They’d insisted she leave Betty at her house, hoping her stalker would think she was inside—at least for a day. Without a car, however, Ariel would have to rely on one of the men to take her to work. While not ideal, it would make it less likely for anyone to harm her.
She followed Benson to the living room. Preston clicked off the television and stood. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
“I’ve had my quota for the day.”
“Are you sure? Some wine might help steady your nerves. You’ve had a few unexpected bumps in the road.”
She appreciated how they looked out for her. “Okay, maybe one small glass of red wine, if you have it.”
Preston smiled, and she inwardly swooned. How could she be attracted to both men when they were so different? Benson’s logical mind appealed to her, but Preston’s ability to make her feel at ease was something she found highly attractive.
Truth?Preston’s muscled body, as well as Benson’s perfectly chiseled features turned her on.
Benson led her over to the sofa and sat across from her. “I know you want to lead the search for the person who killed Samantha, but I think you now realize that it might be too dangerous.”
What he said was right. “I know. Believe me when I say I don’t intend to walk into a casino and ask questions about my brother or try to do a drug deal. However, there are a lot of people in town who might know things about Sam that could shed some light on the case. We can’t discount the fact that her death might have had nothing to do with my brother.”
“I agree. How about you let Preston and me take the gambling and drug angle, and if you must, you can ask around about Sam?”
Ariel relaxed. “I can do that.”
“Good.”
Preston handed her and Benson a glass of wine. After he retrieved a beer for himself, he sat in the chair near Benson. “Who were you planning to speak with next?” Preston asked.
“I’m not sure. A lot has happened today that makes me reevaluate things.” She looked over at Benson. “Do you know when the DNA test will be available regarding the identity of the father of Sam’s baby?” If it turned out to be Peggy’s boyfriend, Walter, she’d speak with him next.
“We could hear any day now. The autopsy was done a while ago.”
“Did they test anyone else besides Trent?”
“Walter Winston. We asked him because Sam made it abundantly clear that she was leaving Trent for Walter.”
“What did Walter say about it? I’d heard that if he left Peggy, her father might not give him another loan.”
“All I know is that Walter claimed Sam just said she was leaving Trent for him because she needed a name to throw out. They weren’t involved, though we all know that people don’t always tell the truth,” Benson said.
Rumor had it that Sam had been unfaithful several times when she was living with Trent. That left finding the identity of the father a long shot. Ariel sensed that her brother knew about his girlfriend’s indiscretions, but he was just happy that she stuck around. In her opinion, that was sad. “Maybe we’ll never know.”
“Maybe not.”
“This isn’t about the baby’s daddy, but I overheard that Sherry and her boyfriend were having issues,” Preston said.
Ariel didn’t see what that had to do with anything. “Are you thinking Sherry would harm her best friend for some reason?”
“No. I heard that her boyfriend, Charles Ottinger, wasn’t happy that his girlfriend spent so much time with Samantha.”
The implication was ridiculous. “Are you saying that in order for his girlfriend to spend more time with him, Charles decided to kill Sam? That seems really far-fetched.”
“Maybe now you can see why the jury thought Trent was guilty?” Benson said. “There weren’t many suspects. That was the problem. I know Trent said he didn’t know Sam was pregnant, but the jury had no way of knowing if that was true or not. Sam was going to leave him, and Trent could have thought that if he couldn’t have her, no one should.”
“But he wouldn’t kill her!”
Benson held up a hand. “That may be, but the jury wasn’t given any other good options. Even the three of us can’t come up with another reasonable suspect. Remember, your brother never mentioned that he owed money to people who might not be exactly ethical.”
“You’re right.”
“Ariel,” Preston said. “If the person who took the photos of you is doing it to make you stop asking questions, I’ll go out on a limb and say Trent didn’t kill Samantha.”