Chapter Seven
Leigh didn’t let her hopes soar, but she truly hoped that Saylor was right and that he could help. Because heaven knew, she needed some help right now.
“As Bowen told you, he hired me to keep an eye on Alexa,” Saylor continued a moment later. “He thought she might be planning on doing something to cause his son some trouble.”
“And was she?” Leigh asked when she saw that was the question on Cullen’s face.
“That’d be my guess, but, of course, it’s all circumstantial.”
Leigh sighed. “I need more than just guesses.”
“I understand, and I’ve got a lot more than that,” Saylor assured her.
She tried to manage her expectations but, mercy, that was hard, especially since none of the other evidence was falling in place just yet.
“Bowen told you that Alexa met with a man in a diner, a man who was carrying a weapon,” the PI continued. “Well, it turns out that the guy is indeed a thug. I was able to ID him by asking around at the diner, and his name is James McNash.”
Leigh hurried to type that into the search engine on her laptop.
“A waitress at the diner says he goes by Jimbo,” Saylor explained while she typed and skimmed what popped up. “He’s big, mean, and he’s got a sheet for multiple assaults. He spent two years in jail on one conviction and six months on another. He’s got a rep for being hired muscle.”
So, a criminal with violent tendencies. That didn’t mean he’d killed Alexa, but it was worth looking into. Also worth looking into why Alexa was meeting with such a man.
“What’s the connection between Alexa and this Jimbo?” Leigh pressed. “How’d they know each other?”
“Don’t know that, but after I did some pushing, and a little bribing, one of the waitresses finally admitted to me that Alexa and Jimbo had met more than once and that she’d overheard Alexa mention Cullen’s name. The waitress also heard Alexa talk about paying Jimbo for the job. Notajob,” he emphasized. “Thejob.”
“And you think the job might have been Cullen,” Leigh concluded.
She looked at Cullen, but his expression had gone icy cold. She was betting beneath all that ice, there was the heat of temper.
“I think it’s a strong possibility,” Saylor agreed.
So did she. But it bothered her that the waitress had offered up so much info. Yes, there’d been payment involved, but it was a lot to tell a PI. What didn’t surprise Leigh was that the waitress would remember Cullen being mentioned. It wasn’t a common name, and because of his wealth and power—and yes, his looks—Cullen was somewhat of a celebrity.
“I can’t get into Alexa’s financials, but you might be able to trace a payment to Jimbo,” Saylor suggested. “And, of course, you’ll want to have a talk with him for yourself. He lives on what used to be his grandfather’s farm, about ten miles from Dark River.”
Leigh hoped the roads were clear enough soon because she wanted to have a chat with the man today. The sooner, the better.
“I want to go with you to see him,” Cullen insisted, his voice low enough that Saylor likely hadn’t heard him.
Leigh sighed because she’d known that would be his reaction. She wanted to say no, but if she did, she had no doubts, none, that Cullen would just go visit Jimbo on his own. If Alexa had indeed hired a thug to hurt or kill him, then Cullen wasn’t going to back off.
“We’ll discuss it later,” she muttered to him, holding her hand over the receiver of the phone. Then, she could try to make Cullen see that it would hurt her investigation if he was with her when she interviewed a possible suspect.
“There’s more,” Saylor added, getting Leigh’s attention. “Over the past month, Alexa met with two other men. I don’t know the identity of one of them, and she only met with him once while I had her under surveillance. I didn’t get any help from any of the waitstaff on IDing the guy. Not even when I offered money. But I’m running the photo through facial recognition, and we might get lucky.”
Leigh thought about that a moment. “Did Bowen see the picture? If so, he might recognize him.”
Saylor made a sound of agreement. “I sent him the pictures as an attachment to emails, but Bowen’s not good at opening that sort of thing. I’ll call him and tell him to have a look, that it’s important.”
Yes, it was. “Any chance you could send me the photos so I can show Cullen?” she asked. “He might also know who he is.”
“I can do that. I don’t have the pictures on my phone, and my internet’s down right now, but as soon as it’s up and running, I’ll fire them off to you.” Saylor paused. “But Cullen won’t need a picture for the third man who met with Alexa. I got an ID on him from some of the background data I collected on Cullen and Alexa. It’s Cullen’s friend Austin Borden.”
Leigh’s mind did a mental stutter, and the iciness vanished from Cullen’s face. “Austin?” he repeated, and this time it was plenty loud enough for Saylor to hear.
“Cullen’s here with me,” Leigh quickly explained to the PI. “You’re sure it was Austin Borden?” she pressed.