by Debbie Mason
“We just brought Sam in. He said Cat hired him to kill Chloe.”
* * *
In all his years as an agent, Grayson had never been involved in a case that was as big a shitshow as this one. He shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, staring at Sam across the table as he did. “All right, Redding, let’s take it from the beginning again.” Grayson pressed the record button. He’d been interrogating Sam for more than three hours, and his story had changed every single time.
“I already told you she hired me. What more do you need? At least let me have a smoke. I’m dying here, man.”
Grayson lifted the pad he was taking notes on. “What I need is the truth. You’ve changed the date, the time, and the place you were allegedly hired, the amount of money involved, and the motive behind the contract. So why don’t you just tell me who really hired you, and we’ll get you that cigarette.”
At a knock on the door, Grayson inhaled a deep, frustrated breath and shut off the recorder. This wouldn’t be taking as long if he didn’t have to deal with the constant interruptions. “I’ll give you a few minutes to think about it.”
Grayson stepped out of the room. Surprised to see Deputy Jill Flaherty and not the McBride brothers. “We have a situation,” she said. “Gage wants you in his office. Suze, our dispatcher, went to get a couple of burgers and fries for the prisoner. You okay with us giving him something to eat?”
Might not be a bad idea. So far nothing else had worked. He nodded. “Take another deputy in with you and question him while he’s eating.”
Her eyes lit up. “Can I be the bad cop?”
“Go for it. Just be sure to record the interrogation.”
“You know Cat’s innocent, right?”
“Yeah, I do.” He’d told Cat the same thing, several times, but she knew as well as he did that unless they got Redding to tell the truth, they had an uphill battle. And if Turner got wind of the new development, it would get a whole lot worse. But he didn’t have time to worry about that now. “How’s Cat holding up?”
Jill made a face. “She put herself in a cell. Don’t worry, the door’s open. She just got tired of Liz and Chloe going at it. That Chloe’s a real piece of work. Family’s supposed to stand up for family, not turn on them the way that she did. Can you believe she actually thinks Cat hired a hit man? She’s protected Chloe since as far back as I can remember. And if Cat wanted someone dead, she’d do it herself.”
After today, he could believe just about anything. And if Chloe wasn’t lying about the attack this afternoon—the jury was still out on that since Molly had an airtight alibi, and from the information Easton had gathered so far, Lady Darby hadn’t left LA—then he understood why she might question her sister’s innocence. “Maybe we’ll keep that last bit between us.” He smiled and headed to Gage’s office.
As he rounded the corner, he stopped in his tracks. It looked like half the town had staged a sit-in. A quiet sit-in, but there was no doubt they were here to support Cat. Several people held signs that read FREE CAT. So much for keeping this under wraps.
As Grayson stepped around the people sitting on the floor, he skirted the woman in uniform that he assumed was Suze, carrying a to-go bag and a tray of coffees. He turned at her gasp, she’d tripped over someone and spilt the coffee. Several people reached out to help her, so Grayson continued on his way. Dr. McBride came out of Gage’s office. The older man shut the door and leaned against it with a beleaguered expression on his face. When a tall blond man swept in through the front doors of the station wearing a black wool coat and carrying a briefcase, Dr. McBride’s expression changed to one of relief.
“Ethan, thank God.” He took the man’s hand and patted him on the back.
Grayson walked over and extended his hand. “Gray… Harry Halstead,” he introduced himself to the man he knew to be Cat’s brother. Grayson didn’t want to break his cover just yet. He glanced around the room as the crowd went quiet. “We should probably talk in private.”
Ethan nodded, then addressed the room. “Folks, Cat appreciates your support, but it would be best if you went home and let us do our job.” He searched the crowd, blinked, then looked past Ty to find whoever he was looking for. “Nell, that goes for you, too.” The older woman pretended not to hear him.
The twins, Holly and Hailey, stood up and waved their signs in the direction of the exit. “Come on, people, pizza’s on the house at the diner. We’ll come up with a plan to free Cat.”
