“But he was stuck driving.” Reuben laughed. “What else you got in those pockets?”
“Not dynamite.” He had dynamite in the van? Evie didn’t want to look. “You could see what I did?” That couldn’t be good.
“Nah, when you dropped down behind him like that, we just figured sabotage was on the agenda and tires look easy.” Reuben watched the mirror. “Mercedes didn’t get far. Driver got out and is swearing up a storm. Don’t know what he’s complaining about. He’s right there at a service station.”
“What does he look like?” The van had no back window.
Reuben grimaced. “White guy, gray hair, kinda portly. Could be someone else in the passenger seat. Windows tinted, can’t tell.”
That probably described half of Sunshine’s management. “Thank you for trusting me to have a brain.”
Roark stayed ominously silent as he navigated the side roads back to the highway.
Evie whacked his black curls with a leftover flyer. “You, moron, may have military training, but I have street cred. I am not your family.”
He grunted. “My family would have taken a machete to the driver. Jax gonna kill us.”
“Yeah, well, get used to it. He and I are diametrically opposed on the battle ground. He’s the privileged officer at the back of the line with a tent and maps. I’m behind enemy lines in a pink tutu. To each their own.”
Even Roark sputtered at that image. Good. He hadn’t completely lost his humor.
Jax wouldn’t find it in the least funny. Evie thought she might be testing the poor guy, but she couldn’t change to suit his role models.
“I thought we’re a team,” Roark said warily.
“We are. And when we can, we plan together. And when we can’t, we have each other’s backs however works for us. So, yeah, you’re allowed to get mad at me, just as I’m allowed to get mad at you for going off without me or pushing me around. But I will still leap out of a moving vehicle for you.”
The men thought about that as the van hit the highway.
“Don’ like it,” Roark admitted. “But we lost da tail.”
Evie sighed in relief. “I didn’t think I could make the hole big enough. Steel-walled tires are tough.”
“Let me see your blade.” Reuben held his hand over the seat. “We may need to get you a better one.”
“This one fits my hand. Don’t go telling me what to do already.” Evie handed him the knife.
“Accept we know weapons better than you, and you know ghosts better than us. Did your ghost tell you anything useful?” Dropping his agitated accent, Roark kept his eyes on the road.
“Granny is furious about the antifreeze. She can’t give me the names of the people at the party, just weird descriptions likenosy old lady,that aren’t very helpful. But she’s convinced thenurseknew about antifreeze poisoning.”
“Makes sense,” Reuben agreed. “But Savanna was never in Mrs. Gump’s apartment according to the cameras. She’s been out on sick leave, right?”
“Right, which is why Marlene was bouncing off walls. She was certain the nurse wasn’t at the party. She wanted me to talk to herold fart neighbor. She even left her apartment to cross the hall with me. But Mr. Charles wasn’t there.”
“Wasn’t he her boyfriend? Did he think she would leave him her things and offed her? This isn’t about Sunshine at all?” Roark asked in consternation .
“You’re worse than Jax. Quit speculating. This wasn’t domestic. Marlene claims shedidn’tgive Charles her phone. She didn’t trust anyone. But she has no cognizance of the days she was ill or right after she died, not until Stacey arrived some time later. So there could have been a week or so when she wasn’t aware.”
“We have her camera cloud backup. Charles was in her apartment that week she was sick, as was just about everyone in the building at some point—except the nurse.” Reuben was scrolling through his phone, reviewing the videos. “They brought her food she didn’t eat. There’s a couple of days when she let no one in—probably dead or dying at that point.”
“The bossy blond director was the one who finally unlocked the door, presumably after someone reported Granny wasn’t answering. Charles followed her in, as did a couple of old ladies. Unless the director forced poison down Marlene’s throat, then called an ambulance, you have to figure Granny was dead by then.” Roark checked his mirrors.
“But while everyone was crying and calling ambulances or whatever, any one of them had the opportunity to slip the phone into a pocket and pour evidence down the drain.” Evie sat cross-legged in back, picturing the situation. “Could you see the whole place from her cameras?”
“Nah, just the doors and windows, mostly. People wander in and out of view. Her laptops were in sight on the one camera. That might have been deliberate. One of the ladies set her purse beside them. Can’t see any phone.” Reuben held up his screen for her to see.
Evie took the phone to examine the video. “I wish auras showed up on cameras. But this lot all looked suspicious when I saw them, so that probably doesn’t help. Personally, I think they’re casing the joint for what they can steal. Hard to squeeze a laptop into a purse with people watching, but a phone is ideal.” She handed the phone back, disappointed.