Six-Gun Investigation

by Mallory Kane

  Still, he couldn’t get Anna’s slender waist, barely exposed belly button and shapely legs out of his head.

  Ah, hell. Thinking of her reminded him he hadn’t sent anyone to check for prints in her room. He was determined to find out who had sneaked into her room, because it was a cinch they were involved in Sarah’s death.

  He looked at his watch. It was close to noon.

  He buckled on his holster, pinned his badge to his shirt and left his jacket on the rack. It wouldn’t hurt to let the people of Justice see his credentials.

  As he stepped out the door of the sheriff’s office, he noted that there were quite a few people out and about— probably gossiping about the murder.

  He walked down the wooden steps and headed toward the inn a few dozen feet away. All eyes were on him. His back stiffened.

  He flexed his shoulders and consciously relaxed them, not an easy task in this town where he’d always done his best. But excelling wasn’t a desirable trait in Justice. It was the opposite of fitting in.

  Sloan now—Sloan had fit in. His brother had never felt the need to be the best, at least not that Zane could tell. Sloan’s attitude was laid-back and confident. He genuinely liked the people in Justice and they liked him.

  Zane spotted Mable Green, who was sweeping the sidewalk in front of Mable’s Beau-Tique. He lifted a hand.

  She stared at him a moment then hurried inside. With a wry smile, he suppressed the urge to shrug and stalked up the steps to the double glass doors of the Matheson Inn.

  As he headed for the stairs, he glanced down the hall toward Room One. The garish yellow tape across the door appeared intact, but a warning tickle in his brain caused him to pause. He’d better check to be sure no one had disturbed anything.

  He walked quietly toward the open door. When he glanced inside, he saw a shadowy movement. His pulse hammered. Someone was in there.

  He ducked under the yellow tape and approached the figure standing in the middle of the room. It was Anna. She was pointing a camera at the dark bloodstain on the hardwood floor.

  Anger burned like acid in his gut. He reached out and grabbed the camera.

  Anna shrieked and whirled, propelling her elbow into Zane’s midsection. Only lightning-fast reflexes kept him from having the breath knocked out of him.

  “You!”

  “Yep. Me. What the hell are you doing here, Annie? This is a crime scene.”

  She pinned him with her olive-green gaze. “The scene of my sister’s murder. My mother’s murder. I have a right to be here. Now give me my camera back.”

  “Not on your life.” He pressed review on the back of the camera and quickly ran through the photos stored inside. Most were of the room where they now stood. A few earlier ones were of a local Dallas celebrity.

  Anna made a halfhearted grab for it but he held it just out of her reach.

  “What are you planning to do with these?” He couldn’t imagine. He knew she wouldn’t sell them to a newspaper or a tabloid. At least, he didn’t think she would. That seemed more like something Sarah or LouAnn might do. And somehow, each time he looked at Anna, the fact that she was related to those women fled his mind.

  Her gaze flickered away from his. She tried to cover her discomfort by glancing around but he knew she was about to feed him another line.

  “I wanted to study them, to see if there might be something I’d notice that you wouldn’t.” She gave a half shrug. “Since she was my sister.” Meeting his gaze, she held out her hand. “May I please have my camera back?”

  “I don’t have enough manpower to assign someone to watch you. I need your assurance that you won’t do this again.”

  Anna had known that was coming, but she wasn’t ready to give in just yet. “Look at the crime scene? Why shouldn’t I?” she shot back.

  He crossed his arms and looked down his nearly perfect nose at her. It was obvious he wasn’t going to budge until she promised. “I thought you were a journalist. You should know better than to disturb an active crime scene. We’re not finished processing it yet.”

  She tried another tack. “Do you think the same person who killed my mother killed Sarah?”

  The arch of his right brow told her she hadn’t fooled him with the change of subject.

  “I don’t know. I think it’s very likely, especially given what Sarah told you.”

  Anna’s chest tightened. “What Sarah told me?”

  He didn’t try to hide his irritation. “I’ve had enough of your evasive answers. There’s only one reason Sarah Wallace would have come back to Justice. And I’m betting there’s only one reason you would’ve agreed to meet her here.”

  Anna composed her features as best she could and sent him a quizzical look. “What reason?”

  “I’m guessing Sarah came back here with information about your mother’s murder. I don’t know why. Maybe she was planning to blackmail someone, or was acting out of some notion of setting the record straight.”

  “Blackmail?” Anna was surprised by how much his accusation hurt. “You don’t think much of my family, do you?”

  His blue-gray eyes turned stormy. “Do you blame me?”

  She took a couple of steps toward him and glared up into his eyes, doing her best to ignore his provocative scent. “Obviously you can’t be objective, not when your father is the prime suspect in both murders. And now, you’re blaming the victim for her own murder?”

  “No. I’m merely being objective. I have to consider all possible motives, all likely suspects. If Sarah came to town to blackmail someone, that would go a long way toward explaining why she was killed.”

