Settling an Old Score

by Delores Fossen

  “The timeline bothers me,” Eli went on. “I mean, Oscar waiting so long to come after us. It makes me wonder if he’s working with one of the other suspects.”

  Interesting. Ashlyn hadn’t considered that, but it was possible either with Remy or Dominick. One of them could have stirred up Oscar’s old anger enough to cause the man to snap.

  “If that’s true, maybe both of them paid the gunmen,” she threw out there. “If so, there would be smaller amounts withdrawn from their individual accounts.” Which wouldn’t be good because it would make those payments harder to find.

  Eli nodded and absently ran his hand down her back. “Remy must have known that he’d be a suspect right from the get-go, so I’m betting he would have made sure a suspicious withdrawal didn’t show up in his account.”

  Ashlyn made a sound of agreement. “It’s the same for Dominick.”

  He nodded again, paused. “But if we go with the theory of two of them working together, Remy or Oscar could have given Dominick the names of the gunmen. Those men might have connections to Remy, too.”

  Eli’s phone rang, the sound jangling her nerves more than it should have. Any unexpected noise was having that effect on her, which meant Eli was right, too, about this latest attack giving her another round of bad dreams.

  “It’s Gus,” Eli said when he looked at his phone screen, and as he’d done with some of the other calls, he put it on speaker.

  Ashlyn checked the clock on the stove. There’d been enough time for the exhumation, so Gus was likely calling about that. She stepped back a little and tried to tamp down the nerves that were already firing beneath the surface of her skin. She also tried to brace herself for whatever Gus was about to tell them.

  Gus made a hoarse sob, and with just that sound alone, Ashlyn heard the heavy emotion. “She’s not there,” Gus blurted out, his voice choppy. “Marta’s not there in the grave. The coffin is empty.”

  * * *

  ELI FELT AS if someone had slugged him in the gut. Hell. What was going on?

  “This means my girl is alive,” Gus continued a moment later. “Alive,” he repeated, crying now. “I have to find her.”

  Eli agreed with that, but it didn’t answer a really big question. How had Marta managed to pull this off? Eli could figure out the why. Well, if he was to believe Oscar. Marta had faked her death to hide from some drug lords with ties to Drake.

  But that didn’t feel right.

  “I’m going to make some calls,” Gus went on. “The first will be to Remy—”

  “Hold off on doing that. Remy should be arriving at the sheriff’s office here in Longview Ridge at any moment,” Eli explained. “I want to see how he reacts when I tell him Marta’s body wasn’t in the coffin.”

  “Remy will know where she is,” Gus argued. “I need to talk to him.”

  “If you tip him off, Remy might go rabbit on us. He’s got the money to do that now, and if he disappears, we might lose our best chance at finding out where Marta is. Just hold off talking to him for a couple of hours—that’s all I’m asking.”

  “My daughter’s alive.” The man’s voice broke. Then he paused. “I’ll give you those two hours, but I’m coming to talk to Remy in person.”

  Eli knew he stood no chance of talking Gus out of doing that. If their positions had been reversed, no one could have convinced Eli to stay back while the law got involved. That’s why he just thanked Gus and ended the call.

  “Let me make a quick check on Cora, and I’ll go with you to Kellan’s office,” Ashlyn insisted.

  He wasn’t surprised she was sticking to her guns on this. Especially now. Marta had been her best friend, and if the woman was truly alive, then Remy would almost certainly know where she was.

  “Am I staying here or going with you?” Gunnar asked Eli after Ashlyn hurried into the bedroom.

  “You’re coming with us. I can’t guarantee you, though, that you won’t get shot at again.”

  Gunnar lifted his shoulder. “I’m hoping we’ve met our bullet quota for the day. Plus, Owen and Raylene are better with baby-guarding duty than I am.”

  Eli could agree with all of that. Or rather he wanted to agree on the bullet quota, but there could be another hired gun. While he waited at the front door, he wondered if it would do any good to remind Ashlyn of that. It wouldn’t, he decided. She was seeing the big picture here, and that meant they had to cut off the head of this snake to stop any other attacks.

