“I think that might be my fault, actually. I upset Melissa, I believe.” He saw the instant looks on the brothers’ faces and held up both hands. “Didn’t mean to, honest. I just had to come by to tell her some news, and she didn’t like the questions I had after.”
The brothers both frowned. “What are you talking about?” Rich demanded to know.
Knox saw the protectiveness come out in the older brother.
“Jonah Bell is dead.”
This caused both men to fall silent and cast shocked looks at each other.
“What? How?” Rich’s voice was sharp when he asked the questions.
“He was hit on the back of the head with something. We’re not sure what yet, as Jack has only just been able to start really examining. We expect to know the cause by the end of the night. I suppose I was a little harsh with your sister, and she took offense to my questions. I hope you both understand, any questions I ask are necessary to finding out who did this. She thought I was accusing her, but I wasn’t. I simply need to eliminate all the innocent people so the arrow will point to the actual outlaw.”
The brothers shared a look. Knox would have bet a hundred dollars the two young men were communicating through visual expression rather than audible words.
“What did you want to know?” Rich asked. “We haven’t seen anyone since that incident at Saturday dinner. You know when that man came bursting in searching for Jonah that Saturday.”
Nate nodded. “I do remember that. Couldn’t get much out of him, though. Never told us why he wanted Jonah. Just that he needed to find him.”
“That could be helpful,” Knox replied. “Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
Both men smirked. “Of course,” Rich answered, “he was ranting and raving about freedom and not being a slave and getting what you’re due in the end up and down our foyer and in the dining hall. I’ll never forget that face as long as I live.”
Knox had an idea and looked at the man directly. “Was the man that came that night in the jail cell when you came to pay for Jonah to get out?”
Rich’s eyebrows shot up. “No. As a matter of fact, neither of them were.”
Knox couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Then again, Luke Belcombe had proved to be a cooperative witness, and Knox had almost felt bad keeping him in the cell for the allotted amount of time for being drunk and disturbing the peace.
“So there’s an unknown out there. A man who is currently sliding past us unseen.” Knox pondered that thought. He took a moment to think how strange it was that once he met the Winchester brothers, he found it hard to think of them as suspects. He was aware that he’d been a bit harsh with Melissa when there was no real reason why or how she would have murdered Jonah.
“We should go inside,” Rich said, making a move to go around Knox. The sheriff backed off but hesitated to follow the brothers. They turned halfway across the porch and looked at him curiously.
“You coming?” Nate asked.
“I don’t think your sister wants me in there right now,” Knox replied sheepishly. Normally, he would be assertive as always, but something about this family made him act different than usual. He regretted making Melissa feel like a suspect and was subconsciously working to make sure the brothers didn’t feel that way.
The two men turned back to him after sharing a look. “What did you say to her?” Nate asked inquisitively. “She’s not easy to upset. She’s got a spine of iron.”
Knox wasn’t surprised to hear Melissa described that way. Her behavior when hearing Jonah was in jail and her subsequent response bailing him out and dumping him in the street proved her brother’s assessment to be on the money.
“I may have implied that she had something to do with Jonah’s death.” He kept his voice low, hoping it would make less of an impact on the brothers.
To his surprise, smiles came to their faces, and Rich shook his head. “Oh, you don’t want to link her to this. She will be unhappy with you forever. Beware our sister’s wrath. That’s what Pa always said when we were just kids.”
The two men laughed, making Knox want to join in, though he didn’t. It wasn’t a memory he could share with them, and felt like he didn’t have the right to laugh with them about it.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. Let’s—”
Nate had turned back to walk to the door but stopped when it opened, and Baxter came out.
“Nate. Rich,” Baxter said their names enthusiastically and warmly, shaking both their hands and coming together in a hug to slap each other on the back at the same time.
“Bill Baxter,” Rich replied with just as much excitement, pumping the deputy’s hand firmly. “Good to see you.”
“Baxter, old boy,” Nate said with a smile. “How have you been?”
“I’m doing good, thanks for asking. You boys sure have kept this place real nice. I haven’t been here since… well, it must have been the Christmas party you all threw last year.”
“I trust you’ve been doing good since then?” Nate asked, stepping back and placing his hands on his hips, smiling at the deputy.
“Yes, doing good, doing good.”
“And how is our sister in there after having her ego bruised?” Rich asked, tilting his head toward the house.
Baxter laughed softly. “Oh, she’s better. She’s in there trying to figure out which one of those men that threatened her is the murderer. I thought I’d come out and talk to the sheriff here. See what he wants to do. She’s not responsible for this crime, boss. I hope you know that.”
Rich and Nate turned wide eyes to the sheriff. Knox felt himself flushing.
“You must have laid it on very thick, Sheriff,” Nate said. “Even the deputy is trying to convince you of her innocence.”
Knox pulled in a deep breath. He hadn’t meant to come across so strong. His instinct was to eliminate all the probable suspects as quickly as possible, and he wanted Melissa to be at the top of the list. He’d made a mistake confronting her that way, though, and it was time for a different approach. Instead of assuming everyone is guilty and proving them innocent, he should do it the proper way. The other way around. That didn’t mean not being cautious about who to trust.
