Killer Ambition - [44]

Interesting that he was taking the credit for telling Russell to call the police. According to Uma, it had been Dani, Russell’s wife, who’d begged him to make the call. “And where were you when you got that call?” I asked.

“At home.”

“And after that?”

He gave me a weary look. “The same. Until I called him a while later and found out he’d paid the ransom and…” Ian pressed his mouth closed and turned his eyes away.

That wouldn’t usually impress me as far as alibis go, but we’d already heard from everyone who was present that Ian hadn’t been in the house when Russell saw the first kidnapping note. I knew I’d have more questions for this guy later, but right now we were under the gun to find a killer who might at that very moment be headed for some country that wouldn’t let us extradite. I looked at Bailey, who shook her head. We thanked Ian and let him go.

“Dani?” Bailey suggested.

“Yep.”

Dani had that soft, angelic look many try to engineer but few can pull off. Delicate, natural-looking blonde curls framed a heart-shaped face with small features and wide blue eyes. For all that, she had a down-to-earth quality that probably made her a great friend. The kind who’d tell you the guy you’d fallen for was a shit heel, but still hold your hand when he proved her right.

“When did Russell tell you about the kidnapping?” Bailey asked.

Dani’s brows knitted and she looked down at her hands, which were twisted around the ends of a silky fringed scarf. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with tears. “After he got the first kidnapping message. I feel so terrible. I told him to call the police right away, but he was scared. He thought the guy would kill Hayley. He kept saying he’d do anything, he’d be glad to just pay any ransom. But I should have made him call…” She shook her head and looked down again.

“Dani, we can’t know what would’ve happened if Russell had called the police. Don’t beat yourself up, okay?” She nodded but looked unconvinced. “So you were there when he got the ransom demand?”

She nodded. “I-it sounds stupid now, but we were actually sort of relieved. Russell could easily pay it, and we thought that once he did, we’d get Hayley back.” There was a hitch in her voice as she said the name “Hayley,” and she tried to take a deep breath, but it got stuck and I saw tears fall on her hands. “S-so, I went along with him paying the ransom and not calling the police.”

“Dani, did you know Brian at all?” I asked.

“No. Hayley had only just begun really talking to me. When I first moved in, she wouldn’t even be in the same room with me. I’d walk in, and she’d walk out. But after a couple of years she started to thaw, and in the past year, I have to say, we were really getting along. I think she saw that I truly liked and respected her mom and I knew what my place was in her life.” Dani looked out at the fountain, her expression one of heart-twisting sadness. “Maybe she told Raynie about him. But not me.”

“Did you know about the fight between Russell and Brian’s father, Tommy?” I asked.

“That was before my time. In fact, I had no idea about any of it until this…but why would he kill Hayley because of something her dad did? Why not go to Russell, or a lawyer, show him the proof and see what he can get?”

“Maybe because he didn’t have proof?” I suggested.

“Then how could he be sure enough to kidnap Hayley-and kill her, for God’s sake?” Dani swallowed rapidly and struggled for control.

I couldn’t tell her the truth, and I didn’t want to offer her any useless platitudes. We thanked her and let her go with a promise to keep her posted.

“Any guilt about not telling her that we found Brian?” I asked Bailey after Dani had left.

“Nah. Can’t see how that would make her feel any better.”

“Is there any point in talking to Russell again?”

We’d spoken to him several times since Hayley’s death, and although our conversations were of the casual, updating variety, we’d already asked all the questions we could think of.

“The only thing we haven’t done is ask him about the fight with Tommy,” Bailey said.

“But what’s he going to say? ‘Yeah, I stole his screenplay’? And even if he did say that, what difference would it make? He never knew who kidnapped Hayley. We saw those ransom notes. They didn’t mention anything about Tommy or Brian-or anyone else for that matter.”

The picture of Russell’s grief-ravaged face flashed before my eyes.

“You’re right. There’s no point.”

We’d done a great job of eliminating everyone. Now we just had to find a way to include someone.

26

By the time we finished with the Antonovich entourage, the sun was well over the yardarm. I learned that saying from Judge J. D. Morgan, who uses it to signal to his court reporter that it’s time to knock off and go have a drink. It was still plenty warm outside, but I didn’t mind after shivering in the too-frosty air of that refrigerated mansion. Bailey got her car keys from the kid in the Princess Warrior T-shirt. He turned out to be Lee, the driver, so we took the opportunity to do a little more questioning.