Delores Fossen - Laying Down The Law

“Ten miles,” Cord quickly declared, which meant he’d memorized all the details. With reason. It was the first time DNA had been recovered from the crime scene of the Moonlight Strangler.

Cord leaned in closer again. Too close. Probably a lawman’s ploy to violate her personal space and make her uneasy so she’d spill any secrets she was hiding. Sadly, it would have worked if she’d had secrets.

She didn’t.

But it also worked in a different way, too. For a man who hated her, her body certainly didn’t let her forget that she was a woman. And that he was a man.

“I’ve been looking into Willie Lee’s life,” Cord went on. “He was in the area at the time of that murder because his signature is on a feed purchase in town.”

She knew all about Cord’s efforts to seal the deal and pin these murders, all of them, on Willie Lee. And Cord had indeed managed to place Willie Lee in the areas of several of the murders. That still didn’t convince her.

Karina leaned in closer to him, too. “You’re asking me to believe that a man I’ve known for fifteen years, half of my life, murdered women and then calmly went on as if nothing had happened. A man I trust—”

“A man you don’t really know,” Cord interrupted. “According to your own statement, he just showed up one day, and your father hired him. Willie Lee had no references. No past. He just materialized out of thin air fifteen years ago.”

Karina knew there was an explanation for that. One that Willie Lee could give her if he ever came out of that coma.

Especially since Cord’s DNA had proved that he was Willie Lee’s son.

“Do you have any childhood memories whatsoever of Willie Lee?” she suddenly asked.

“None. Neither does Addie.” He moved away from her. Fast. “I’ll have Jericho get DeWayne in for questioning,” Cord said, and he sent another text. Apparently ending their conversation about his father.

Karina wanted to press him on the subject. Actually, what she wanted Cord to do was remember that Willie Lee was the same loving, caring man that he’d been to her over the years. He wasn’t just her hired hand. He’d become a father figure to her after her own dad had died of lung cancer when Karina was just seventeen. Her mother had never been the same after that. Had never really been part of Karina’s life, or even her own life. Her mom had finally ended it all with sleeping pills.

And Willie Lee had been there to help Karina get through that, too.

“Anyone else other than DeWayne who might want to hurt you?” Cord persisted. “An ex-boyfriend, maybe?” he repeated. “Or a current boyfriend?”

She seriously doubted he was fishing to find out if she was romantically involved with anyone. “No current boyfriend. No recent ex, either. The ranch keeps me busy,” Karina added because she felt she had to add something so Cord wouldn’t think she was a loser.

Though he probably thought that anyway. A loser and very gullible to believe in Willie Lee’s innocence.

“How about any disgruntled employees?” Cord asked a moment later. “Or just someone you got a bad vibe about?”

She opened her mouth to say no, but that wasn’t true. “There might be someone else. Might. A couple of days after Willie Lee was captured, a man showed up at the ranch. Harley Kramer. He said he was an old friend of Willie Lee’s, of my mother’s, too. But I’d never heard either of them mention him.”

“What’d he want?” Cord asked.

“He said he wanted to look through Willie Lee’s things, that Willie Lee had some old photos he wanted. I told him that wouldn’t be possible, not without Willie Lee’s permission. He left, and I thought that was the end of it.” She paused. “I definitely got bad vibes from him, and it wasn’t just because of his scars.”

“Scars?”

She motioned to her face. “He’d been burned and had obviously had a skin graft. And I know that sounds shallow to be creeped out by a guy with a scarred face, but it wasn’t just that. It was the way he looked at me. Then, I caught him sneaking into the cabin where Willie Lee lived. I called the sheriff, and he arrested him for trespassing and breaking and entering. Needless to say, Harley wasn’t happy about that.”

Cord added Harley’s name to the note on his phone. “Did this guy threaten you?”

“Not exactly, but he was furious. His trial date will be coming up soon, and he might have to do some jail time.” Probably not much, though, since the sheriff had told her that Harley didn’t have any priors and would likely get probation.

Still, it must have been enough motive for Cord because he typed something else in his notes. He was still typing when his phone rang.

“Jax,” Cord said, glancing at the screen.

One of the deputies. This was no doubt about the investigation. “Put the call on speaker, please,” she said.

Karina wasn’t sure Cord would do that, and judging from the way the muscles in his face stirred, Cord wasn’t sure of it, either. However, he did press the speaker button when he answered it.

“This is a heads-up,” Jax informed Cord. “You need to keep that ranch hand, Rocky, away from Karina.”

Her heart went to her throat. “Why?” Cord and she asked in unison.

“Because you’re not going to believe what we found in the bunkhouse where he was staying. I just called Jericho to have him take Rocky into custody.”

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.