Tate flagged down one of his servers and put in the order while the bartender poured Finn a glass of ginger ale.
“You’re back at work then?”
“I am. I just came back from talking to Larry and Diane Kinder. I’m trying to get a handle on who might have had a motive to shoot at Josh. Unfortunately, it appears that there is no shortage of candidates. And yes, Leo and Shelby finally came and talked to me this morning. Thank you for convincing them that hiding from me wasn’t the greatest idea. They told me that you convinced them to do it.”
“I just told them that no good could come from their hiding out. It didn’t help their cause.”
“I’ll pull some doorbell video from their neighbors. If they were home, we should be able to prove it.”
“I know I should ask, but…”
“And I shouldn’t tell you, but it will be all over town by the morning,” Finn sighed. “There’s no such thing as a secret in this town.”
Tate almost told Finn about the storage unit, proving that secrets did, indeed, exist in Winslow Heights. For now, however, he was going to keep that knowledge quiet. He was certain the contents meant something. But if he was wrong?
“Larry and Diane admitted that they had issues with Josh,” Finn explained. “Apparently, they were all supposed to go into a new business together. They were going to open a local B&B. Josh flaked, I guess, and Larry and Diane were out of the money they fronted for the research. They say they weren’t angry, just puzzled. They said that it wasn’t like Josh to do that.”
“It doesn’t sound like Josh. He’s always been business-minded.”
“I agree that it doesn’t sound like something Josh would do, but they said that he’s been distracted for several months. Not showing for meetings, ignoring emails and calls. The sentiment was repeated by Leo and Shelly, who said that Josh had become increasingly unreliable recently. He was, by all accounts, pissing people off right and left. He said something offensive to Glen when they were all drunk during a poker game. He also pissed off Keith about a month ago, too.”
“Keith? He’s as mild-mannered as they come. What did Josh do to upset Keith?”
Keith had the patience of the Dalai Lama. Nothing got to him. He was famous for his cool facade and forgiving nature.
“From the story I could piece together, Josh was talking to Winnie about wanting to buy a new house.”
Move? That didn’t sound right. Rachel and Josh loved their home. They’d designed it from the ground up themselves.
“That made Keith mad?”
“No, Winnie mentioned it to Rachel, who was blindsided by the news that Josh wanted a new home. Josh and Rachel argued that night, and Keith took her side. That pissed Josh off, whoproceeded to tell Keith what he thought of him at that moment. Keith told Josh to go sober up, and it became a shouting match.”
“They looked okay with each other at the party.”
“Either way, it looks like Josh has gone out of his way to antagonize people in the last six months or so. He might have pissed off the wrong person.”
“I don’t want to believe that one of my friends is capable of shooting someone,” Tate replied. “I’ve known these people my whole life.”
“You don’t think they’re capable?”
“I’m not naive enough to say that. Anyone is capable if pushed far enough, of course, but they were all getting along pretty well with each other at the party.”
“Not Leo and Shelly,” Finn pointed out. “They argued openly with Josh and then tried to duck talking to me.”
“But they did talk to you.”
“Eventually, and only because you shamed them into it. If they hadn’t talked to you, I think they would still be hiding from me. Besides, if Josh was pissing off his own friends, he could have been doing the same to strangers or acquaintances. People outside of your friend group.”
“And Tyler was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I’m really sorry about your friend,” Finn said. “Shit like that shouldn’t happen. I didn’t know him well, but he sounded like a decent guy. I talked to his parents this morning, and they’re working on putting a memorial service together here locally in the next few days. They’re reaching out to his friends in Seattle, as well, to do something small there.”
Tate didn’t have a chance to reply. Finn’s phone rang, and their conversation had to wait. Finn’s expression turned dark, his brows pinched together in a frown, and his lips pressed into a thin, grim line. He hadn’t even finished the call before he stood, reaching for his car keys on the bar.
“I have to go,” Finn said, heading straight for the door. “Someone tried to run Josh off the road when he was riding his bike near the old Alton place. I’ll talk to you later.”
An attempt on Josh’s life?