“Oh, I am so down with that.” Ty rose from the corner of a desk and straightened his skirt, patting Grayson’s chest as he walked by. “You take care of our girl, you hear.” He stopped in front of Ethan. “I’m Ty, your sister’s best friend. And”—he leaned in to whisper—“if she needs an alibi, just tell me the date, time, and place, and I’ll say I was there.”
Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “It’s actually a federal offense to perjure yourself, Ty. So I’m—”
Ty sunk his teeth in the tip of his finger. “Can you repeat that?”
Hailey grabbed him by the hand. “Stop flirting with Ethan.” As they walked toward the doors, they heard Ty say, “How hard do you think it would be to break someone out of this place?”
“Don’t even think about it, Ty,” Cat said, coming through the door leading from the cells.
That was it; the room went wild. Everyone converged on Cat as if she were a rock star. The door to Gage’s office opened, and Chloe walked out. She took one look at her sister’s reception and burst into tears.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cat heard her brother, Grayson, and Paul trying to reason with Chloe while friends and neighbors crowded around her. She forced her lips to curve while accepting their offers of support, their hugs and pats on the back. She couldn’t believe that once again she was the center of a police investigation. Initially, she’d been in shock. It felt like a horrible joke. But as the seriousness of the situation sunk in, fear and self-doubt took hold. She felt herself shutting down, and this time Chloe hadn’t been there to snap her out of it. No, this time her sister was the one holding the shovel, ready to bury her.
But as she met Grayson’s eyes across the crowded room, some of Cat’s fear and self-doubt faded. He had her back in more ways than she’d realized until Easton shared what had been going on behind the scenes. Easton had joined her in the cell to give her the butt kick she needed. He was a good and supportive friend. Someone she could count on, as he continued to prove to her time and time again.
She could count on Grayson, too. Even with the evidence building up against her, he believed in her. She wouldn’t be fighting this on her own. But if he was smart and valued his career, he should be distancing himself from her, not putting himself in the middle of the investigation. She realized then that Grayson and her friends and family, other than Chloe, were putting up a bigger fight for her than she was, and that kicked every ounce of self-pity out of Cat. This time she wasn’t going to roll over and play dead. Even if it meant protecting herself instead of her sister.
“All right, everyone. If you want us to get Cat out of here, let us get back to work,” Easton said, moving toward the exit.
Ty clasped his hands against his fake boobs as he watched Easton usher people out the doors, then he drew her in for one last hug. “You’ve got James Bond, the White Knight, and Thor on the case. And if all else fails, you’ve got me and the gang from Christmas.” He waved his hand at his newfound friends heading out the door.
“I hate to tell you this, Dolly, but that makes me more nervous than comforted. But thanks, I appreciate all the support.”
Ty finger-combed her hair. “I just wish all of this was over. This is our first Christmas together. I don’t want to celebrate it with you in jail.” He frowned, pulling his vibrating cell phone from his cleavage. He read the message and stomped his booted foot. “Phil canceled the wrap-up party at the Penalty Box. There’s a heavy snowfall warning, and he wants the cast and crew to leave now. T
he nerve of the man, he’s scheduled a mandatory meeting at the studio for tomorrow afternoon.” He lifted his eyes. “What am I going to do? I can’t afford to lose my job.”
“I guess we’ll be celebrating Christmas in LA together,” she said, unable to hide her disappointment. She wanted to spend the holidays at home this year. But she also wanted to spend it with Grayson, so she’d have to suck it up.
Since her supporters had pretty much cleared out by then, her voice traveled, and her sister stared at her from across the room. “You can’t actually believe you’re coming back to LA with me? You tried to have me killed! I don’t want you anywhere near me. You’re dead to me,” Chloe yelled, dramatically trying to rip the sleeve of her fur coat.
Cat rubbed her forehead. What had she been thinking? Of course she’d have to stay here and clear her name. And that was something she’d start to do right now. But before she had a chance, her mother took Chloe by the arm and spun her to face her. “I am ashamed of you, Chloe O’Connor. All your sister has ever done is protect—”
“She tried to kill me in the womb!”
