Rita Herron - Warrior Son

Barbara had been placed in a minimum-security prison to serve out her year sentence for aggravated assault against the sheriff and against Scarlet Lovett. She’d cut the brake lines on the woman’s car, and Scarlet had nearly been killed when she crashed into the side of the social services building where she worked.

Barbara had pled out to a lesser sentence and had to sign an agreement that she wouldn’t file for an appeal in return.

He took a seat at the visitor’s station, and a guard escorted Barbara to a chair facing him through a Plexiglas partition. A seed of sympathy for her sprouted inside him—he knew the story. She and Joe McCullen had had an affair when Maddox and his brothers were children, and she’d gotten pregnant with Bobby.

When Joe’s wife, Grace, had died in a car accident, Barbara had no doubt expected Joe to marry her. But that hadn’t happened. Her bitterness had festered. When Joe died, she’d hoped her son would inherit his share of Horseshoe Creek.

Joe had included him in the will, but neither Barbara nor Bobby were satisfied.

The woman looked pale and angry, her dyed blond hair now mixed with muddy brown. For a moment, she studied him, obviously wondering what his agenda was.

She’d been volatile when she was arrested. Prison had drained the fight from her.

He picked up the phone and waited until she did the same.

“Ms. Lowman,” he began. “Thank you for seeing me.”

She shrugged, her eyes fixed on him. “Didn’t realize I had a choice.”

No, she was at the mercy of the justice system now. “How are you?”

She frowned. “What? Like you care?”

She was right. He didn’t really care. She’d tried to kill an innocent woman. Scarlet was one of the nicest people he’d ever met.

“Why are you really here, Deputy?” Barbara asked.

Roan narrowed his eyes. “I thought you might be ready to tell the truth about the fires at Horseshoe Creek. I could speak to the judge on your behalf and arrange an early parole if you confess.”

Barbara’s sarcastic laugh echoed over the line. “Right. I confess to another crime and you’ll get me out of here earlier? What kind of fool do you think I am?”

“I don’t think you’re a fool at all,” Roan said. “I think you resented Joe for not marrying you, especially after you waited for him all these years.”

“Who said I waited for him?”

“You never married.” He leaned closer to the Plexiglass. “Did you even date anyone else, Barbara? Or did you sit at home hoping he’d call?” He lowered his voice, taunting her. “Did you keep thinking that next month or next year he’d finally admit that he loved you and make you his wife?”

Barbara’s nostrils flared. “How dare you.”

“I understand your anger,” Roan continued. “You gave Joe a son just like Grace did, but her sons got to live on the big ranch. They got to have Joe’s name and grow up in the house with him. They got a real father. Yet McCullen kept you and Bobby on the side. Made you live in the shadows and take whatever little pieces he had left over from his real family.” He paused for effect. “He was ashamed of the two of you.”

She lurched up, body shaking with fury. “You bastard. Joe loved me and Bobby.”

“If he’d loved you, he would have introduced you to his sons. He would have married you.” Roan remained seated, his expression calm, his eyes scrutinizing her. “But he didn’t, and every day, every month, every year that went by, your bitterness grew. Then...what happened? Maybe you gave him an ultimatum, that you’d expose him to Maddox and Brett and Ray, if he didn’t marry you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Barbara said, although the guilt that flashed in her eyes indicated he’d hit the nail on the head.

He raised a brow. “But he still refused. That must have torn you up inside.”

Barbara sank into the chair again and looked down at the floor, her face wrenched in pain. “He felt guilty about his wife’s death. That’s why he never married me. Even from the grave she kept her tentacles embedded in him.”

“Then you finally snapped, didn’t you, Barbara. You decided that if he wouldn’t marry you, you’d get rid of him. At least then you and your son could get what he owed you.”

“He did owe us,” Barbara snapped. “We loved him and kept his secret to protect him, and he still let us down.”

“That was the final straw, wasn’t it?” Roan said. “He refused to marry you. Maybe he even said he’d never marry you.” He arched a brow. “Maybe he threatened to cut you out of the will.”

Her chin lifted and tears glittered in her eyes.

“So you decided to get rid of him. He was sick already so you poisoned him. Nice and slow, just a little at a time.”

“What?” Barbara’s jaw went slack. “Poisoned Joe?”

“Yes. Did you take him food or a drink when you visited him? Did you slowly poison him and watch him die?”

Barbara’s face blanched. “What are you saying? That Joe was murdered?”

“You tell me, Ms. Lowman. Did you kill Joe McCullen?”

* * *

MEGAN CLOSED THE door to her office as she waited on the lab to answer. Finally Howard picked up. “Howard, it’s Megan.”

“I was just getting ready to call you,” Howard said.

“Did you finish the tests?”

“Yes. Meet me at the coffee shop across from the hospital.”

“I’m on my way.” Megan snatched her purse, hurried from her office and locked the door behind her. She caught the elevator from the basement floor where the morgue was housed, then wove through the corridors of the hospital past the gift shop and outside. She had to cross the street to the corner café.

By the time she arrived, Howard was ordering coffee. She ordered a latte and then they claimed a booth in the back corner.

“What did you find?” she asked, unable to stand the wait.

Howard glanced around the coffee shop, then spoke in a hushed tone. “You were right, Megan. There were definitely traces of cyanide in McCullen’s system.”

Megan’s pulse pounded. That meant Joe was murdered.

“What are you going to do with this information?” Howard asked.

Megan blew the steam rolling off her coffee. “I have to go to the police.” In fact, she already had.

“Joe was the sheriff’s father, right?”

“Yes.” And she had no idea how he would react.

“Didn’t the sheriff live with his father?” Howard asked.

Megan frowned. “Yes.”

“How did someone poison his old man without him knowing it?”

“I have no idea, but I know someone who’ll find out.” She pulled her phone from her purse and punched Roan’s number. His phone rolled to voice mail, and she left a message for him to call her.

“What about Dr. Cumberland?” Howard asked.

“He was close to Joe, but with Joe’s illness, I guess he never thought to look for another cause.”

“You’ll tell him?” Howard asked.

“Of course.” She didn’t look forward to it, either, not after the way he’d reacted when she’d questioned the tox screen.

They finished their coffee and Howard had to rush back to the lab. She lingered, hoping Roan would return her call, but finally decided to go back to work. When she stepped outside, a chilly wind rippled through the air. The sky was dark with clouds, although it hadn’t rained in days.

She shivered, and had an eerie feeling as if someone was watching her. Remembering her encounter with Hummings’s brother the night before, she checked around her as she walked to the crosswalk, but she didn’t spot the man anywhere.

She stepped up to the street where a group had gathered waiting on the traffic signal. Her phone rang just as the light turned. She pressed Answer and fell into step with the crowd, but suddenly a gunshot blasted the air. The crowd screamed and began to run, and she felt someone shove her from behind, then lost her balance.