Found With Murder by Jenn Vakey

quickly.  “I had no idea,” she said.  “We've never really talked about money.  I think the only conversation we ever had about it was when it came to whether or not I should accept the payout for Christopher's life insurance.”
    “It makes sense, though,” Lori said.  The topic must have been distracting her, because she seemed almost enthralled by it.  “Do you remember how strange he was when we were talking about what we would do if we won the lottery?  He didn't really want to give an answer and quickly tried to change the subject after he did.”
    “That's right,” Rilynne said, thinking back to the conversation they'd had earlier in the year.  “He started to talk about how many people go bankrupt after winning large sums of money.”
    “Do you think that's why he didn't tell you?” Lori asked.  “Do you think he was afraid you would go crazy and spend it all?  Or was he afraid you would only want him because he had money?”
    Rilynne shrugged.  She was glad the conversation was distracting Lori, even if only temporarily.  Joe seemed to be thinking the same, because he just sat back on the other couch and watched them with a pleased sort of smile.  “I have no idea.  I can't really be angry with him for holding back, though.  That's not really something that would come up easily in a conversation.  'So you like to run?  That's great.  I have a few million in my saving account.'  Not really something that just rolls off the tongue.”
    “Well not when you first start dating, but you would think he would have said something after you got engaged,” she said.  “Although…”
    Rilynne waited for her to continue, but she didn't.  Instead, she seemed to be thinking something over for a moment before she looked back over to Rilynne.
    “What?” Rilynne asked when she still didn't say anything.
    Lori shook her head.  “Nothing, I just lost my train of thought.”
    She was lying; Rilynne could see it in her eyes.  Lori may have been one of the smartest people she had ever met, but she was never good at lying.  She opened her mouth to call her out on it, as she always did, but decided just to let her have it. 
    *     *     *
    It took just under three hours for Ben and Wilcome to return.  Ben was carrying a large duffle bag in his hand.  Rilynne couldn't help herself, her eyes instantly shifted to the bag.  With how quiet the room was, she imagined everyone was thinking about the same thing.  It was unlikely that any of them ever thought they would see three million dollars, and it was now just a few feet away.  Rilynne had to fight off the urge to ask him to open the bag, because she knew it would have been highly inappropriate in the moment.
    “All right,” Wilcome said, taking the bag from Ben and setting it down on the table.  “We have just under four hours until the ransom is to be delivered.  I'm going to have some undercover officers set up in buildings around the area so they can get eyes on it without being seen.  Were you able to trace the call?”
    Rilynne nodded, her eyes back on Ben.  Like before, he was hesitant to meet her gaze.  “The call came in from a payphone on the edge of town.  There aren't any cameras in the area and the abductor was already gone when a car was sent out.  The phone had been wiped clean but we had all of the change inside collected and they're checking for prints now.”
    “Clever,” Wilcome said with an impressed grin.  “I want to know as soon as the results come back.”
    She nodded again before crossing the room to Ben, who was still lingering just inside the door.  “How was your flight?” she asked casually.  She could see he was expecting their earlier conversation to continue, but she decided not to pursue it at the moment.
    He was taken aback by her question, but quickly answered.  “It was pretty good.  Jared flew me out there himself.  He said he's been looking for a reason to take her out and was