“Oh, for chrissakes,” Easton muttered as he returned to Cat’s side.
“Stop that right now. This is not a scene from a silly little soap opera. This is real life, and your sister is in trouble. I expect you—”
“You think what I do is silly? You all do, don’t you?” Chloe looked around the station, and her face crumpled. “No one cares that someone is trying to kill me. Everyone loves Cat and hates me. Well, looks like she had you all fooled, doesn’t it? She’s a murderer and a thief. Or do you not even care that she wanted me dead?”
Her mother lifted her hand as though to slap Chloe. Paul grabbed it. “That’s enough. Everyone’s upset and saying things they don’t mean. It’s been a difficult time for you, Chloe. But you know your sister—”
“I know that she’s jealous of me. I know that she’s broke—”
Cat walked toward Chloe, noting her brother and Grayson go on high alert as she did. They needn’t worry that she’d resort to physical violence. She didn’t need to. “I’m not jealous of you, Chloe. I feel sorry for you. You’re self-absorbed and don’t care who you have to step on or hurt to get to the top. I get that you’re scared, and I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not thinking clearly or acting rationally because of that fear. But you know Sam’s lying, and I can prove it. I was pretending to be you the day of the first accident and the day the chandelier fell. That was me on the set, not you. And maybe you’d like to explain why, if I wanted you dead, I was the one who got shot. As to being broke”—she shrugged—“I’ll get another job. A job where the people I work for respect me and don’t treat me like crap and pay me below minimum wage.”
“I did everything for you, everything, and this is how your treat me? You’re fired!”
It was such a classic Chloe reaction that Cat was tempted to laugh, until her sister reached for Grayson’s hand. “We have to go. The cast and crew are flying out today, and I have a meeting tomorrow.”
“You’re not going anywhere until I have a statement from you confirming that Cat was the one on the set at the time of the first two attempts,” Ethan said.
Chloe dropped Grayson’s hand and rounded on their brother. “I can’t do that! They’ll fire me!”
Ethan’s jaw clenched. “Get your ass in Gage’s office now.”
“You can’t speak to me—”
Her mother grabbed Chloe by the arm. “You will do as your brother says, and you will do it now, young lady. And then you and I are going to have a much-needed talk.” She turned to Cat. “I’m sorry, darling. I had no idea it had gotten this out of hand.”
“Cat, can anyone else corroborate your story?” her brother asked.
Ty raised his hand. “I can.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes at Ty. “You’re not making this up to protect my sister, are you?”
“No, sir.”
“All right.” He waved Ty into the office.
Grayson scratched the back of his neck. “I wish you would have told me this earlier, Cat.”
“I was so focused on Chloe and protecting her that I honestly didn’t think about it until ten minutes ago.” She glanced from the closed door of Gage’s office to Grayson. “Do you have to go back to LA?”
“No, I’m not leaving you to face this on your own. I—”
Easton interrupted him. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you don’t have much choice. Chloe’s still in danger, and while everyone is rightly pissed off at her at the moment, if something happened to her…”
Cat briefly closed her eyes. “Easton’s right.”
“I don’t want to leave until I know you’ve been cleared. As long as Sam doesn’t ask for a lawyer, we have seventy-two hours before we have to officially charge him and it becomes public record.”
“We’re not going to let anyone railroad Cat, Grayson. You can count on us to protect her. She’s got the whole town’s support.”
“I know she does.” He bowed his head and gave it a frustrated shake. “Okay, I’ll go with Chloe. I might be able to get my cousin Jamie to take—”
Cat appreciated what he was trying to do, but she knew her sister all too well. “She won’t let you pass her off to someone else. Besides, Christmas is only a couple days away, and you have your own family to think about.”
“Excuse us for a minute,” Grayson said to Easton, then pulled Cat through the doorway to the cells. He shut the metal door and pressed her back against the cold surface. “The only reason I’m agreeing to this is because Chloe is your sister, and if something happened to her, no matter how you’re feeling right now, you’d never forgive yourself. But Cat, there’s only one person I want to be with, and that’s you. Even with the investigation hanging over our heads, I was looking forward to spending the holidays with you.”
