An Offer You Can't Refuse by Sal Bianchi (best beach reads .txt) 📕

“Sure, that sounds all right.” She smiled nervously. “But, what exactly is this about?”

“The death of Carlisle Rutherford,” I replied. I didn’t want to beat around the bush since Shane might be back any moment.

“I see,” she replied curtly. “Well, Shane didn’t do it. The police already investigated, and he was cleared of suspicion. We were at my baby shower that night. All our friends were there. All of them posted pictures of it online. You can check for yourself.”

That was another eerily similar detail to the Rothschild case. Ryan was also at a party that night and also had multiple photos of the event to back up his story.

“I’m sorry if my question upset you.” I smiled apologetically. “I actually wanted to know more about the relationship between Shane and his father.”

“His dad was a jerk,” Ellie spat bitterly. “Shane told me he was strict to the point of being abusive. He wanted Shane to take over the hotel line, and he would slap him if he got bad grades or did anything he wasn’t supposed to. All his life, Shane did everything that monster wanted, because he knew one day it would all pay off when he finally croaked. Then, he had the audacity to go and cut him off completely just because he got together with me. All those years of putting up with his crap, all for nothing. Shane was devastated.”

“Devastated enough to retaliate?” I asked. She was worked up enough that she might just blurt something out without thinking about it.

“What do you mean?” she asked before suddenly realizing what I was implying. “No! He wouldn’t do that! Yeah, he was mad, but he would never do something like that. He cares about our baby and me too much to risk going to jail. And besides, I already told you he was at my baby shower. We were all up ‘til like four in the morning, and then we crashed at my friend’s place. Everyone was drunk but me, so there’s no way he drove anywhere.”

I frowned as I watched her get increasingly more upset. She didn’t seem like she was lying, but there was something about how desperate she sounded that made me think she might be holding something back.

“I’m sorry,” Nick suddenly piped up. “I don’t suppose I could use your bathroom?”

“Oh, of course,” Ellie sniffled. “I’ll show you where it is. Just a minute, Agent Park.”

I watched with mild consternation as she led Nick down the hall. I could never tell what he was thinking, since he just acted on every impulse that popped into his head, but I knew he must be up to something. He wouldn’t have interrupted my interview with her otherwise.

I sighed as I waited for her to return. When she came back, she looked less panicked and teary, and I mentally cursed Nick for messing up the roll I was on.

“Agent Park,” she began calmly, “I understand how this might seem suspicious, but you don’t know Shane like I do. He wouldn’t do something like this. He couldn’t.”

“Do you really believe that?” I asked, and for just a second, there was a change in her expression. It was small, and gone so fast that if I’d blinked, I would have missed it, but it was enough for me to know that my question had struck a nerve.

“I do,” she nodded confidently.

“The timing of Carlisle Rutherford’s death is awfully convenient,” I mused. “The money will be useful with a new baby on the way.”

“I guess,” she mumbled. “I never cared about that, though, and neither did Shane. I told him that we could be happy without any of his dad’s support.”

“So you weren’t upset when you heard that Shane was being cut out of the will?” I asked.

Her eyes went wide, and this time, she didn’t bother trying to conceal her reaction to my question.

“What are you talking about?” she asked quietly.

I raised an eyebrow at her, genuinely surprised by how confused she sounded.

“Carlisle was going to write Shane out of his will,” I replied slowly. “Didn’t Shane tell you that?”

“He... there’s no way,” she muttered, a look of horror slowly coming over her face.

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could, the door clicked as a key turned in the lock.

“Hey babe, I’m home,” a voice called as the door swung open. A man with shaggy brown hair wearing a pressed white shirt and tie stepped inside. He froze in the entryway as he looked up and saw Ellie and me sitting in the living room.

“What is this?” he yelled as his eyes landed on me. “Who are you?”

“I’m Agent Park with the SDCT,” I explained as I got up off the couch. “You must be Shane. I was just speaking to Ellie about your father’s death.”

His face went white as I spoke, before quickly turning red.

“Get out of my house, now!” he roared. His teeth were bared, and he looked like he wanted to attack me.

Without an arrest warrant, I didn’t have any choice but to leave if the owner of the house didn’t want me there. I was about to call for Nick, but stopped myself before I formed any words. Ellie was shaking and seemed too distracted to remember that Nick was still in her house. Knowing him, he was probably off snooping or doing something else illegal. Whatever he was doing, I didn’t want to rat him out if he was in the middle of it.

“Okay,” I called a little louder than was normal, to make sure Nick would hear me wherever he was in the house. “I’m leaving now. Have a nice evening, Ellie.”

“Just get out!” Shane roared. If Nick hadn’t heard me, there was no doubt he’d heard that. I only hoped he’d finish whatever he was doing and sneak out soon.

I was barely out the door before Shane slammed it shut behind me. I could hear him and Ellie arguing inside, but unless I suspected there was