But he had to let someone in at some point, didn’t he? Eventually, he would have to learn that while you can’t trust anyone with everything, there’s still hope in trusting a few chosen ones with some things.
21
Melissa had just plopped down on one of the couches and swung her legs up to stretch out when the door to the parlor opened. She rolled her head to the side and saw Nate come in first with Rich behind him.
“Nate. Rich. Have you heard?” Theresa was the one who greeted the men first. She went to her husband and gave him a kiss on the cheek, turning a small smile of acknowledgment to Rich.
“We’ve heard, yes,” Nate responded to his wife, leaning to kiss her cheek softly.
Melissa watched them, thinking how that would have been her and Jonah if he hadn’t turned into a drunk and a thief. She flipped her eyes back to the door when it remained open, and Baxter came in shortly after, followed by the sheriff.
To her astonishment, the men stepped aside and let the sheriff move quickly past them. He went to a nearby chair, grabbed the back of it, and dragged it close to where she was lying on the couch. She’d lifted one hand and rested the back of it against her forehead. Her eyes rolled with his movements, and she kept them on him when he dropped himself in the chair.
Knox leaned forward, propping himself up with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him for balance. He met her eyes directly. She felt like she couldn’t look away.
“We need to talk, Melissa,” he said quietly. “And I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot for this conversation, so let me tell you, I don’t think you’re the one who killed Jonah. You knew him better than anyone else. Even his Aunt Bea wouldn’t know him as well as you would. She could probably tell me what he wanted to
be when he was growing up and if he was happy, fulfilled, and satisfied during those years. The most important years, Melissa, are the more recent ones, when he was an adult, making decisions, talking to you. Do you understand what I mean?”
Melissa nodded.
“So when I ask you questions, it’s so we can get to the bottom of this and find out who is guilty, not to make assumptions and point the blame at you or anyone in your family. I’ve told people before that the majority of murders are committed by someone close to the victim. In this case, though, it doesn’t really seem like there’s a lot of people related to Jonah and those that do have altogether washed their hands of him. Is that how you felt, Melissa?”
Melissa listened to the smooth words roll off his tongue. She may have been listening, but in reality, she was staring at his gorgeous face, not wanting to be upset with him anymore. Or anyone else. Not even Jonah Bell.
“Yes,” she replied softly. To her surprise, it wasn’t until looking into his glacial blue eyes that Melissa wanted to cry. It wasn’t because it was Jonah who had died, though. It was because anyone had to die. Jonah was far from innocent. Melissa wouldn’t be surprised if a lot more about him was revealed while they tried to find out who did it.
“Now you told your family you were threatened by someone. Is that right?”
Melissa nodded, deciding to keep her answers short and sweet. She didn’t need to lead. She would follow him and let him think of the questions to ask.
“Was that the same man you saw in the jailhouse?”
“No,” she responded promptly. “It was the same man who stopped me in the restaurant and warned me that being around Jonah wasn’t safe. The man in the jailhouse is the one who was in the street when Theresa and I followed Jonah.”
Nate’s eyes snapped to his wife. “You did what?”
Theresa gave her husband a sheepish look. “We only—”
“It was my idea,” Melissa said quickly, sitting up slightly. She felt a weakness wash over her and laid back on the couch again. She didn’t know why she was so weak and exhausted. It was as if her emotions had been playing out a battle inside her, and everything was spent. “I just wanted to see if he was meeting another woman.”
“I think you would have known if that was the case,” Baxter spoke up. “But I understand why you’d want to. And he wasn’t?”
“No, he met with that man in the street when Theresa and I were there. We’ve been talking, and she remembered that his name was Luke.”
“I think that’s the name I heard,” Theresa added.
Melissa noticed the sheriff hadn’t taken his blue eyes from her since he sat down. She was surprised she didn’t feel uneasy under his scrutiny. She found she rather enjoyed it.
“I need you to tell me everything you can about Jonah.” His voice was low and smooth.
Melissa denied that her heart was racing as blood shot through her veins. She suddenly felt very hot. She fanned herself with one hand without realizing it.
“Oh my,” she said quietly, moving her eyes from his face. “You must excuse me. I feel suddenly hot.”
“Someone get her a cold drink,” Knox instructed.
It was Baxter who moved, probably used to being ordered about by his boss. He went to the bar that sat beneath an enormous painting of Rich, Nate, and Melissa with their parents. It had been commissioned just one year before the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Winchester.
He brought back a small glass of brandy into which he’d thrown two ice cubes. He handed it to Melissa, who took it with a grateful smile. The alcohol caused a warm feeling to flow through her body, and she closed her eyes to enjoy it for a moment.
“Are you feeling better?” Knox asked.
When Melissa opened her eyes, she saw that the whole family had gathered around, some of them seated in other chairs close by, her brothers standing on the other side of the coffee table placed in front of the couch she was on.
