Killing the Secret by Donna Welch Jones

Heather, and Tina’s murders, you were coaching ballgames out of town.”
    Jamie leaped out of bed as if it was on fire. “You come here and have sex with me then imply I’m a killer. You sonofabitch!”
    Tye retrieved his jeans from the floor and pulled them on. “I’m just stating a fact. You don’t need to get so riled up. You’re going to have to explain it at some point so you might as well deal with it now.”
    “So you insinuate I’m a murderer and that’s supposed to somehow benefit me? You must think I’m a fool.”
    “I don’t think any such thing. It just looks bad,” Tye cautioned.
    She didn’t respond but he heard the bathroom door slam, the lock click, and the shower come on. He got the message.
    He put on his shirt and headed out the front door being sure he locked it on his way out.
     

Chapter Twenty-Two
    The sun had risen thirty minutes before but Lexie could barely discern it. Fog surrounded her car and it seemed to inhabit her head as well.
    Her father’s old saying, “I could kick myself,” came to mind. She knew she messed up when she interviewed Jamie, Loretta, and Beth together. It was a rookie error and she deserved to be kicked. She knew better than to allow them the power of numbers. Now she needed to interview each of them again, individually.
    First, she’d visit the other states where the murders occurred. Talking to the investigating officers about similarities and possible slip-ups might get her a Mode of Operation on the killer. The haze in her head cleared some by the time she found Tye with his brown-stained coffee cup in one hand staring at a wad of paper on his desk.
    He hadn’t shaved and the black stubble blended in with the dark circles under his eyes.
    “You okay?” Lexie asked.
    “Just couldn’t sleep last night.” He raised his cup to his lips.
    “Lot of that going around.” She rolled her chair to the other side of his desk to face him as she processed her thoughts out loud.
    “The murderer killed three women who lived out of state. Mariah should’ve been next. He could’ve killed the first four and it’s unlikely anyone would’ve realized they were connected. Unfortunately, Abbey found out they all died within a short period of time. My theory is that he killed Abbey out of sequence, because he wanted to shut her up.”
    “So whoever killed Abbey was someone she, or someone else, told her suspicions to,” Tye followed her logic.
    “Exactly. Mariah would’ve been next but Abbey screwed up his plan.”
    Tye nodded his agreement.
    Lexie pecked Gary’s number into the phone. “Gary, it’s Lexie. I need to know everyone Abbey told about the suspected murder plot.” Lexie forced herself to keep her words even, her voice calm. She hadn’t spoken to Gary since the night Abbey disappeared. Her heart beat like a drum in her chest.
    Gary answered laboriously, “Jamie, Beth, and Loretta when she met them about the deaths of the others. She tried to phone Mariah but talked to her assistant instead. The guy was rude and didn’t connect her with Mariah so Abbey phoned Mariah’s dad, Sean. What’s this about?”
    “We’re working on the theory that Abbey was killed because she interrupted the murderer’s plan. Did you tell anyone about this yourself?
    “No, I didn’t.”
    “Did your daughter or Abbey’s parents know her murder plot theory?”
    “No one was told that she didn’t think was in danger. Afraid people would think she was imagining things.”
    “Thanks, Gary.” Lexie paused, “We’ll keep looking until we find the bastard who did this.”
    “Phone me when you learn something.”
    “We will,” Lexie promised.
    Tye reached for his pen. “Who we got?”
    “Loretta, Jamie, Beth, Mariah, Sean, Mariah’s assistant, and Gary to start the list.”
    “Probably the husbands of all the women. I can’t imagine they didn’t tell their spouses if they thought they were going to be murdered,” Tye concluded.
    “Beth’s husband is