Always a Lawman

by Delores Fossen

  But there was a problem.

  And Gabriel didn’t believe it was his imagination that Jodi wanted to keep Hector out of this, too. Partially out of it anyway, since she’d refused to go with him and had even asked her boss to leave.

  “Come with me a minute,” Gabriel told her. He motioned for Jodi to follow him and headed toward the hall. He wanted her in the observation room next to where they were holding Billy.

  However, Jodi didn’t get far because Hector stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “You’re not questioning her,” Hector snapped, his glare on Gabriel.

  The man knew how to test every rileable bone in Gabriel’s body. “I can and I will.” He tapped his badge in case Hector had forgotten that he was the one in charge here. Of course, Gabriel didn’t have an interrogation in mind, but he didn’t intend to tell Hector that.

  “I’ll be all right,” Jodi told the man, and she stepped around him.

  That put some fire in Hector’s eyes. “It’s not a good idea for you to talk to the sheriff without your lawyer present. He’s abusing your childhood friendship. Hell, you might not even be able to trust him. Remember, he’s the one who helped convict your father.”

  That stopped Jodi, and for several moments Gabriel thought she might change her mind about going with him. She took in more of those deep breaths. The kind a person took while trying to fight off a panic attack. Or a fit of temper.

  “Go home,” Jodi finally said to Hector. Her voice was as tight as the muscles in her face. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”

  Oh, that didn’t please Hector. That fire in his eyes turned to a full blaze. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be waiting right here when you’re finished.”

  In addition to being a pain, the guy was also mule-headed. Normally, Gabriel would have been pleased that Jodi had someone like that on her side, but this wasn’t a normal situation. And Hector wasn’t just an ordinary boss. He was someone who cut legal corners to suit his needs.

  “Sorry about that,” Jodi mumbled as Gabriel ushered her into the observation room.

  There was a two-way mirror, and Gabriel immediately spotted Billy seated at the table in the interview room. He appeared to be asleep, his head resting on his folded arms.

  Gabriel shut the door just in case Hector decided to follow them. Of course, Jameson and Cameron likely wouldn’t allow that to happen. They both knew about Gabriel’s low opinion of the man, and they had equally low opinions of Jodi’s boss.

  “Hector’s protective of me,” Jodi volunteered.

  “Yeah, I can see that.” He hadn’t intended to make that sound like some kind of question, but it did. And that question was—why?

  “I owe Hector,” she said, answering that unspoken question. “He was there for me after, well, after.”

  “Only because you didn’t let any of us be there for you,” Gabriel pointed out.

  She didn’t disagree with that. Couldn’t. Because she’d refused to see him, Jameson or his sisters, Ivy or Lauren, when she was home from the hospital. After that, she’d disappeared and hadn’t resurfaced until eight months later at her father’s trial. By then, she’d already started her association with Hector. Just how deep that association went, Gabriel didn’t know.

  It was possible they were or had been lovers.

  Jodi didn’t look away. She met his gaze head-on. “I’m stating the obvious here, but when I was recovering from my injuries, my father was charged with murdering your parents. For a while, my brother was a suspect as well, and you and Jameson were looking to put someone—anyone—behind bars for what happened. It didn’t seem like a good idea to see you and cry on your shoulder. Plus, you had your hands full with the investigation.”

  “So, you cried on Hector’s instead.” Gabriel didn’t bother cursing himself that time, but it was definitely something he shouldn’t have thrown out there. He hadn’t brought her in here to dig up the past, but they were certainly doing just that.

  “I cried but not on anyone’s shoulder,” she informed him. “Wait. You’re not thinking I turned to Hector because of some romantic feelings?” She cursed, made a face and didn’t wait for him to respond. “It’s not like that between Hector and me. Or any other man.”

  Her mouth tightened as if she also had said too much. Now, she looked away, dodging his gaze, and everything in her body language signaled to him that this part of the conversation was over.

  Good. It was time to move on, and he tipped his head toward Billy. “There was no blood on his clothes. Nor any visible on any part of his body.”

  It didn’t take her long to process that. “That’s why you don’t believe he killed the man.”

  Gabriel nodded. “There was blood everywhere in that pantry, and the guy had been stabbed multiple times. An organized killer could have possibly avoided spatter, but I’m not sure Billy’s anywhere near organized.”

  She stared at the teenager on the other side of the glass. “He could have changed his clothes and cleaned himself up after the murder.” But Jodi quickly waved that off. She huffed, but it wasn’t exactly a sound of frustration. There was something else mixed with it, too. “You really do know that I wouldn’t do something like kill a man, don’t you?”

  “I know.” There was something else mixed with his response, too. Empathy. Hell. More than that. Sympathy. Something that she darn sure wouldn’t want him to feel. “And you do know if I’d had any suspicions ten years ago about what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let you leave my house?”

  She nodded, sighed. Jodi looked up, their gazes connecting, and for just a split second, it seemed as if the last decade melted away. He caught a glimpse of the girl. The very one who’d had a thing for him. That thing was still there; Gabriel could feel it, but it was buried beneath the scars and the pain.