She nodded at the sheriff. “Yes, I feel better. I don’t know what came over me. Of course I’ll tell you all about Jonah. But things have changed so much since we first started courting. The last six months, more really, have been…” She shook her head, “so confusing. I don’t know what to think. I know I’m sorry he’s dead. I don’t think he deserved to die like that. But then again, he was lying to me. He was deceiving me about something, doing something dangerous. He should have come to me. Maybe I could have helped him.”
“Don’t think like that, Mell,” Rich said in a stern voice. “You did help him. He did come to you, but all he wanted was money to get him out of trouble. There’s nothing you could have done differently. You have to trust that.”
Melissa appreciated her brother’s take on it. He was right, and she knew it. She’d recently been considering what the best ways were to start saying no when Jonah asked for something. Especially money. If she’d allowed it, he would have blown through all her portion of the family fortune in probably three years, four at the most.
“Melissa, if I was to find the man you say you saw Jonah with in the street, if I was to bring him back into the jailhouse, would you be able to identify him as the man you saw?”
Melissa nodded immediately. “Yes, of course. I can tell you who is the other man even faster, though. He was only a few inches from my face.”
“That’s good to know,” Knox said, nodding. “And you’ll be willing to come down to make that identification.”
“Of course. I want him in a jail cell. I want you to find out who did this and punish them appropriately. Thief and liar though he was, Jonah didn’t deserve to have his life taken from him. We must find justice for him.”
Melissa herself was surprised by defending Jonah. But now when she thought of him, she saw an innocent, immature man who was in well over his head. And someone had killed him for it.
22
Before he got up to leave, Knox made sure to tell the young lady it would be a couple days before he could track Luke down. He didn’t want to rush the investigation. There was still a lot of work to do.
It seemed he had made some headway back into the family graces—at least Melissa’s—and he was grateful for that.
“I won’t be going anywhere,” Melissa replied. She hadn’t moved from the couch since he came in. He could see the death had more of an impact than she wanted to show. “Just come by when you want me. Or catch me when I’m in town.”
“I’ll do that.”
He stood up and nodded at the two brothers, who had stood by the couch like bodyguards the whole time he’d asked Melissa questions about Jonah’s past. Both brothers held out their hands for him to shake, and he smiled, responding by taking Rich’s hand first, then Nate’s.
“Thanks for allowing me in your home,” he said. “I appreciate you giving me another chance to talk to Melissa.”
Rich just chuckled, dropping his eyes to his sister for a moment. “If she didn’t want you in here, she would have told us. Might have been a different story then.”
“Yep,” Nate agreed with his brother.
“Sheriff.”
Knox looked down at Melissa, who was pushing herself to sit up. When she lifted her eyes to him, he was struck by her beauty. The sunlight had come in just right and surrounded her like a halo, bringing out the red in her hair, making her green eyes flash. He recovered quickly, hoping his emotions weren’t visible on his face.
“I was wondering if you would like to have dinner here on Friday.”
Knox was taken aback by the invitation. He’d gone from her stomping away angry to being invited to dinner in less than two hours. How had that happened?
Whatever the reason, he was glad of it. Getting to know the Winchesters would not only help him find out who killed Jonah Bell, but it would also endear him to much of the Shady Forks community.
He nodded. “I would like that.”
He couldn’t help noticing the looks Melissa’s brothers were giving her. They were as surprised as he was, apparently.
>
“We’ll see you then,” Melissa said definitively. “If we don’t see you before then.”
Knox turned away slightly and looked back at her, saying, “Three days is probably good for me to find Luke Belcombe. I’ll stop by early that day unless I find him sooner, and we can go from there. How does that sound?”
Melissa nodded. She’d moved again, and the halo was gone, but that didn’t stop Knox from noticing she was still as beautiful as a blooming flower. He forced himself to go to the door and leave the room, tipping his hat to Theresa and gesturing with his head to Baxter.
The deputy followed him out in silence.
Once they were outside, though, Baxter slapped him on the back and said in a higher voice than he normally used. “Look at that. All you had to do was talk to her calm and collected. No accusing. I told you they were good people. Easy to get along with.”
Knox couldn’t help chuckling. He dropped his hat on his head.
“I guess you don’t think any of them are suspects now, right?”
Knox glanced at the deputy as they went down the steps to their horses. “Everyone is suspect until we have some lead in another direction. But no, I don’t think we’ll be putting any of them in jail for this crime. They’re mixed up in it because of Jonah. At least Melissa is. More than the others. But they can all help. Smart people.”
He tapped his temple before pulling himself up into the saddle and swinging his leg over. As he settled in, he watched Baxter mount his horse.
They turned to leave the property.
“So, who are we looking for besides Luke?” Baxter asked. “Is he the one who interrupted the Winchester dinner that Saturday night?”
“No,” Knox replied. “If that was the case, Rich would have recognized him. But only Melissa recognized him, and both her and Theresa say he was the one talking to Jonah in the street. They weren’t having a pleasant discussion, according to Theresa.”
Baxter nodded. “So there’s two men. And then there’s Paddy. What’s he got to do with all this? The Winchesters haven’t mentioned him at all.”
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