rise up his throat. “The fuck? I thought you said she’s in love with Ortega.”
“She was attracted to you once. Charm her. You can make her talk.”
“Weren’t you an actor?” Levi asked.
“A shit actor,” Declan muttered.
“You said he could get to Claudette,” Walker scoffed at John. “Looks like he doesn’t have the balls to do it.”
Garrison leaned back in his chair, eyeing Declan. “Are you hoping to get back with Gabby?”
“That ship has sailed,” he said shortly.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is Theo will hate him,” Levi interjected. “Jesus, you two are a bunch of morons. You need to go and have kids to figure this out. If Theo is led to believe that Roarke cheated with Claudette, it’s a double betrayal. On Peter Woodward who he has only known as his father and Gabby. The kid hates his mother, and the way I see it, he does like Gabby who prefers not to give him the time of day right now. So, if Roarke goes ahead with this …”
John smiled. “This should be interesting.”
“Fuck you, Garrison,” Declan growled.
8
“You shouldn’t be reading.”
Gabby glanced up from the documents on the table and looked at Kelso. He and the captain were already in the Brentwood home when she arrived this morning with Declan. They were sitting under the shaded patio beside the pool, escaping the activity in the living room. Theo had largely ignored her.
Before Levi left with Declan to do whatever they needed to do, she asked the bodyguard what was up, but Levi didn’t know either. Then the parade of teen actors marched through the Brentwood house. They were supposed to be practicing their scripts, but instead they were watching Dead Futures DVDs and Gabby’s young fifteen-year-old face appeared on the screen in a show about the zombie apocalypse.
Kill her now.
“I’m fine,” she assured her partner. Her head was beginning to throb again even after taking a couple of painkillers, but she was sure it was from obnoxious reactions of the teenagers to the series that had been a big part of her adolescent years. Concentrating on Peter’s previous will would help her ignore their boisterous comments about the special effects that weren’t as advanced back then. “My father changed his will a month ago. From what I can see, all that was added was a clause regarding Claudette and the adjustments in the amounts as Mr. Goodman pointed out. Why did he suddenly include her?”
The captain looked thoughtful. “Maybe he knew she would contest it.”
“But why? Their divorce was three years ago.”
“Peter Woodward’s net worth is better than six hundred and thirty million. Claudette only got twenty million in the divorce settlement,” Mitchell said. “The detectives on the case gave me the numbers. She was a suspect.”
She picked up another stash of papers. “These phone records between the two don’t show anything unusual. Obviously, even after their divorce they communicated regularly.”
“And you’re not surprised about that?”
“Not really,” she responded. “They moved in the same circle which is why if you cross-reference their phone records, you can see they also call the same numbers. Have the detectives run them through a crosscheck?”
“They have. That’s what they’re doing right now. Calling them one by one.”
Gabby emitted a puff of laughter. “That’s a part of detective work I hate the most.”
“I looked into your ex-husband,” Kelso said. At her glare, he added, “I was concerned, all right? After you told me how he and Ms. Dumont fucked you over, and seeing you with him yesterday, you have to admit that something smells fishy.”
“You’re wasting your time looking in his direction. He’s clean.” The hammering in her head intensified.
“You’re not even a tad suspicious?” Kelso pressed.
Gabby glanced at Mitchell. “Did you put him up to this?”
Her captain shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Okay, I’ll play,” she gritted. “Declan wasn’t in LA when Peter was killed, so it couldn’t be him. Let’s say being a PMC, he’d have plenty of contacts, right? Easy enough to hire one without scruples and kill Peter. But Peter changed his will and according to the lawyer, it’s airtight. Claudette has no way of milking the estate for more. So why is Declan still here?”
“You have to admit, after seventeen years of absence, his timing is impeccable,” Kelso said.
A sinking feeling settled in her belly. How well did she know Declan now? He’d been a mercenary. He was capable of killing in cold blood.
“He was mighty concerned about you yesterday,” Kelso made air quotes over the word ‘concerned.’ “And you two seemed to