Revealed (Colorado Crimes Book 2)

Chapter 12

Raelyn gathered her Microsoft Surface Pro and tucked her stylus behind her ear. Today she and Damon were going to visit Patrick Gregory to talk about Ava Uruola's connection to the dead men.

She was early, so that she could gather her notes together. She had the nagging feeling that Ava was connected deep to the murders.

"Damon's on his way up. He got sidetracked by Bobby." Holly informed her.

"Ah." Raelyn didn't blame him. Damon was working hard for that job, any chance he got to speak with Bobby he would take. "I can wait."

"We settled on a wedding date."

Raelyn met Holly's eyes, "You and your fiancé?" Then she realized that was a stupid question.

Holly laughed, "Yes. It's October 23. Can you come? It's only early July so we should be finished with this case by then. You've become a great friend, I'd love to have you there."

Holly seemed uncertain and Raelyn gave her a hug, "Of course I'll come."

"Yes!"

"Raelyn?" Damon stood in the doorway, "You ready?"

Raelyn double-checked that her stylus was still in her ear and then grabbed her Surface Pro and her purse. "Yep. See you Holly."

"Bye."

Raelyn followed Damon out of the building and to his car. "How far are we driving?" She asked once they were on the road.

"Only twenty minutes. He was visiting family here and we caught him at the right time."

Thanks Jesus. That was definitely a You thing. "Sweet."

"Yeah. You have your notes?"

"Yes I do."

"Good. Also, this is just a thought, but do you think that Ava may be watching us? And if she is, does she know we're meeting that Patrick?"

Raelyn gave him props for the question. "That's a good question. Maybe, but this guy has a fiancé, she wouldn't break her MO. If she even is the killer. And if she is just on the chain, I doubt she will because if her boss knew we were onto them, she'd want to keep it quiet."

"True. You have your gun on you?"

Raelyn raised her brows, "Damon-"

"I don't want you getting hurt. Do you have your gun?"

"Damon, seriously. All we are doing is meeting with Patrick Gregory."

"Do you have your gun?"

Raelyn lifted the hem of her shirt just enough to reveal her gun attached to her waistband. "Yes."

"Good." Maybe it was just her imagination, but he looked slightly more relaxed when she said yes. They rode in silence for a few minutes before Damon spoke up. "Could you grab my hat from the back? It's just sitting on the seat."

Raelyn reached back and spotted a dark grey Nike baseball cap. She grabbed it and handed it to him. "Here."

He set it atop his head. "Thanks."

"No problem."

They pulled into the parking lot of a quaint restaurant that Patrick Gregory's parent's owned. "Ready?"

"Yep." They stepped out of the car and walked to the entrance together.

"Let's pick a spot near the back. And keep your gun near."

Raelyn shook her head, smiling. "Is this for me or you?"

"I don't want anything to happen."

"Friendly reminder: I'm not being targeted."

Damon chuckled at her sarcasm. "Okay okay." They took their seats at a table in the back, and soon a tall man joined them. He had the makings of a beard and reminded Raelyn of lumberjacks from the Pacific Northwest.

The man stuck his hand out, "Hi, Patrick Gregory."

Damon took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Damon Stewart and this is Raelyn Mitchells."

Patrick took his seat and nodded to Raelyn, "Pleasure to meet you."

"You too."

"You got our email about the men from your class dying, correct?" Damon asked.

Raelyn took her stylus out from behind her ear and got ready to take notes.

"I did. It's such a shame. I was great friends with those guys. And you said something about Ava?"

Raelyn's head popped up, "Yes. We think she may be involved somehow. We wanted to know if there was a connection between her and the men."

"Who were the men again?" Patrick asked.

"Kurtis, Roger, Dave, Jordan, Drake, and Henry. Do you need their last names?"

Patrick was lost in thought. "No."

"Did any of those guys know Ava personally?" Damon asked.

Patrick paused. "This is going to sound crazy."

Raelyn perked up. "We do crazy."

"Each one of those guys went on a date with Ava then dumped her. Ava was a big woman. As in tall, big-boned, and muscular. She always held grudges after she was dumped and hated those guys. I'm guessing it was her size that bothered them."

Raelyn exchanged a glance with Damon. Ava could be the killer. "And maybe, she went for the single ones as a laugh in their face that they'll never be married because they didn't see anything in her so they weren't going to get to see anything in anyone." She faced Patrick. "Did she date any other guys?"

"Plenty. We had a big class. Some of the ones she dated have gotten married, but some still are single. Yet all of them only went on one date with her."

"She kills the single ones to laugh in their faces that since they dumped her, they'll never get a shot at love. Just like you said." Damon told her.

Patrick sipped his coffee. "I asked Ava out once. She said no. Maybe that was a good thing." He laughed coldly.

Raelyn quickly wrote that down. It could prove to be useful later. "Why did you ask her out when you said she wasn't very likeable?"

"I guess I saw something in her that others didn't. Too late now. I have a fiance." Patrick placed a ten on the table. "Anything else?"

Raelyn checked through her notes. They had all they had come for. Ava was their killer. "No, I don't think so. Damon?"

Damon shook his head, "Nope. Thanks for your time, Patrick."

"Yep, no problem." Patrick stood and exited.

~~~~~

Damon turned to face Raelyn. "It's Ava. She's the killer."

Excitement sparkled in her eyes, "Yes. She killed them because they dated her and dumped her after one date. Since they are still single, she wanted to make sure that they never got to experience love because they missed out on her."

"Exactly." Damon stood. He held out his hand for Raelyn and she slipped hers into his. They walked out together.

"Do you think that Patrick holds a grudge against Ava for declining him?"

"I doubt it. That was so long ago, and he has a fiance."

"True."

Damon hopped into his truck and fired it up. He backed out of the parking lot. "Now the big question; how do we catch her?"

Raelyn chewed her bottom lip while she thought. "What if we set her up?"

"Like, found a single guy from her high school class that dumped her after one date?"

"Yeah, and then used him as bait. Then when she tried to kill him, we'd be there to catch her. Assuming she doesn't catch on."

What do you think, God? This is putting someone's life at risk? Are we willing to do that to save more people? "I think it's worth looking into."