“Yeah! I really like him. It’s weird, though…sometimes when he’s here, it makes me miss Dad.”
This hurt her heart, but she understood it. If things with Frank were going to continue to advance, it was something the three of them may have to discuss together.
“I miss your dad all the time,” Ava said. “But yeah…I like Mr. Frank, too. G’night, Jeffrey.”
She left the room, realizing just how much of a relief it was to have heard Jeffrey give such approval of Frank—the first man to come into their life (aside from her father) since Clarence had died. And when she walked back into the kitchen to find Frank tidying up the cards and buttons, it did feel normal. He was a part of their life now and she supposed the acceptance of that fact was a huge step in allowing herself to officially move on from Clarence.
Well, that was part of moving on. The rest of it came in finally wrapping the case and bringing his killer to justice. And given the little conversation she’d had with Harlan Moody earlier in the afternoon, she knew she had to strike soon. Moody had mentioned Kenny Sanderson—a man currently locked up at Welfare Island. And she still thought she could use his current position behind bars to her advantage—albeit a bit dishonestly.
“So, I think I should tell you that I found out something new today,” she said as she entered the kitchen. She started wiping down the counters from dinner, wanting an excuse not to see him when she ventured into details of what she was thinking. “Something new about Clarence’s potential killer.”
“I thought you were dead set on Jim Spurlock being the killer.”
“I am. But seeing as how he’s basically become invisible, I’m trying to flush him out. And I got a tip on a man who may know more about Spurlock than anyone else. I’ve heard the name before but don’t know much about him. You ever heard of a guy named Kenny Sanderson?”
“I have. He’s one of those scum of the earth types. He’s got at least one rape on his record and I know at least two or three attempted murders. Who on earth gave you his name?”
“Harlan Moody.”
Frank cocked his head to the right and shrugged. “Makes sense. From what I gather, he’s not the most honorable of men. As for Sanderson, though…I’d stay away. He’d not going to care too much that you happen to be a cop. He’s capable of some pretty severe things.”
“Well, from what I understand, he’s currently doing time on Welfare Island. So I rather like my chances.”
Frank thought about it for a while, finally letting out a sigh.
“What?” Ava asked.
“I don’t like it,” he said simply. “I think there’s too much danger involved in this. And I think you need to leave it for—”
He stopped here, perhaps realizing the error he was about to make.
“Leave it for who?” she asked. “More experienced police? A police force that looked into the case for about a month and then just gave up on it?” She swallowed down the anger she felt rising up and did her best to keep her tone level. She knew he was only trying to look out for her, but he did have a bad habit of instantly going into knight-in-shining-armor mode—always warning to protect the poor, defenseless woman.
“The force gave up because there were no answers. If you really do think Jim Spurlock is the guy, maybe I can talk to Captain Minard. Maybe I can—”
“No. If he knows I’m still digging on this, he’ll be furious. This is something I need to do.”
“What about your job? If you’re ultimately successful and bring Clarence’s killer to justice, then what? You think Minard is just going to forgive you for essentially working a case in private behind his back?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I suppose I’ll have to find out for myself.”
“Ava…are you sure this isn’t just emotion pushing you? You understand how dangerous this is, right?”
She nearly told him to get the hell out of her apartment at that comment. But again, she kept her anger in check. “I can’t let this go, Frank. And if you can’t accept that…then maybe we need to reevaluate some things.”
He went quiet at that comment. He started aimlessly shuffling the deck of cards as one of the heaviest silences they’d experienced settled in between them. And strangely enough, she was reminded of why she was attracted to him in that moment. He was a man who thought things through and did his best to respect her decisions no matter how strongly he disagreed with them.
She was quite sure she was falling for him for those reasons and multiple others, but moments like these brought a very polarizing thought to the center of her mind. Maybe, Ava thought, I wasn’t as ready to move on as I thought.
Because if she had to choose between Frank and nailing Clarence’s killer, it just wasn’t a battle Frank was going to win anytime soon.