Cord tapped his fingers on his thighs, something he tended to do when he was trying to get his thoughts in order. ‘If Mr. and Mrs. Childress are to be believed, Lydia Kensington didn’t bother hiding the jealousy she harbored for her own daughter – which, for the record, makes absolutely no sense to me. Why the hell would a mother be jealous of her own daughter? But I digress. According to them, she also didn’t have much in the way of friends or interests outside her husband’s dealings, which would put a hole in our theory of a possible affair. Of course, she could’ve just been good at keeping it hidden. But I’ve gotta be honest; as unlikeable as the woman sounds, I just don’t get that gut feeling that these murders came about because of a twisted love triangle.’

Alyssa flashed her lights at the driver in front of her who was too busy texting to realize the light had changed to green. ‘I agree. What I did find interesting, however, was that Mack showed up uninvited to the last barbecue his brother hosted. Too bad Mr. Childress couldn’t hear what their heated exchange was about.’

‘Of course, Grace would pick that weekend to be late to the barbecue,’ Cord threw in. ‘If only she’d known in a month’s time we’d need her as a witness because her oldest brother would be dead and her niece kidnapped.’

Though Alyssa knew Cord was being sarcastic, she said, ‘Maybe she knows something anyway. She and Gabriel seemed to confide in each other, so it’s possible he shared with her. Wouldn’t hurt to call and ask.’

Cord picked his phone up out of the center console where he’d thrown it, but before he could dial Grace, he received another call. ‘Hal,’ he said.

‘Our search warrant?’ Alyssa could hope.

‘Hey, Hal. Have you got something for us?’ Cord asked.

‘Sure do. Your search warrant is here waiting for you.’

Alyssa turned on her blinker and made an illegal U-turn in the middle of the road after making sure traffic had cleared. ‘We’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Thanks, Your Highness.’

Hal chuckled. ‘I think I like the sound of that. Hey, if you’ve got a few minutes while you’re driving, I can tell you what I rounded up regarding Lydia Kensington’s background.’

‘Shoot.’

‘It’s pretty basic, so if you need me to dig further, just say the word.’

Alyssa already knew if Hal was sharing his findings, there was probably a reason he didn’t think he’d uncover much that wasn’t more of the same. ‘Let’s see what you’ve got first, and then we can decide.’