“Is that why you threatened to kill her?” Dan asked calmly.
“I never threatened her.” Nelson’s face flushed. “If that’s what she told you, she lied.”
Dan managed to keep his temper. “Are you forgetting you threatened her in front of police officers when you were arrested?”
Nelson’s flush darkened. “I didn’t threaten to kill her in front of those cops.”
“Just to Ms. Winfield?” Dan said.
“Yes—no.” Nelson shook his head. “No.”
The deputies did a thorough search of the hotel room then combed the rental car as well.
When they were ready to leave, Dan stopped in front of Nelson who scowled.
“Remember what I told you,” Dan said. “You’re not to leave town. Understand?”
Nelson didn’t answer.
Dan turned away and headed to his SUV.
Chapter 22
Jerry shut the hotel room door, forcing himself not to slam it behind Sheriff Cooper so that the bastard wouldn’t see how upset he was.
“Fuck.” He shouted the word as he looked for something to kick or throw.
His suitcase was closest to him and he kicked it across the room, flinging everything that had been in it over the floor. Not that it made a difference—in their search the deputies had left the room in shambles.
“How in the fuck did she survive?” Jerry pushed his hand through his hair, wanting to rip it out by the roots. His breathing came hard and fast and he thought he’d explode with fury. He’d left her unconscious, a bullet wound to the head.
The bullet must have grazed her head rather than going into her skull. The sheriff had said Renee was lucky to be alive which meant she likely wasn’t in a coma with a bullet lodged in her brain, clinging to life.
Rage made his entire body shake. The bitch was probably at the sheriff’s ranch now, recuperating.
He needed to go take care of her now, before the sheriff came back with an arrest warrant—if the bastard could get one. The plan had been executed perfectly. What could they have found?
Nothing. There wasn’t a damned thing that could tie Luis’s murder and the attack on Renee to him.
Trying to calm his fury, Jerry lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling that had brown water stains on it. His mind worked over and over the problem. The bitch needed to be dead. That was all that mattered.
Instead of diminishing, the rage inside him magnified. He was going to have to take care of this problem sooner rather than later. He fantasized about all of the ways he would kill her, and how he would make her suffer.
Sometime later he looked at his watch and scowled. It was noon—he must have fallen asleep. A good three hours had passed since the sheriff and his posse had trashed his place. Grinding his teeth, he sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side.
His chest rose and fell with the strength of his fury and he clenched the mattress to either side of him until his knuckles ached.
The rage inside him hadn’t diminished. It was exactly how he used to feel in his younger days. He’d gotten better at controlling it as he got older.
He knew he should walk away now and do something down the road. But it was a rage he couldn’t help… A rage that told him to hell with the consequences.
I just want her dead. And I want her dead now.
His arms shook as he clenched the mattress and heat flooded his body. He knew exactly what he was going to do now. He would make a couple of stops on his way out of town and buy a pair of gloves and another pair of shoes that he could ditch.
There wasn’t time to get another gun without registering one in his name. He’d have to kill her with his bare hands and choke the life from her. They wouldn’t expect him to go to the ranch in the middle of the day. He’d be in and out before anyone could come by.
The fury pouring through him was so great that he clenched his teeth as tight as he clenched his fists. Time to go.
He made sure he had his wallet and keys. Once again he left his phone in the motel room and headed out to kill Renee Winfield.
Chapter 23
It was almost three hours after searching Nelson’s motel room and Dan was sitting behind his desk. They’d put a rush on the clump of mud that had been in Nelson’s rental car to see if it matched the soil sample from Dan’s ranch that they had from when the shoe prints had been cast. They also had hair from Nelson’s brush that they would test to see if it matched the DNA from the blood left on the broken glass at the scene. But that would take to process.
“Sheriff?” came Deputy Gatling’s voice from the doorway.
Dan looked up from his desk as Gatling walked in. The deputy was carrying an evidence bag with a handgun in it.