  He got another flood of memories then. The heat in his own body. He’d never told Jodi that he’d wanted her that night. Wouldn’t tell her, either. Because it wouldn’t help. In fact, it could make things worse with them going through the “what could have been” scenarios.

  Their eye contact continued, and Gabriel could feel that old attraction becoming a simmer again. Thankfully, the simmer turned chilly when he heard voices in the hall.

  “I need to see the sheriff and my client now,” a woman demanded. It wasn’t a shout but close enough so that Gabriel had no trouble hearing her.

  She was no doubt Billy’s attorney. Good. That meant Gabriel could get on with the interrogation.

  Gabriel threw open the door and came face-to-face with Cameron and a brunette who was dressed to the nines. She had a briefcase on the floor next to her pricey shoes. She certainly didn’t look like someone who worked cheap, and that piqued his interest, and suspicions, even more. There was no way Billy could pay someone like this.

  So, who was footing this bill?

  “I’m Mara Rayburn,” she said. Her voice had lowered a couple of notches, but she didn’t sound very happy about this visit. “You’re Sheriff Beckett?”

  Gabriel nodded, but before he could say anything, she took his hand and slapped some papers in his palm. “That’s a court order to transfer my client to a psychiatric facility where he belongs.”

  Heck, that was pretty fast for a court order, so Gabriel looked through it.

  “It’s legit,” Cameron provided, sounding as suspicious about all of this as Gabriel felt. Jodi, too, because she hurried to Gabriel’s side to look over the document, as well.

  “How’d you get this?” Gabriel demanded. “And who’s paying you?”

  Mara gave him a blank stare. “I got the court order through normal channels, and as your deputy just pointed out, it’s legit. As for who’s paying me, I’m not required to divulge that information. However, you are required to comply with that court order and release my client. There’s a marsh
al waiting outside to escort Billy to the facility, and I don’t want to waste any time. Billy’s a very sick young man.”

  “How so?” Gabriel pressed, though he already knew at least part of the answer.

  Mara whipped out yet more papers from the briefcase and handed them to him. “That’s a report from the psychiatrist. Billy is paranoid schizophrenic. He not only needs medication, but he also needs to be under medical supervision since he’s a danger to himself.”

  “And others,” Gabriel quickly provided.

  “He fired shots at us,” Jodi added. “And it’s possible he killed a man.”

  Mara’s only reaction to that was an eye roll. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to fight this court order. Because it won’t work. Billy will get the help he needs whether you stonewall us or not.”

  Gabriel hitched his thumb toward Billy. “I’ve got a dead body, and your client is the only person who can give me answers about that.”

  “That’s your problem, not mine, Sheriff,” Mara snapped.

  She motioned for someone, and a few moments later, the marshal walked up behind her. Gabriel knew him. Dallas Walker. He was a good marshal, definitely not someone who would be on the take, but he would follow through on his job. And his job would be to make sure that court order was carried out.

  “Sorry about this,” Dallas mumbled to Gabriel.

  “No need to apologize.” Mara, again. “Just get my client out of here.” She turned as if to leave but then stopped and snared Gabriel’s attention. “Anything my client might have said to you isn’t admissible because he isn’t mentally competent.”

  Maybe, but the jury was still out on that. “You’re not doing Billy any favors by covering for the person who’s manipulating him,” Gabriel told the woman. “Because the person manipulating him is likely a killer. A killer who’s got you on his payroll.”

  If she had a reaction to that, Gabriel didn’t see it, because this time when she turned, she walked away. “Bring my client to the car,” she added over her shoulder to the marshal.

  Dallas issued another apology, and Cameron led him to the interview room. It didn’t take long before the marshal was escorting him out.

  Billy had a reaction all right. He smiled. “You two should be real careful,” he said like a threat.

  Gabriel had to rein in his temper. After all, this idiot could have killed them when they were chasing him. Plus, there was no telling what would go on in that psychiatric facility. Billy could end up not doing any time whatsoever.

  “The lawyer didn’t ask who I was,” Jodi said under her breath.

  Yeah. Gabriel had noticed that. Maybe because Mara hadn’t cared enough to ask, but it could be because she already knew every single player in this. Whatever the heck this was.

  “I’ll make some calls,” Cameron told them as they watched Dallas whisk Billy away. “We might be able to question him while he’s at the facility.”

  It was a long shot, but at the moment it was all Gabriel had. Especially since they didn’t even have an ID on the dead guy.

  “Find out all you can about the lawyer,” Gabriel told Cameron.

  The deputy nodded, left to no doubt get started on that, but as Cameron was walking away, Hector was coming toward Jodi and him.

  “My people just sent me a preliminary report on Mara Rayburn.” Hector had his phone in his hand and appeared to be reading something on the screen. “She’s thirty-two and works for a law firm in San Antonio. A reputable one.”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s reputable,” Gabriel argued.

  Hector made a sound of agreement and handed Gabriel his phone. Gabriel scrolled through the report, though he wouldn’t take anything there at face value.

  “There are no red flags,” Hector concluded. “But I might be able to get financials on her.”

