Рита Херрон – Justice for a Ranger (страница 7)
But she refused to let these men intimidate her with their macho, own-the-town attitudes. She’d told the governor the McKinneys wouldn’t welcome her nosing into what they considered
She smiled smoothly and claimed a seat at the conference table with the local deputies. “You know why I’m here. You’re too close to the people involved.”
“And you’re not?” Zane said sarcastically.
She shrugged. “My parents and I aren’t exactly tight. Besides, I’m a professional. The governor wants this case solved, and he’s the boss.”
“We’re professionals, too, and can handle the case just fine without you,” Zane said.
Joey folded her hands in front of her on the table. “Listen, I’m not going home until we’ve ended this investigation and someone is arrested for Sarah Wallace’s murder. So you’ll have to put up with me, boys.” She gave them a saccharine grin. “Besides, look on the bright side. I can run interference with the media. You don’t want a circus in town creating panic and trying your suspects before you make an arrest.”
Cole claimed the chair beside her, enjoying her spunky side. “All right, now that our happy little party is assembled, why don’t you fill us in on what you have so far? If I’m tracking in the woods today, I’d like to get started.”
Zane huffed and Sloan made a disgusted sound, but gestured toward the whiteboard on the wall, which held various facts, including the TOD for Lou Anne’s and Sarah Wallace’s murders.
“All right,” Zane began. “Sarah Wallace came to town to meet her sister, Anna, and share evidence she’d uncovered about their mother’s death. She used a prepaid cell phone, which we haven’t recovered yet, to phone Anna, but when Anna arrived, she found Sarah’s body in the hotel room. She was already dead, had been strangled like her mother. Later someone tried to kill Anna in the same way.”
“Why kill Anna?” Joey asked.
“Apparently the killer thought Anna knew something to incriminate him. Or her.”
Cole nodded. “Did she?”
“No. But later, Anna remembered a false bottom in one of their mother’s suitcases. Sarah had it with her,” Zane explained. “We examined it and found papers Sarah had hidden inside. The notes and papers indicated that Donna Hendricks might have intended to pay off Lou Anne for providing her with information about Leland’s alleged plans to fake the kidnapping and murder of his son. We’re getting a search warrant now to access Donna’s financial records, along with Rosa’s.”
“So you believe Lou Anne blackmailed Donna?” Cole asked.
Sloan nodded. “Lou Anne didn’t want more kids, so when she discovered Leland’s plan, she phoned Donna to tell her. She tried to blackmail Donna into paying her for the tip. We think Donna probably agreed, but Donna wanted Lou Anne to report Leland to the FBI.”
“Why wouldn’t Donna just go to the police herself?” Cole asked.
“Because she was bitter over losing the custody battle,” Sloan supplied. “Without evidence, Leland could have accused her of conspiring with him to pull off the kidnapping/murder. Or he could have accused her of orchestrating the entire plan herself and she’d lose any visitation rights with her children.”
“And no one would believe my mother because she was a drunk back then.” Joey understood the implied assumption. It was possible that when Lou Anne refused to go to the FBI, Donna had killed her.
“What about Rosa?” Joey drummed her nails on the table. “Why are you looking at her records?”
“She bought liquor and drugs for Donna,” Zane interjected. “If Donna wanted to hide money to pay off a blackmailer, she might have enlisted Rosa’s help.”
“Has Donna confessed to any of this?” Cole asked.
Zane grimaced. “No, not yet.”
“While Zane’s been handling the grand jury, I stepped in to help Sheriff Matheson,” Sloan said. “We were studying the papers Sarah left when the fire broke out in the jail. Then someone tried to shoot Carley.” Anger hardened Sloan’s face. “She’s in a safe house now, but she’s searching Donna’s financial records for more details.”
“So you’re focusing on my parents now?” Joey asked. Could one of them be a murderer? Had her mother or father killed Lou Anne, and now Sarah? Had one of them really shot the sheriff to keep her from finding out the truth?
Her stomach knotted again. “I thought Leland had an alibi for the night of Lou Anne’s murder?”
Zane’s boots hit the floor with a thud. “We discovered that he tampered with the surveillance cameras, so his alibi is shot.”