“We’ve got him,” Gatling said. “We have a witness who saw a man acting suspicious behind a store here in Nogales. When he saw the man throw something into a dumpster and drive off, the witness looked in and found this gun. Fortunately the back of the store was well lit and he got a good look at the car and the guy. He called Nogales P.D. and the witness’s description of the man matches Nelson’s. The store has a security camera and N.P.D. is getting the manager to access the recording and they’ll have it analyzed.”
Dan sat up straighter in his chair. “Prints?”
“No prints.” Gatling set the evidence bag with the weapon on Dan’s desk. “And the serial number is filed off. All we have is the witness’s description.”
“Good enough for now.” Dan got to his feet and dialed the phone. They needed to get an arrest warrant and they needed it now. “This could give us enough time to get the soil sample and DNA results back from the lab.”
By one in the afternoon, they had their warrant and Dan and two deputies drove to the hotel. Dan’s gut tightened. Nelson’s rental car wasn’t there.
He climbed out of his SUV and went up to the door and knocked, deputies to either side of him. He called out Nelson’s name.
No answer.
A bad feeling crawled down Dan’s back and he ground his teeth.
With one well-placed kick, he broke open the door. He swept the room with his weapon and then they cleared the place, including the bathroom. They found nothing but the mess the room had been in this morning. In addition, clothes were strewn across the floor, a suitcase now sitting upside down beside the bed, as if it had been kicked across the room. Nelson’s cell phone was sitting on the bureau.
Why would Nelson have left his phone? Dan narrowed his brows. Nelson had probably done the same thing when he went to the ranch to attack Renee the first time. He’d likely left his phone in his motel room so that it couldn’t be tracked.
Dan’s gut clenched. The bad feeling he’d had moved throughout his every part of his body. He almost felt on fire with it. Something was wrong. Real wrong.
Renee. The bastard could have gone after her again once he learned she was alive.
His heart pounded in his throat as he hurried out of the motel room to his vehicle. The deputies followed him.
“What do you think, Sheriff?” Gatling asked.
“I’ve got a real bad feeling,” Dan said to Gatling and the other deputy. “I think Nelson might be headed to my place to go after Renee—if he’s not already there.”
* * * * *
“I’m fine, Mrs. Grady.” Renee smiled at the elder woman, trying not to wince from the pain in her head as she stood up from Dan’s kitchen table. “Thank you for staying with me and for the incredible apple pie. It was the perfect remedy.”
“I told Sheriff Cooper I’d keep an eye on you.” Mrs. Grady picked up her own plate and fork as well as the empty plate in front of Renee before she had a chance to do it herself. “You had quite a night, young lady.”
“I can get that.” Renee gestured to the plates and forks. “You shouldn’t be doing the dishes.”
“Nonsense.” Mrs. Grady carried the dishes to the sink, washed them off, and set them in the dish drainer. Renee watched, feeling somewhat helpless to stop wh
at felt like an unstoppable force. “Now you need to get over to that couch and rest,” the woman said as she dried her hands on a towel then set it aside.
“Thank you for everything,” Renee said as Mrs. Grady walked past her, and then followed her back into the living room. “But really, I’m okay.”
Renee pushed hair out of her eyes and flinched as her hand brushed the bandage at her temple and pain shot through her head. Her arm ached where the glass had sliced it and her feet felt like they were burning from the cuts on the soles of her bare feet.
“You lie right back down.” Mrs. Grady settled into the rocking chair with her book. “I’ll be right here if you need anything, child.”
Renee’s head hurt too badly to argue. With a sigh she moved to the couch and gingerly sat down. She wasn’t used to being babied. She really didn’t want to close her eyes again. Behind her eyelids she kept reliving last night right up to the point where the man—Jerry—pointed the gun at her. Then she could remember nothing.
She didn’t think she could watch TV or read with a headache this intense. It had been bad enough when she went in search of pain reliever last night. Now it felt like her head was splitting in half.