“So was I. I’ll miss you.”
He stroked her hair. “I don’t plan on being away from you for long.”
“I’m not going back to LA, Grayson.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would be. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but LA isn’t the only place I can work, you know.”
A warm, happy glow expanded in her chest. “You’d move to Colorado?”
“I’m tired of LA, have been for the past couple years.” His mouth curved as he looked into her eyes. “And there’s a beautiful woman I’m falling for who happens to live in the state.”
She smiled and kissed the underside of his beard-stubbled jaw. “You just made a really crappy day wonderful.”
“Good. Now give me something to get me through the next few days.”
Cat was giving him something when they heard her sister call his name. He groaned, breaking the kiss to press his forehead to hers. “I want this case solved yesterday.” With one last lingering caress to her cheek, Grayson held the door open.
Chloe stared out the front doors of the station while everyone said their good-byes. Ty, of course, took forever, and Grayson had to practically drag him away. And after Grayson indulged in a very public display of affection, Cat was sure she’d endure an interrogation of another kind shortly. Then again, her mother was so upset at Chloe that Cat didn’t know if she had any energy left to question her.
Ethan nudged her after the three of them had left. “So, is he the one?”
Cat snorted. “You’re starting to sound like your wife.”
“Who do you think told me to ask?”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re home.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Me too. And, Cat, this time is going to be different. We go in fighting and we don’t stop until we win.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, big brother.”
“Okay, let’s get this over with. Since Redding hasn’t been formally charged yet, Gage is going to interview you off the record, and then you’ll be free to go.”
Twenty minutes later, as he
r brother led Cat out of Gage’s office, they heard Jill yelling, “Call for an ambulance. Redding collapsed. He’s unconscious.”
A male voice shouted from the interrogation room. “He’s stopped breathing! Get me the defibrillator.”
* * *
Cat stood by the window in the great room watching the snow fall. Behind her, the fire crackled, casting the room in a warm, amber glow. She sipped on a cup of hot cocoa, startled when the sky lit up followed by the rolling roar of thunder. She’d seen thundersnow once before and knew what it meant. She’d probably lose power.
Her mother and Paul had wanted her to stay in town. But with the ranch hands off for the holidays, someone had to be here for the horses. Might as well be her; she needed something to occupy her time and she wanted to be alone. She didn’t want to rehash the case with her family or discuss her sister’s bad behavior.
The only person she really wanted to talk to was on a plane to LA. Grayson had been two hours from the Denver airport when she texted him the news about Sam. Until they’d done several rounds of blood and urine analysis, they couldn’t be sure, but Paul thought he’d gone into anaphylactic shock. His burger had a thick peanut sauce mixed with the mayo, and as they’d since discovered, Sam had a peanut allergy.
Both the short-order cook at the diner and Suze the dispatcher swore there’d been no peanut sauce on the initial order. Cat told Gage what Grayson had witnessed at the time Suze was delivering the order to Sam. There’d been an opportunity for someone to add the sauce when Suze had put down the order to clean up the spilled coffee. Since at least fifty people had filled the station, it would have been easy enough for George or Molly to blend in with the crowd. Especially if they were as creative with their disguises as Ty.
Whoever hired Sam wanted to get rid of him. Easton and Jill were at the hospital to ensure he remained alive. As everyone agreed, the attempt on Sam’s life was a lucky break for Cat. Once he recovered enough to talk, the likelihood he’d roll on his partner was good.
Since Molly, George, and Sam’s financials hadn’t given them their smoking gun, they could use the break. As another flash of lightning lit the night sky, Cat walked to the kitchen and put down her mug. Loading her arms with flashlights and candles from the well-stocked pantry, she laid them out on the island. Her head jerked up at another loud bang. It didn’t sound like thunder. Cat wasn’t a nervous person, but she felt a shiver of unease as the bang was followed by another. The sound was coming from the front of the house. She considered grabbing a knife, but grabbed the flashlight instead. When she reached the front foyer, the door flew open.