“What about your father, Jim McKinney?” Joey asked. “He was seen leaving the inn that night.”
The men traded an odd look.
“What are you not saying?” Cole asked.
Sloan twisted sideways and Zane clenched his jaw. “We haven’t ruled out Jim yet.”
“And Stella?” Joey asked. “She hated Lou Anne for her affair with Jim.”
Pain flashed into both men’s eyes. “Stella had a breakdown,” Zane said. “She’s in the hospital, despondent. I’m not sure how much more information we’ll get from her.”
“Dad…” Sloan paused, then continued, “Jim agreed to see a psychiatrist to try to jog his memory of the events of that night, but Stella got upset and told him no. Then she broke down. The stress has been unbearable for her.”
“She was always fragile,” Zane said in a low voice.
Joey frowned and steepled her hands. They seemed completely focused on making her parents out to be the villains. And Zane and Sloan were keeping secrets. Something about Stella and their father.
Her cell phone rang, and she checked the number. Governor Grange.
“Excuse me, guys. I have to take this.” She stepped away from them and answered the call.
“Joey, how’s it going in Justice?”
“The Rangers are conferencing now,” Joey said. “No definitive leads yet. They’ve brought in Sergeant Cole McKinney to track evidence in the woods near the inn.”
A long sigh filled with tension followed. “I hope they tie this up soon and put the guy responsible for these murders away. How is Dennison?”
“I can handle him,” Joey said.
“Good. Keep me posted.”
Joey agreed and pocketed her phone, contemplating Zane’s and Sloan’s summary of the investigation.
What were the McKinney brothers hiding?
If her parents were guilty…well, she’d have to find a way to accept it. But if they were innocent, she didn’t want them railroaded to jail for a crime they hadn’t committed. After all, they had suffered terribly over Justin’s death.
Perhaps Stella had suffered a breakdown out of guilt. Maybe she had killed Lou Anne and had hidden behind a weak woman’s facade all these years to deflect suspicion from herself.
COLE TRIED TO IGNORE the quick flash of worry in Joey’s eyes. He’d just met the woman. He could not let himself care about her or how the outcome of this investigation might affect her personally.
“So, what exactly am I looking for?” Cole asked.
“We need an expert to search the woods by the inn,” Sloan said. “The night Sarah Wallace was murdered, Sheriff Matheson saw a figure in dark clothing. She chased the culprit into the woods, but he shot her in the ribs. Actually cracked one. We’d like to recover any bullet casing or other evidence that you might find.”
Cole stood. “I assume you have a horse available, along with the standard crime scene kit and supplies.”
Zane stood, as well. “At your disposal.”
“Meanwhile, I’m going to get that search warrant for Donna’s records,” Sloan said.
Cole nodded, anxious to get outside. He loved the fresh air, the scents of nature, the sunshine beating on his face. Fieldwork was his specialty, not digging through files, although he did plenty of that, too.
Twenty minutes later, he saddled a beautiful quarter horse named Apache, strapped on the supplies he’d need in the saddlebags and rode into the woods. Sloan and Zane had searched the edge, so he needed to go deeper. Find out how the killer had escaped. Locate that bullet.
Although it had rained recently, and some evidence might have washed away, he slowed Apache to a walk and studied each section of the forest, each patch of weeds and each tree for signs that someone had recently been through. A broken branch. Trampled bramble. An indentation in the bark not made by an animal. Each detail provided a clue and indicated he was on the right track.
He noticed a footpath along with muddy prints, although dead leaves and debris created problems in lifting a print. Still, he tied Apache to a tree and combed the area on foot, kneeling to inspect the markings and the ground. He photographed each patchy section and collected dirt for trace in hopes that they might be able to match it to a suspect’s shoes and make an arrest.
Working diligently, he took a partial molding of the footprint, as well. It would give them a general clue as to the size of their suspect. A fiber from a piece of clothing was caught in a branch, and he removed an evidence bag and tweezers, snagged the fiber and bagged it to send to forensics. The next few hours he combed each mile of the woods, then finally traced his way back toward the inn and his horse. He found two other fibers, along with more footprints—muddied and misshapen, different from the first ones—so he took the best print he could lift.