  They faced each other down until Anna blinked. “Okay. You say you can be objective. Even about your father?”

  She saw the flicker of pain that crossed his face before he caught himself. “Especially about my father. Any illusions I might have had regarding his integrity are long gone.”

  Anna knew Zane hadn’t meant to say so much, because as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he took a step backward and eyed the camera with too much interest.

  “I asked you a question, Annie. I’m still waiting for an answer.”

  “You didn’t ask me a question. You made an assumption.”

  “Fine. Here’s a question. What did Sarah tell you that made you come back to Justice? I have a feeling this is the last place you’d ever go of your own accord.”

  Anna swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. When I got here Sarah was already dead.”

  “What about the night before, when she called you?”

  “She didn’t give me any specifics. How many times do I have to tell you that?” She glanced around. “Where’s that Gideon’s Bible you always find in these places? Want me to swear on it?”

  His lips tightened into a flat line, and he shook his head. “I need to dust for prints in your room. I hope you haven’t touched the doorknobs.”

  “I’ve done my best to avoid them.”

  “Good.” Zane turned on his heel and ducked under the crime scene tape.

  “Wait,” she said. “You’ll need my key.”

  “Actually I have a master key, but I’ll let you unlock the door for me. I won’t barge in again.” His voice held a tinge of amusement and his eyes turned the same smoky gray they had last night.

  Remembering how his gaze had traveled across her skin from her head to her toes sent a liquid heat through her loins. She took a deep breath. Focus. Zane McKinney was all business. Anything else was only her imagination.

  That was fine with her. She didn’t have time for any entanglements, even if he was interested in her, which, judging from his attitude about her family, he wasn’t.

  “Zane. My camera.”

  He turned it off and handed it to her.

  At the door to her room Zane stepped back and gestured for her to unlock it.

  She slipped her key into the lock and turned it. Then she turned it again. And frowned. “I don’t understand. It feels
like—”

  “Like it was already unlocked?” Zane’s whispered words warmed her ear and the side of her neck. “Are you sure you locked it?”

  “After last night? You’d better believe I’m sure. Don’t tell me—”

  He held up a hand. “Shh. Stand back.”

  “No. It’s my room.”

  He scowled at her. “Go stand by the staircase. If anything happens run downstairs and call Deputy Enis.”

  Anna obeyed—sort of. She stood by the staircase, but as soon as Zane’s back was turned, she moved a few paces toward him.

  He sent an unmistakable warning glare in her direc tion, then pulled his weapon and held it at the ready as he pushed the door open and angled into the room.

  Anna eyed his gun. It was a big one. Swallowing her fear, she took a few steps forward, until she could see in.

  Her heart lodged in her throat. “Oh, no!” she squeaked.

  The room had been trashed. Drawers were upside down on the floor. The mattress was half off the bed. Her bag had been emptied and the lining had been ripped out of it.

  Zane checked the bathroom and the closet, then lowered his gun and faced her. “Well?”

  Anna’s heart clogged her throat. She gulped in air, unable to take her eyes off the destruction in the tiny room. “Well, what?”

  “Now are you going to tell me the truth?”

  She swallowed. “I’ve already told you the truth.”

  Zane grabbed her arm and pulled her over to where her ruined bag sat upended on the floor.

  “This is not some debutante ball or high society embezzlement case, Annie. It’s murder. Whoever broke in here was looking for something specific. Did they find it?”

  She shook her head. No, they hadn’t found it, because she hadn’t been able to get her hands on it yet.

  Zane turned her to face him. “The person who trashed your room and I have something in common.”

  Her mouth went dry as she lifted her gaze to his.

  “We both know that Sarah had information that would incriminate them in your mother’s murder. She was killed for it. But the killer hasn’t found that something yet. You know that, too, don’t you?”

  She tried to shake her head but Zane’s eyes held her mesmerized.

  “Don’t you?” he snapped. “The killer didn’t find the incriminating evidence because you have it. Turn it over to me or you’re going to end up the killer’s next victim.”

  Chapter Four

  Anna swallowed hard. “I don’t know what they’re looking for.”

  Zane’s blue-gray eyes assessed her. “Okay. For argument’s sake, let’s say that’s true—”

  “For argument’s sake? You’re calling me a liar?”

  “No, Annie. I’m just trying to get at the truth. You say you don’t know what your mysterious burglar was looking for. Can you tell me what you were looking for in Sarah’s room?”

  “I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I just wanted to see the room and get some pictures. I barely saw anything last night. I was too shocked, and then all the people came.”

  She thought she detected a slight softening of his expression. Good. Maybe he finally believed her. For the first time since they’d met, he was viewing her without skepticism, and she needed to use that to her advantage.

  She looked around her trashed room. Everything she’d brought with her except her purse and her camera had been rifled. She had nothing but the clothes on her back.

  “Can you tell if anything is missing?”