  He made a quick call to Kellan to update him about Marta and asked his brother to pass along the info to SAPD. Since the cops there were primary on the mortician’s murder, they’d want to know. And they would almost certainly want their own interview with Remy.

  “Be careful,” Owen warned Gunnar and Eli as he came out of the bedroom with Ashlyn. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep watch,” he added to Ashlyn. “And there are two Rangers on the grounds along with the hands. We’ll make sure no one gets to Cora.”

  She thanked him, and as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she gave Owen a quick hug. It was amazing how an intense life-threatening situation could change things. It was as if they’d stepped back in time to when she’d cared for Owen like a brother.

  And Eli as a lover.

  It riled him that his mind kept going back to that. He had plenty of things to do, and none of them involved taking Ashlyn to bed.

  Even before they hurried out to the cruiser, Eli glanced out the window, looking for any kind of threat. Both Gunnar and Ashlyn did the same, but Eli didn’t see anything other than some armed ranch hands who were clearly standing guard.

  “Remy might have murdered the mortician,” Ashlyn said as she, too, kept watch.

  Eli made a sound of agreement. That was one of the first things that had occurred to him, and he’d need to press Remy on not only his alibi but that deeper search into his financials. Motive was easy to figure out. Remy wanted to keep it secret that Marta was alive. But that only worked if Remy was aware of that. He might not be.

  “Thanks for not giving me an argument about this,” Ashlyn murmured a moment later, drawing his attention back to her.

  Eli hoped he didn’t regret giving in on this, but he had to consider that whoever had hired those gunmen would be getting desperate. Three hired killers—all dead. That was a lot of money down the drain, and that had to be beyond frustrating for the person who’d hired them.

  His phone dinged with a text, and Eli read the info that Kellan had just sent him. And he cursed. “They got an ID on the latest dead gunman. Jay Hamby. I know him. He was a criminal informant.”

  Ashlyn shifted in the seat toward him. “I never heard Marta mention him.” But then she shook her head. “She didn’t talk about that side of her life very often, though. Is Hamby connected to Oscar, too?”

  “Don’t know yet, but that’s something I intend to find out.” However, Eli was guessing that would be a yes, that there was indeed a connection. Now he’d need to figure out if Hamby had been hired to frame Oscar or if Oscar had just tapped someone that he already knew to do the job.

  “How soon do you have Oscar and Dominick coming into the sheriff’s office?” she asked.

  “They might already be there. I didn’t exactly treat them with kid gloves when I ordered them to come in.”

  That, of course, meant they’d be showing up with their lawyers. Eli didn’t mind that. He just wanted them in the box so he could grill them about both of the attacks.

  The moment that Gunnar pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office, Eli spotted Remy, who appeared to be pacing across the reception area. He looked about as riled as Eli was. Ditto for the suit—the lawyer, no doubt. He was a wiry man with white hair and a steely expression. Eli gave him steel right back, and he knew for a fact that he was better at it.

  “What the hell is this about now?” Remy snapped the moment
they were all inside.

  Eli didn’t answer but instead turned to Kellan, who was sipping coffee while standing in the bullpen. “I frisked Remy. He’s not armed. And I read him his rights.”

  That was exactly how Eli wanted to start this meeting. “This way,” he told Remy.

  Eli started toward the interview room. That would not only get this started, it would also take Ashlyn away from the windows. Eli was about to tell her that she’d have to wait in observation for this leg of the chat, but Remy started up before they even reached the room.

  “I asked you a question,” Remy went on, his voice as sharp as a bullwhip. “Why did you say you’d arrest me if I didn’t come in? I’ve cooperated with you, and I’ve done nothing wrong.” Remy opened his mouth again, no doubt to continue his verbal fire, but Eli stopped him cold.

  “Marta’s coffin is empty,” Eli said, turning in the hall so he could study every bit of Remy’s reaction. By telling him this way, Ashlyn would be able to do the same. “There’s no body.”