  “No.” Gabriel didn’t have to think about that, either. There was no legal way for them to get something like that since they didn’t have probable cause on Mara. He darn sure didn’t want Hector cutting corners on this and therefore compromising the entire investigation.

  Jodi moved closer to Gabriel, her arm up against his as she leaned in to read the report, too. It was thorough for something classified as preliminary. Mara’s address, phone number, educational background and even the cases she’d tried in court. As detailed as it was, Gabriel had to agree with the no red flags part. There had to be one, though, somewhere.

  “Now that Billy’s gone, are you ready to go home?” Hector asked her.

  Gabriel looked up from the report and realized that Hector was scowling. And the man had his attention nailed to the arm-to-arm contact between Jodi and him. Jodi had said it “wasn’t like that” between Hector and her, but clearly her boss had a different notion about that. Because that was pure jealousy in Hector’s eyes.

  Jodi noticed the jealousy, too, and the scowl. She eased away from Gabriel. “I want to stay here a little longer and see what we’re able to find out.”

  That didn’t ease Hector’s expression. “You can use the resources in the office to learn anything that the sheriff can.”

  She lifted her shoulder, stayed put. However, Hector stayed put as well, and Gabriel thought he might have to order the man to leave. He didn’t get a chance to do that, though, because he heard yet another voice.

  One that he recognized this time.

  Jodi did, too, and she groaned, stepping out into the hall with Gabriel right behind her. “August,” she muttered like profanity.

  It was indeed August Canton, her father’s half brother, and he wasn’t a stranger to the sheriff’s office. Nope. August deemed himself as his half brother’s champion of justice and was doing everything possible to get Travis out of jail. Gabriel had his own label for August—pain in the neck.

  August wasn’t a typical-looking uncle. For one thing, he was only a few years older than Gabriel. He was the offspring of his father’s second marriage, and when his parents had been killed in a car crash when he was twelve, Travis had raised him. More or less. Travis hadn’t been much of a parent to either August or Jodi, but that hadn’t stopped August from standing by his brother.

  And riling Jodi.

  Gabriel had only heard August’s side of the story on this, but according to him, Jodi wasn’t doing nearly enough to clear her father’s name. August apparently wanted a lot more from her. August had money, a trust fund left to him by his mother’s family, and he was using a lot of his cash to pay for private investigators to dig for anything they could find. Rumor had it that it rankled him that Jodi wasn’t putting in as much time and money as he was. But Jodi didn’t have a trust fund. Probably didn’t have the time, either, because of her job.

  “What do you want?” Hector snarled at the man. Apparently, Hector knew Jodi’s uncle, as well. And evidently there also wasn’t any love lost between them because August’s eyes narrowed to slits when he looked at Hector.

  August ignored Hector’s question, put his hands on his hips and studied Jodi a moment. “I heard somebody tried to kill you. You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” That had to be a lie, but no one challenged it. “Why are you here?” Jodi asked.

  A muscle flickered in August’s jaw, and he slid a glance at Hector. “I’m here because of him. Because of your boss.” Definitely no friendly vibe coming from August. That tone and glance was all venom.

  “Because of me?” Hector challenged.

  “Yeah,” August verified. “I know you’re the one who nearly killed Gabriel and Jodi today.”

  Chapter Five

  Jodi groaned. She was so used to hearing August make stupid accusations that she didn’t even consider taking that one seriously.

  But judging from his expression, Gabriel did.

  Of course, the reason he might be doing that was becau
se Gabriel despised her boss. However, August hadn’t shown much disapproval of Hector in the past so she couldn’t understand why her uncle had just accused Hector of a serious crime.

  Attempted murder—of Gabriel and her, no less.

  Hector stepped forward. So did Gabriel, and Jodi got in between the three of them. Not easy to do since all three were obviously primed for a fight. She was as well, but Jodi didn’t think it would do any good to aim any suspicion at Hector.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Hector demanded.

  Gabriel didn’t say anything, but his glare should have been enough to prompt August to get talking.

  “We’re all in danger because of him.” August tipped his head to Hector. “He’s been having us watched. Followed,” he added. “And he’s doing that because he’s afraid Jodi’s remembering the truth that would blow all of this wide-open.”

  “What truth?” Hector spat out. Jodi wanted to know the same thing.

  “The truth that will set Travis free, and if he’s free, that means somebody else did those crimes. Somebody you’re protecting. Don’t you dare say you don’t have friends or criminal informants you’re trying to protect. Friends who could have killed Gabriel’s folks and tried to kill Jodi.”

  It was so far-fetched that Jodi wanted to laugh.

  “It isn’t just you, me and Gabriel,” August went on ranting. “Hector’s had Russell tailed, too. He’s on his way here now to make Hector stop.”

  Jodi scrubbed her hand over her face. She definitely didn’t want her ex-boyfriend in on this, especially since this was all some paranoia on August’s part. She turned to Hector to get him to assure August that he would never do anything like that.

  Hector folded his arms over his chest and aimed a defiant stare at August. “I didn’t have anything to do with the murders, and I’m not trying to protect anyone who would have done them.”

  What Hector didn’t do was deny the other part of August’s accusation, and it felt as if someone had dissolved the floor and ground beneath her feet.