Leann Sweeney - Pushing Up Bluebonnets

"She must be better," I said. "That's great news."

Scott grinned. "She is. She recognized me, held my hand."

"Great." I looked at Richter. "You didn't bring up the accident or tell her about Dugan's death, I hope."

"Chief Boyd has made himself very clear," Richter said. "That's not my place. Besides, she's frightened and in quite a bit of pain now that the sedation has been decreased. My focus is on her comfort. I want her moved to Methodist as soon as possible."

I couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that he knew she had fake ID, that she could be a fraud, and this still didn't matter. Maybe Kate could get inside his head.

"Cooper and my sister are on the way from the parking garage," I said.

"Ah, Kate. Very pleasant young woman," Richter said. "She'll be good for JoLynn. The trauma she's suffered is beginning to sink in."

I looked at Scott. "How are you doing with all this?"

"I'm relieved JoLynn is recovering, that she could move out of ICU. But she was pretty upset when she found out they drilled a hole in her skull to drain a blood clot."

"They did?" I glanced back and forth between him and Richter.

Scott said, "Yeah. You can't see where they shaved her hair, because the bandage covering the hole is back here." He pointed to a spot behind and above his ear.

"I thought you knew," Richter said. "Her clot was small, not life threatening, thank goodness."

But I was imagining the tools necessary to do this procedure. I thought about my shop class in high school—the one I took because of the pleasant boy-togirl ratio—and remembered drill bits of all sizes. No wonder she was scared and in pain. She'd lived through the equivalent of a horror movie.

"How long will the move take?" I said.

Richter checked his watch. "I don't know why it's even taken this long. This hospital may be excellent for trauma, but my God, the rest of the place is . . . never mind. They saved her life and I can't complain."

Kate and Cooper arrived then and I explained why we were waiting around in the cramped lobby.

Then Cooper surprised me, probably surprised everyone, by saying, "Mr. Richter, I'd like to chat with you in private—maybe in the cafeteria?"

Richter stiffened, glanced at the cell phone he was gripping like a lifeline. "And why is that?"

"I'll explain downstairs. A few questions, that's all."

"The rest of us can wait here," Kate the Accommodator said quickly.

"Sorry." Cooper's eyes offered her a bigger apology than I thought necessary. "This shouldn't take long."

"Wait." Richter seemed about as happy as an exsmoker who'd forgotten his Nicorette. "I want Abby to accompany us. She works for me, Boyd. She's aware of everything that's gone on."

Cooper hesitated, then said, "Sure. Kate, you okay hanging out with Scott?"

"I'd like to get to know him better," she answered with a smile. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk at the ranch the other night."

So Cooper, Richter and I went downstairs, got coffee and sat at a table as far from the food stations as possible. The lunch crowd had dissipated and the place was nearly deserted.

"I have some serious questions, Mr. Richter," Cooper said. "Consider this talk an informal interview. If I learn I need to take this discussion further, we'll talk again at the Pineview police station, where I will get your answers on tape."

"On tape? Do you suspect me of something?" Richter said.

"Like I said, this is informal. No tape, no notes, no lawyer required," Cooper said. "We simply need to get to the truth."

Uh-oh. Cooper was ready to ask about things we'd speculated on in the last few days. I knew this because I was sitting across from Cooper and the hardness I'd seen in his stare when he'd brought out the worst in Dugan the other night was back with a vengeance.

"You think I don't want the truth as well? Get on with your questions," Richter said.

"Are you aware that Elizabeth 'JoLynn' Dugan is most likely not your granddaughter?" Cooper said.

Gosh, don't beat around the bush or anything, I thought.

Richter's expression went from irritated to jumbo-size irritated in an instant. "What are you talking about?"

"Aside from the fake ID, the missing birth certificate and credible evidence she was scamming you, I suppose I don't know what I'm talking about."

"What are you implying, Chief Boyd?" Richter said. Man, his stinger was out now. This was not a guy used to being challenged.

"From what I've learned about you," Cooper said, "I'm guessing you knew all about her misrepresentation not long after she arrived at your place a year ago."

I was certain Cooper was being tactical, using speculation, not facts, but his delivery seemed especially harsh.

Richter picked up the plastic stir stick he'd used for his coffee, not looking at either of us. Finally, he raised his head and stared at the man who now seemed like an accuser. "What are you after, Boyd?"

Cooper said, "There've been some ugly developments in this case."

How I wished Cooper had asked Kate to come with us. No sending out a distress signal now, though. "Maybe we should tell you the most dramatic development first," I said. "Unless you already know."

"Dramatic? Would you two just get to it?" Richter said.

Cooper was sitting back, arms crossed, and he glanced over at me with raised eyebrows. "Go ahead. Tell him."

"Kent Dugan was murdered yesterday," I said.

Richter's skin immediately washed out to pasty gray. "I—I didn't know."

Anyone can lie with words, but the skin never lies. He looked like he could use a bed in the cardiac-care unit about now. Why was he so upset? I had no idea.

"We don't know how he was killed yet, but they pulled his body from Brays Bayou. You know anything about that, Mr. Richter?" Cooper asked.

Oh boy. This little interview was making me so tense my nerves might poke through my skin.

"You think I had something to do with his death?" Richter shot back. "I didn't even know the man existed until a few days ago."

Wanting to calm Richter down before I had to recall the ever-changing CPR steps, I said, "But that's one of the reasons you hired me, right? To find out who tried to kill JoLynn? That person was probably Dugan." I hoped my voice conveyed the genuine care I felt for this very odd man. Maybe Cooper thought I was playing good cop to his bad, but I was being sincere.

" Dugan tried to kill her?" Richter had quickly regained his stride, not to mention his color, and his interest in this trumped his anger.

"Evidence is strong in that direction," Cooper said. "But I still need you to clear up a few things. If I start gathering phone records and talking to potential witnesses in Pineview, will I find out you knew about Kent Dugan long before JoLynn's accident?"

Richter said, "Let me jump from A to D. You believe I found out about Dugan and asked him to get rid of JoLynn because she was lying to me about who she was?"

Impressive leap, I thought. Was he smart or was this the truth?

"That's one theory, but then I have to ask, why hire Abby?" Cooper said. "Who'd want someone snooping around when they might just uncover that you conspired with Dugan to kill JoLynn. Unless hiring a PI was all for show and you figured she couldn't investigate her way out of a paper bag."

I didn't have time to be offended by the paper-bag remark because Richter quickly said, "I do my homework, Chief. I'm very aware how good Abby is at her job and that's why I asked for her help. I knew absolutely nothing about Kent Dugan until the other night and if I'd wanted to get rid of JoLynn, I would have sent her packing, not have her killed."

"But you wanted me to make sure JoLynn is who she says she is, right?" I said. "You were worried about the fake license and fraudulent inspection stickers."