  Remy pulled back his shoulders, his gaze firing to Ashlyn as if he expected her to confirm or deny that. She didn’t say a word. Neither did Eli. They both just stood there, waiting.

  “No body,” Remy repeated. Groaning, he spun around, pressing his head to the wall. Eli was skeptical enough to believe the man had done that to hide his expression rather than his attempt to deal with the shock.

  “What’s this about?” the lawyer asked. “What’s going on?”

  But Remy waved him off. With his breath coming out in short bursts, Remy finally turned back around to face him. “How’d you find this out?”

  “Marta’s father had the body exhumed,” Eli answered, still watching Remy. There wasn’t so much shock or surprise now, but something else. Urgency, maybe?

  “Where’s Marta?” Remy demanded. “Did Gus say?”

  The tone seemed right for a man who’d just been given a big shock like this, but Eli wasn’t ready to buy it just yet. “Gus doesn’t know. Do you? Do you know where she is?”

  “Of course not.” The anger flared through Remy’s eyes again. “I had no idea. I went to her funeral. I watched them put her coffin in the ground.”

  Eli didn’t point out that a burial could be faked as well as a death. Instead, he went with another facet of this. “Did you steal Marta’s hospital and funeral home records?” he came out and asked.

  “No,” Remy howled while the lawyer barked out a protest about Eli badgering his client. The noise must have alerted Kellan because he stepped into the hall with them.

  “A problem?” Kellan calmly said.

  “Yes!” Remy snapped. “Your brother just accused me of murder.”

  Eli lifted his shoulder. “I hadn’t gotten around to doing that, not specifically, but the question would have come up soon enough. A missing body and files. A dead mortician. And you with a recent inheritance. That could all equal a whole lot of felonies.”

  That set the lawyer off howling again, and Kellan merely tipped his head to the interview room. “Why don’t I start this interrogation with Remy? There’s something on my desk that I think you need to see.”

  Part of Eli wanted to stay put and yank the information from Remy, but judging from Kellan’s expression, whatever was on his desk was important.

  Eli put his hand on Ashlyn’s back to get her moving out of the hall. They didn’t get far, though. That’s because Oscar came in.

  “I don’t appreciate being ordered in here like this,” Oscar grumbled.

  “Welcome to the club.” Eli tipped his head to Remy. “Others feel the same as you.”

  Oscar looked at Remy just as Remy turned in his direction. Their gazes practically collided. “I know you,” Remy spat out.

  Oscar’s eyes narrowed. “So? A lot of people know me.”

  “You were friends with Drake.” Remy’s eyes had narrowed, too. “You’re the one who helped Leon set up the attack in that alley.”

  Eli hadn’t counted on being the one who was surprised today, but that did it. “How’d you know Oscar and Drake were friends?” Eli asked Remy.

  Remy’s shoulders snapped back again, just as they’d done when Eli had told him about Marta’s empty coffin. But this time it wasn’t shock, pretend or otherwise. Eli was pretty sure this was raw anger.

  “How did you know Oscar and Drake were friends?” Eli repeated when Remy didn’t answer.

  “I need to talk with my client,” the lawyer insisted, taking Remy by the arm. Remy didn’t put up a protest when the attorney led him into the interview room.

  Since this delay might give Remy plenty of time to doctor his answer, Eli turned to Oscar. “You know Remy?”

  Oscar didn’t dodge the question. “I know of him. He was Marta’s hotheaded boyfriend. I’m guessing he’s got some kind of grudge against me. Like you,” he added to Eli.

  “No grudge,” Eli assured him. “Just looking for the truth.”

  Kellan took things from there. “Come this way to interview room two, and we can get started. No lawyer?”

  “He’s on the way,” Oscar said, but his attention wasn’t on them. It was on the room where Remy’s attorney had taken him.

  Later, Eli would want to know if Oscar was the one who was holding grudges and if the man knew anything about Marta’s whereabouts. For now, though, Eli sent off a text to one of his Ranger friends to request a favor, and then he went with Ashlyn to Kellan’s office. It didn’t take him long to see the report that his brother had left for him on the center of his desk.

