BooksBarbecue
Back 3 a.m.
Chapters (67)
  1. :01
  2. :02
  3. :03
  4. :04
  5. :05
  6. :06
  7. :07
  8. :08
  9. :09
  10. :10
  11. :11
  12. :12
  13. :13
  14. :14
  15. :15
  16. :16
  17. :17
  18. :01
  19. :02
  20. :03
  21. :04
  22. :05
  23. :06
  24. :07
  25. :08
  26. :09
  27. :10
  28. :11
  29. :12
  30. :13
  31. :01
  32. :02
  33. :03
  34. :04
  35. :05
  36. :06
  37. :07
  38. :08
  39. :09
  40. :10
  41. :11
  42. :12
  43. :13
  44. :14
  45. :15
  46. :16
  47. :00
  48. :01
  49. :02
  50. :03
  51. :04
  52. :05
  53. :06
  54. :07
  55. :08
  56. :09
  57. :10
  58. :11
  59. :12
  60. :13
  61. :14
  62. :15
  63. :16
  64. :17
  65. :18
  66. :19
  67. 3:46 a.m.

“You’re right, they did. We’re just trying to tie up some loose ends.”

“Okay, well, anything I can do to help,” she said, her eyes lingering on Billy.

“We really do appreciate it,” Billy said with a smile.

Megan invited them in.

“Sorry about the mess,” she said. “I’m going through a divorce right now and I’m trying to sort through some things.”

Ingrid couldn’t help notice how she emphasized the word divorce. She wanted Billy to know that although she was Megan Klein now, she was single and ready to mingle.

She offered them drinks, which both declined, then met them in the living room. After some light pleasantries, Ingrid asked, “So, Jennifer — we understand that she was blackmailing people for money.”

“Yeah, she was. I told her it was going to get her killed.” She takes a huge breath. “And it did.”

“All the pictures she took of these people, what happened to them?”

“Well, she gave them to the person. Whether or not she got paid for them. And she said that she never made copies. She said she didn’t want them around.”

Billy asked, “So she never gave you any, never asked you to hold onto some pictures for her?”

“No.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

Ingrid asked, “Could she have hidden them with you and not told you?”

“I mean, maybe, but I’m sure I would have found them by now.” She gazed into the opposite room, at the five boxes of stuff scattered about on the carpet. “I’ve been divorced twice, moved four times, I think I would have come across them by now.”

“What about your house?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s possible. She was living with us for some time, and she was welcome to come and go whenever. My parents gave her a key when she was about ten.”

“Do your parents still live in the same house?”

“No, they moved to Florida about six years back.”

“Do you know the owners?” Billy asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “But I’m sure I could find out if it would help.”

Ingrid hid back a smile. Had she come alone, Megan wouldn’t have been going the extra mile to help. But for Billy.

“That would be great,” Billy said.

Megan promised to make some calls and to get back to them. Billy gave her his card. She took it with a smile.

After a quick bite, they headed toward Delaware.

The drive took an hour.

Billy slept most of the way and Ingrid listened to a classic rock station Billy hated. He was into hip-hop.

At 4:35 p.m., she pulled into an industrial complex.

America Auto Parts Inc.

They asked the secretary if Markus Nubers was in and were directed down a short hallway to an open office door.