“Forgot my glasses in the kitchen.” Mrs. Grady got up from her chair and headed toward the kitchen. She was fast for her age.
The doorknob at the front door creaked, catching Renee’s attention. It rattled as someone tried to open the door that Mrs. Grady had locked. Renee surged to her feet. Her heart pounded and her mouth grew dry.
Something hit the door hard, like someone ramming an object against the wood, trying to break down the door. Fear screaming through her, Renee ran to the kitchen where Mrs. Grady had just retrieved her glasses.
“We’ve got to get into the pantry,” Renee said in a rush. “Someone’s trying to break in.”
Mrs. Grady didn’t argue as she and Renee headed toward the pantry door.
Renee looked around and grabbed a knife from the butcher block and hurried Mrs. Grady with her into the walk-in pantry.
Dan’s front door exploded open with a bang.
Renee’s heart thudded and she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. She wasn’t the only one in danger—Mrs. Grady was, too. How could she draw Jerry away from the woman?
“Renee!” came a ferocious shout.
Her throat closed off. Jerry.
She glanced at Mrs. Grady who narrowed her eyes as she whispered, “The man who came after you last night.”
Renee nodded. “No matter what happens you stay here.” She felt in her pockets but no cell phone.
“A gun is in the inside pocket in my purse,” Mrs. Grady said. “Left it on one of the chairs beside the kitchen table.”
Renee nodded, remembering seeing the purse on a chair.
“Renee,” came the bellow again.
She gripped the knife tighter and raised it. If Jerry opened the pantry door he wasn’t going to expect a knife coming at him.
The stair steps creaked and she lowered her arm for a moment. Jerry was on his way upstairs.
“I’m going for the gun.” She looked at Mrs. Grady and handed her the knife. “Just in case he comes in here.”
The woman nodded and grasped the knife. “Be careful, girl.”
Renee knew she wouldn’t have much time to retrieve the gun. She slipped out of the pantry and hurried to Mrs. Grady’s purse. She looked over her shoulder in the direction of the living room and the stairs, finding it hard to breathe as she shoved her hand into the purse.
The stairs creaked again as Jerry started back down them. “Renee. I know you’re here.”
Panic made her shake. Her hand wrapped around the gun just as Jerry stepped into the kitchen.
“There you are.” He stopped in the doorway, a satisfied gleam in his eyes as he took in the bandage at her forehead. “So I did get you. Just not good enough.”
The throbbing in Renee’s head was almost debilitating but she forced the pain away.
Jerry took a step toward her and she jerked the gun out of the purse. She pointed it at him, her hand trembling, causing the gun to shake.
“Don’t come any closer.” She gripped the gun with both hands, trying to control the shaking. “I’ll shoot you.”
He held up his hands. “You won’t kill me, Renee.”
“Are you out of your mind, Jerry?” she said with incredulity. “You’re going to try to murder me and you don’t think I’ll shoot you?”
“I don’t even think you know how to shoot a gun.” He looked smug.
She tried to sound confident. “At this range how could I miss?”
“First you need to take off the safety,” he said.
Renee barely kept herself from looking down at the gun. He was right. She wasn’t even sure she knew how to take off the safety. Still she said, “How do you know I haven’t?”
“You just took it out of that purse.” He almost grinned as he took a step closer. “You never had time.”
“Why are you trying to kill me, Jerry? You can’t get money from me if I’m dead.”
He gave a grim smile. “You’re worth more to me dead than alive. When I had you sign a bunch of documents, I slipped one in that leaves all of your money to me when you’re dead.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you plan this all along?”
“Smart girl.” He looked amused. “I was just waiting for the right time to come along. Guess this is the right time.”
Cold prickles ran over her skin from head to toe. “Dan will come after you.”
Jerry shrugged. “He can’t pin anything on me. I’m wearing a bigger sized shoe than my actual size, I’ve got on gloves, and thanks to you I have a gun. Not to mention, there will be no witnesses.”