  “It’s the detailed financials on Dominick that the Rangers ran,” Eli relayed to her as he scanned through it. It didn’t take him long to see what had caught Kellan’s eye.

  A second bank account that had been hidden under several layers of security.

  Ashlyn made a strangled sound of surprise because she’d seen it, too. And the info just below that.

  Dominick obviously had some explaining to do.

  Chapter Eleven

  Twenty-five thousand dollars.

  That was a lot of money, and Ashlyn immediately thought of how Dominick could have used it—to hire those three gunmen.

  “Yeah,” Eli grumbled, letting her know they were having the same train of thought. “He’s got means, motive and opportunity.”

  Dominick did, but it sickened her to even consider that he’d want her dead so he would stand a better chance of getting custody of Cora. And that sent a new wave of alarm through her.

  “Olive Landry. Cora’s biological mother,” she managed to say. “She could be in danger.”

  Eli nodded so quickly that it meant he’d already considered it. “I alerted Austin PD to the possibility of that. They’ve been checking on her. I’ll have them talk to her to see if she wants police protection.”

  Ashlyn didn’t exactly breathe easier about that, but she was glad Eli was already on top of it. Maybe it would be enough. While she was hoping, she added that maybe Oscar and Remy would give them some information that would help put an end to the danger.

  “Dominick should be here soon,” Eli reminded her. “But I’d like to hear what Remy’s saying to Kellan.”

  Ashlyn did as well, and she followed Eli to observation, which was located between the two interview rooms. Oscar sat alone in one of them, but Kellan appeared to already be deep into questioning Remy. Remy looked just as flustered and upset as he had been earlier when he’d confronted Oscar.

  “You believe Remy didn’t know about Marta’s empty grave?” Ashlyn came out and asked.

  “I’m not sure. He’s lying about something. What, exactly, I don’t know. But if Marta’s truly alive, I can’t see Remy not knowing about it.”

  She agreed, so maybe what Remy was lying about was his part in the attacks. After all, he had money, too, and while there had been a cash withdrawal from his account, it w
asn’t as large as the one Dominick had made. However, it didn’t mean Remy hadn’t gotten his hands on the cash to do the job.

  “If Oscar knew the gunmen, Remy could have, too,” Eli pointed out. Then he paused. “But without the money trail, we don’t have probable cause to hold Remy. Besides, letting him go might give us more answers.”

  Ashlyn looked at him and thought about that for a moment. “You’re going to put a tail on him?”

  Eli nodded. “If he knows anything about Marta, we’ll soon find out.”

  Good. Even if Remy wasn’t up to something illegal, they might be able to exclude him as a suspect. And if he was guilty, then Eli could arrest him. However, this could go well beyond that.

  If Marta was alive, Remy might lead them to her.

  Just considering that possibility sent Ashlyn’s heart into a tailspin. All this time she’d grieved for her friend. No, more than that. She’d felt guilty for not being able to save Marta. Ashlyn would be relieved if Marta was actually alive, but it was going to cause an avalanche of emotions that her friend had let her believe that she was dead. And more. Maybe Marta had been the one to hire the gunmen.

  Ashlyn continued to watch as Kellan pressed Remy on the subject of those hired guns. And as expected, Remy denied everything. No way would he just confess to hiring hit men when there was no solid evidence against him. Kellan pressed on Marta, too, but again nothing. After that, Kellan was forced to let him go.

  Remy stormed out, and as he went past the observation room, he shot Eli and her a glare. Kellan came out as well. No glare from him. Just the same signs of frustration that Ashlyn was sure were on her face.

  “I need some coffee,” Kellan said to Eli. “If you’ve got anything to ask Oscar, you’d better do it now before I start the official interview.”

  Ashlyn knew that was the advantage of having a brother who was a sheriff. If Kellan had gone by the book on this, Eli and she wouldn’t have been a part of this.

  Eli thanked Kellan and didn’t waste any time going into the interview room with Oscar. Ashlyn stayed right by Eli’s side in the doorway.