to matters concerning our private lives,” he said sternly.

“Neither are you, apparently. Why didn’t you sell that hotel before now?” his wife demanded.

Not wanting to get in the middle of a family dispute, Jackson picked up on Mrs. Aurora’s question. “Why did you pick now to sell it, sir?”

“Because, Detective,” Winston replied, “despite the fact that I did want to hold on to it because it had been my grandfather’s pride and joy, I felt that it was time to allow the city to continue growing. Coupled with that,” he added, slanting a glance toward his wife, “I received an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Chapter 4

“Do you know the name of the person who made this offer?” Jackson asked.

Gloria Aurora scowled. Her frown had the ability to transform an attractive face almost into a mask, one that even her husband had been known to be wary of.

“Winnie, don’t you think you should have a lawyer present before you answer any more of these people’s questions?” Mrs. Aurora’s tone was civil, but it was more of a demand than a question.

It was obvious that the woman was more than a little surprised when her husband held his ground, not against the police detectives, but against her suggestion.

“There’s no need for lawyers, Gloria,” Winston replied amicably. “There’s no wrongdoing here.” Chuckling, the family patriarch turned to address the two detectives. “You’ll have to forgive my wife. I’m afraid she’s not very trusting.”

Gloria’s eyes were as close to blazing as Brianna had ever seen. “And you’re too trusting, Winston,” the woman snapped.

Brianna exchanged glances with her partner. Was there just trouble in paradise, or did the man’s wife know something? Something she wanted hidden?

“Mr. Aurora,” Jackson said a bit more forcefully, “who made you the offer?”

“The city,” Winston replied mildly, appearing unfazed by his wife’s anger.

This felt as if they were tiptoeing through a minefield, Brianna thought. “Anyone in particular from the city?”

“For the answer to that, I’m afraid that you will have to speak to my lawyer,” Winston told them.

“Finally!” his wife cried triumphantly with a toss of her ever so carefully coiffed hair.

It was obvious that Winston Aurora was not about to let his wife have the last word. “I hated the idea of selling the property, so I turned everything over to Thomas Cahill, senior lawyer at Cahill, Adams and Sons. Call the firm, tell him I sent you. He can give you all the details behind the sale. Now,” he said in a tone indicating that he assumed the subject was closed, “is there anything else?”

“Not at the moment, sir, but we’ll let you know if there is,” Brianna told the man pleasantly. Her gaze swept over both parties. “Thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Aurora.”