Family Bonds- Ava and Seth (Amore Island Book 5), Natalie Ann [world of reading TXT] 📗

there Friday with Drew and be done by the time I got out of work. He also said that though he can’t get a hit on any prints, that the palm smudges he picked up were small enough to be a woman’s hand or a small guy. He’s leaning toward a woman based on some of the purchases made if he was going to assume the two are connected. Which he isn’t, but he’s throwing everything out there.”

“Makes sense,” he said. He’d seen some of the stores on the stolen card purchases, which did lean toward women’s clothing, but there were men’s purchases too. All sizes of men’s and women’s things. There wasn’t a lot of rhyme or reason unless the person was buying gifts.

“Yeah. I guess. Everything that was purchased was in person; nothing was shipped or delivered anywhere. No place had cameras that could pick anyone up or they didn’t have footage from that long ago. Aside from the electronics that were easily carried out to a car or clothing, the rest were made at big box stores. Gift cards made up a lot. It’s like the person went on a spending spree for anything and everything they wanted.”

“There was some jewelry,” he pointed out. “I saw a few thousand dollars there.”

“Nothing that stood out. It was a mixture of things. Some chains, some earrings and it was a few days’ worth of charges, not all at once, not all the same place. Whoever this person is, they were smart with things. Nothing so big that stood out and spread out over a lot of stores and in a lot of days. They had five cards in my name with anywhere from seven to ten thousand in credit limits. They spent the money fast on one card. Almost like they got them in stages or used them the same way and then discarded them.”

He’d seen that. Even if all the cards were used at once, which didn’t happen, they were all opened within a six-week period, this person only used one card at a time each month, spending a lot over a few weeks and then never making a payment on it or using it again. The limit was hit before the first bill, or before the payment was due.

“We are assuming the person that was in my house is the same person that stole my identity. I’m not assuming anything. That would make this personal and everything leads toward stolen identities as a victimless crime. I know Griffin only said what he did because he thinks of everything, but I’d be smart to not try to guess either.”

“In my eyes there is no such thing as a victimless crime and you know it. Even if it’s to your peace of mind. But you’re right. You and I are assuming they are the same person. And Griffin isn’t?”

“No. He was addressing the house thing and possibilities. You and I are going down another path. They might be related or might not. I’m not sure and don’t want to go there right now. That would lead me to believe someone is targeting me and that is too scary. No one is taking this lightly, but no one is saying I’m in danger.”

“I still don’t like this,” he said.

She reached her hand over and put it on his. “I understand that. Do you think I do? Trust me, I don’t. But I’ve got my eyes out and I don’t feel like anyone is watching me. I’m not even afraid to go back in the house. I’m more annoyed. Like someone just wanted to go in and look around more than anything. Curiosity for the new Bond family member living on the island,” she said, laughing. “It happens and it sucks being lumped in like that.”

He didn’t want to upset or scare her and decided to let it drop. It was on the tip of his tongue to say something about Sidney being attacked in the house, but that had nothing to do with Ava so why bring it up as a reminder.

If there was a worry there, Mac would have addressed it, he was positive.

“So, what are your plans then?” he asked. “Staying with your brothers for the rest of the week and then going home?”

“Pretty much. My parents had planned on being in Boston until the weekend. My father only does two weeks a month in Boston. He’s semi-retired now. The other two weeks a month he is on call here on the island and seeing some patients that don’t want to go to the mainland. But it’s not enough to really be full time.”

“And how do your parents feel about this situation?”

She snorted. “Nice word for it. They aren’t happy but know if there was any real danger then Mac and Griffin would tell me. Neither of them feels that way.”

“So Griffin is a trusted family member?” he asked of Eli’s security director.

“He seems close enough to a family member to Eli. He’s trusted, there is no doubt there. His reach is further than Mac’s. Even further than Jarrett’s.”

“Who’s Jarrett?”

“Mac’s brother who is a state trooper that is stationed here at the north end of the island. Mac has another brother who is a fireman. Anyway, my point is, if anyone can figure out what is going on, it’s those three men.”

“I didn’t know the State Police were involved,” he asked, frowning.

“They aren’t. If Jarrett is looking into anything, it’s on a personal level as a favor. Mac came over to the house off the record because I asked him to keep it that way once we realized it was hard to figure out what was going on. I’m embarrassed enough about this and I don’t want even more known.”

“There is nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said. “What if someone is stalking you?”

She sighed. “I don’t think they are. I would have felt it if someone was watching me. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on.