DeLeina, Maya - Veil of Seduction [Ambrose Heights Vampires 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Maya DeLeina

again.”
    Detective Doyle and Alex exchanged a quick glance.
    “But, again, she was back to the same old Anise and expectant of our handouts. This was the longest stretch that I had gone without hearing from her. In fact, I had no way of making contact with her. I had no current phone number or address. The last I heard, she’d moved to New York. I had no idea she was still in Colorado.”
    “Do you have any other family to call on for support at this time? Anyone that you want to be here with you?” asked the detective.
    “No.”
    “Friends?”
    “Michelle. I called her right after you phoned. She’ll be staying with me this evening. She offered to come here with me, but I didn’t want her to close the shop. I’ll be okay.”
    “Mrs. Evans, are you sure? You’ve been through a lot.”
    Anya reached for her red jasper stone and clutched it. “I’m okay.”
    “The next set of questions, they will be more…intense.”
    “I’ll be fine.”
    Detective Doyle looked at Alex for reassurance before continuing with her line of questioning.
    “Do you have any reason to believe that your husband’s recent actions had anything to do with Anise?”
    “Absolutely not!” Anya barked, not realizing the intense part of questioning was going to involve Ryan.
    The detective showed no emotion as she made notes of the conversation. She flipped through printouts from an internet page.
    “Your husband, Ryan, is the owner and hedge fund manager of RPE Investment Advisors. Is that correct?”
    “Yes.”
    “And what does his firm do?”
    “Commodity futures, they specialize in trading energy products.”
    “And you?”
    “I’m a music teacher.”
    “Anise?”
    “Last job she had, she was a waitress at one of the restaurants at the resort.”
    Alex shot a curious look at the detective as she jotted down Anya’s responses.
    Detective Doyle continued, “Any recent financial issues that you know of?”
    “Well, what aspect are you talking? Personal or business finances?”
    “Whatever you know.”
    “Well, since Ryan left, of course there are financial issues! I’m broke. He’s left me with next to nothing, and bills that I cannot pay for are still coming in while he’s somewhere out there wining and dining the woman he left me for!” Anya stood and started to pace the office. “I don’t understand how this has anything to do with what happened to Anise. Why aren’t you looking into her finances to see if there is something to uncover there? Maybe she pissed off the wrong person. Took advantage of the wrong person, I don’t know…”
    “Mrs. Evans, that’s exactly what we did. Your sister had recently completed a living will and purchased a lavish residence up in Ambrose Heights. Do you know anything about this?”
    “Ambrose Heights? Yeah right! She couldn’t even make rent in a rundown apartment! That’s why Ryan and I had no choice but to take her in for awhile. I couldn’t let her live where she could afford.”
    Anya shook her head, looking at both the detective and the sergeant who sat still with somber gazes.
    “Ambrose Heights? How? With whom? That’s where we should start looking!”
    “Yes, we are still looking into it,” Detective Doyle said with a tinge of disappointment. “We hoped you could shed some light on the recent purchase.”
    “I have no idea! Why would I have any knowledge of this? Ambrose Heights? Are you sure about this?”
    “Yes,” said the detective as she motioned with her hand at someone peering through the glass in her door.
    The door opened, and an older gentleman in an expensive suit walked into the office.
    “Mrs. Evans, this is the executor of Anise’s will. Alex made contact with him after we collected Anise’s belonging as evidence. We found his firm’s card and appointment dates in her…”
    Alex’s phone went off and interrupted the detective in midsentence. He looked down at the phone. “I have to take this.” Alex excused himself as he scurried out