Of course he didn’t know about Mrs. Grady being in the pantry.
“Are you really involved with drugs?” she asked. “Is that why you need my money?”
She could tell he was trying to stay calm as he said, “How do you know about that?”
“They’re on to you, Jerry.” Her arms shook from holding up the gun for so long. “They know about the drug dealer back home and they know you were meeting Juan and Luis for some kind of deal.”
A flush traveled over Jerry’s skin as he narrowed his eyes. “What else do they know?”
“Enough to put you away.” Renee didn’t really know what she was talking about, but she figured that keeping him talking might help keep her alive longer. “And they’re going to get you for murdering Luis.”
His jaw tightened. “They have nothing on me.”
“Back home they do.” Her arms were growing weaker from holding up the gun. “They were just waiting for the right time.”
“They’re not going to get me for anything.” His gaze burned. “And they’re not going to get me for killing you.”
He lunged for her.
She squeezed the trigger as she stumbled backward. The gun didn’t go off—just as he’d said, the safety was still on.
He grabbed the gun from her hands then gave a cry and staggered.
Mrs. Grady stood behind Jerry, a bloody knife in her hand.
Jerry screamed and he twisted around, gun in his grip. Blood soaked the back of his shirt. “You old bitch,” he said when he saw Mrs. Grady. He knocked the knife from her grip with one sweep of his arm and flicked off the gun safety with his opposite hand.
Before he could raise the gun and shoot the elder woman, Renee flung herself at his arm and drove it downward. A shot rang out in the air as a bullet ricocheted off the tile.
She tried to wrestle the gun from his hold. He was weak from being stabbed, but he had a tight grip on the weapon and he was almost twice her size.
He flung her away from him. Her back slammed into the table, knocking the breath from her, and her head hit the table leg.
Her mind spun and her vision swam. She froze as he raised the gun and aimed it at her.
The pain in her head was so great and she was so off balance
from the blow to her head that she barely registered the fact that she was about to die.
Mrs. Grady had grabbed another knife from the butcher block, but she was too far away and Renee was afraid the woman would get hurt if she tried to stab Jerry again. But Jerry was probably planning on shooting the woman anyway.
The thought of him harming Mrs. Grady cleared her head a little. Panic sent shards of glass through her chest.
“Put the gun down, Nelson.” Dan’s voice boomed out in the kitchen and she cut her gaze to him. He stood just behind Jerry. “You shoot Renee and you’re dead.”
Relief that Dan was here made her weak but at the same time she was paralyzed from the expression on Jerry’s face as she stared down the barrel of the gun.
“I don’t care if I die.” Jerry had a wild look in his gaze as he stared at her and didn’t turn to look at Dan. “I’m going to take her with me if you don’t put down your gun.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Dan spoke in a calm voice. “You’re going to give me your weapon.”
Jerry seemed unsteady on his feet, probably from the knife wound from Mrs. Grady when she’d stabbed him. Jerry gave a harsh laugh as he stared at Renee. “Give you my weapon so that you can put me in prison? Not going to happen.”
Renee’s heart beat like it was going to come out of her chest as she looked from Jerry to Dan then back to Jerry again.
Jerry’s smile was cold, cruel. “Goodbye, Renee.”
He pulled the trigger.
The gun clicked but didn’t fire.
A shot rang out and Renee flinched.
Jerry dropped to the floor. Blood soaked the front of his shirt.
Dan was just feet from Jerry’s still form. He kicked the gun from Jerry’s hand and sent it flying across the kitchen floor. A deputy Renee hadn’t noticed picked up the weapon.
Jerry was gasping, holding his hand to his chest. Blood pooled on the floor.
A deputy went to Jerry and rolled him onto his back.
Dan went to Renee and brought her to her feet. “Are you all right?” He held her by her shoulders and looked over her. “Did he hurt you?”
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