Mark read the paper then looked at Steven and decided to play a hunch. “You can’t think of any reason why someone might want to kill Denny?”
“No.”
“Mr. Ford, did you know your wife was having an affair with him?”
Dominic sat in a corner of the large holding cell. He tried to tell himself that it wasn’t the same as a real cell, but it didn’t work. The bars were just as solid, the loss of freedom equally powerful. Whoever had created the cell knew what they were doing when it came to psychological torture. A man inside lost his dignity, his liberty and his ego. A man inside a cell was never the same as the man outside.
To take his mind off of his location, Dominic closed his eyes and tried to think. Serena was dead. Murdered. What had motivated her to get involved in all of this? He had to assume it was money. What had Caroline told him, something about some family she was trying to get into the States? At least he could pretend her motivation stemmed from desperation.
Steven’s motive was less clear.
Dominic mapped out the events in his mind. Steven must have learned about the program that Denny had created, saw its potential and decided that he wanted it all for himself. So he altered the books, had Serena make the switch, killed Denny and then just waited for everything else to play out.
Only the money was still in the company’s account. So if it was a setup, it was a poor one. If Dominic didn’t have the kind of past he did, he might not have run. Then it would have been his word against Steven’s as to how the books got altered. Not exactly a sure thing.
Was it possible Denny told him about their shared criminal past? Dominic couldn’t see Denny revealing himself like that to Steven. The two men weren’t close at all, barely spoke to one another.
It was odd, Dominic mused. Steven had plenty of money from his share of the company’s profits despite repaying his loan to Russell. Of the three of them, he was really the least ambitious. If it wasn’t for his father-in- law’s influence, he might have never thought of becoming a partner. So what the hell was he planning to do with the program once he got it?
“Denny?”
Mark watched the man’s reaction. He saw shock and disbelief. But that didn’t mean a whole lot to him. Most criminals could fake shock and disbelief pretty easily.
“It’s not possible.”
“Denny had your number in his cell phone.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Phone records indicate he called your house the night he was killed. My guess is he spoke to your wife. Is that what set you off? Did you hear her on the phone with him and crack?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! It’s not possible. Anne hated Denny. He disgusted her.”
“Disgust. That’s a pretty powerful word. If it’s true, then it’s odd that we found a magazine with her fingerprints in his office. Remember we printed everyone connected to this case to eliminate familiar prints. Strange place to find your wife’s, though. Can you think of any reason she would spend time in his office?”
Steven opened, then closed his mouth.
Mark pulled the empty chair close to him so he could look the man in the face. “Let me ask you something, Steven. As far as you know has your wife ever strayed before?”
For a split second, Steven’s eyes sharpened into angry slits. It was all the answer Mark needed. “I’m sorry. I truly am. Who was he?”
“Dominic Santos,” Steven muttered thickly.
“Can I just say you were completely off base.”
Dominic immediately jumped to his feet as he heard the detective make his way down the row of cells.
“This wasn’t about your fancy computer program at all,” Hernandez said, even as he reached down to unlock the door. “This was about the second-greatest motive for murder. Revenge. Plain and simple.”
“What are you saying?” Dominic struggled to catch up. “Steven wanted revenge? Against me?”
“You and Denny. But not for the reason you might think. Let me ask you something, Santos. You ever have an affair with Anne Ford?”
Slowly, Dominic sank back down on the holding cell bench.
“It wasn’t an affair,” Dominic mumbled. “It was a pass. That was it. Nothing happened.”
“She made a play for you, though. Not something you would be thrilled to know about your wife. Then she does the other partner and…”
“Anne and Denny? That’s not possible.”
“So everyone tells me. But I found a magazine in Denny’s office with her prints all over it. There was Ford’s home number in Denny’s cell. A call made to his house from said phone. And right now, the jilted husband is in the interrogation room crying like a baby.”
“He confessed?”
“No, but I think it’s just a matter of time,” Mark figured. “The pieces fit. He wanted to get back at Denny for shacking up with his wife. He wanted to get back at you for being someone his wife hit on. Denny’s dead. You’re in jail. He keeps the company for himself and probably ditches the wife.”
Dominic considered the theory, but it was hard to swallow. “You have to know Anne. It just doesn’t seem like her to have an affair with someone like Denny.”
“Yeah, Ford thought he disgusted her, but you never know what goes on in a woman’s mind. Take Nora, for instance. What type of guy do you think she would be attracted to? Not that I care. I’m just trying to make a point here.”
But Dominic ignored the question. Anne and Denny. Anne hated his scruffiness. She hated the way he endlessly talked about his programs. She hated Denny. So what made her get in bed with him? Was she trying to get back at Steven for something?
No.
A stillness crept over Dominic and he suddenly he could hear his heart beat, hear the sound of his breath entering and leaving his body. “You were right,” he told the detective who was still rambling on about Nora’s taste in men.
He stopped when Dominic spoke. “Right about what?”
“This wasn’t about the program.”
“I told
“This was about revenge.”
“Yeah, I know. Keep up. Ford took revenge against the men who his wife obviously wanted more than him.”
“No,” Dominic said bursting out of the cell as soon as the door swung open. “This is about revenge. But not Steven’s.”
Chapter 18
“An indoor pool. A house on the beach. A bestselling sister-in-law. I’m really going to have to start visiting more.”
Caroline smiled at Nora, who immediately made herself comfortable on the couch.
It did feel good to be home. And this was home. She knew it. It was the difference between the dread she’d felt standing inside the foyer of her house in Leesburg and the hope she felt now. Steven was in police custody, the truth would come out and it would be over.
As soon as Dominic walked through the door, she was going to propose to him.
She thought of their first wedding in Vegas. Quick. Efficient. She hadn’t wanted anything else. Plus, she didn’t think he would have gone for it if she had.
Things were different now. There was honesty. Openness. She wasn’t going to be polite about what she wanted out of their marriage anymore. Her days of walking on eggshells were over. The coward inside her was officially dead.