  “I didn’t bring that much, and I have my camera and my purse.” She studied the mess with a journalist’s eye for detail. “I don’t think so.”

  Pausing, she sent Zane a sidelong glance. “When can I get my sister’s things? I could…I could borrow some of her clothes.”

  His soft expression hardened. “Her suitcase, her purse and all her clothes are evidence.”

  Anna lowered her gaze when Zane mentioned Sarah’s suitcase. She didn’t want her expressive face to give her away. And she’d already tried out her “concerned journalist” look on him. He was too smart—or too suspicious—to be fooled by a sympathetic smile and stock phrases.

  “And now,” he continued, “so is all of your stuff. You’ll just have to buy some things, or I could send someone by your apartment in Dallas.”

  “No.” No way was anyone going to go pawing through the rest of her clothes. “So, I guess this means I won’t be leaving town any time soon.”

  “That’s right. You’re my key witness. I need to keep you close.”

  His low, compelling voice sent her imagination soaring as she considered all the possible implications of the word close.

  But she stiffened her back and stopped her wayward thoughts. He was not the most attractive man she’d ever seen, and he was not sexy. He was the enemy. He had a very big stake in the outcome of this investigation. His father’s guilt or innocence.

  “Fine, then. I’ll make do.”

  He sent her an ironic smile. “At a discount supercenter?”

  Her chin shot up. “If I have to.”

  ZANE SECURED another room for Anna. He had to process her room as yet another crime scene. Unfortunately the inn was relatively full. The only room still vacant on the second level was next door to his. In a way he was glad. He could keep an eye on her.

  But in another way, one thin wall away was too close for comfort. His comment about the discount store had been a desperate attempt to catalog her with her sister and mother. But it hadn’t worked.

  “Here’s my cell phone number,” he said as she looked around the room. She dug her phone out of her purse and keyed in his number.

  “Thanks.” She gave him hers.

  “I’ve got an interview back at the police station. You stay put and keep your door locked.” As soon as he said it he saw that it was a waste of breath.

  “I can’t stay in here. As you pointed out, I need to go shopping.”

  “Not by yourself.”

  She propped her fists on her hips. “Who do you suggest I get to go with me? How about you?” Her green eyes sparked as she challenged him.

  He grimaced. “If I have to.”

  She grinned at him as he turned to leave. “Wait a minute. Who are you interviewing?”

  Zane stopped at the door. “Jim McKinney.”

  “Your father? I want to be there.”

  “No. Absolutely not.”

  “Listen to me, Zane McKinney. I’ve lost my entire family. I have to know what happened. Are you afraid to let me hear what you and Jim talk about?”

  “If you knew me you wouldn’t ask that question. I’m a Texas Ranger. The fact that one of the suspects happens to be my father is irrelevant. I’ll do my job.”

  “Good. Then you won’t mind if I’m there.”

  “I said no.”

  “I’m a journalist. I’ve been invited in on interrogations before. I’m no novice at this. If you knew me, you’d know that I’m one of the most trusted journalists in Dallas.”

  He did know that. He’d requested a background check on her via e-mail first thing this morning. The response had come back almost immediately, and was filled with praise and accolades. No black marks on her career.

  “Nevertheless—”

  “How about this. You ask your father if it’s okay. If he doesn’t want me there, then I’ll wait to see the transcript.”

  “What about the small fact that I don’t want you there?”

  “If you don’t let me sit in, I’ll have to assume you intend to talk to your father about something you don’t want me to hear.”

  “Fine, we’ll ask him.” Zane already knew what his father would say. Jim McKinney had never in his life refused an opportunity to be with a beautiful woman.

  He called Deputy Spinoza. “Luis, I’ve got another crime scene. Yeah. Anna Wallace’s room has been turned upside down. Get over here and secure it. See if you can lift any new prints although it’s probably a long sho
t. If the killer did it, we already know he wears gloves.”

  After shooting a glare in Anna’s direction, he turned on his booted heel and headed back to the station. If she wanted to be in on his father’s interview, she’d just have to keep up.

  She did.

  Anna was glad she had on running shoes, because in heels she’d have been left eating Zane’s dust. Although she had a great view of his long muscular legs and trim, sexy backside. Definitely eye-candy.

  Setting her jaw, she shifted her gaze to the sidewalk. By the time she stepped through the front door of the police station Jim was already there, talking with the transcriptionist. He said something to her that made her giggle, then he straightened, looking first at his son and then at her.

  “Anna, how’re you doing?”

  She took a breath to answer, but Zane cut her off.

  “She’s fine. I don’t have a lot of time, so could we get started?”

  A brief shadow of hurt crossed Jim’s face at Zane’s words. Anna had seen the same expression last night, when Zane and his father had met outside Sarah’s room.

  Zane had serious issues with his father. Did he believe his father was guilty?

  “I’m ready when you are,” Jim said. “I missed work today to be here.”

  “Do you object to Ms. Wallace being in the room for the interview?”

  Jim’s blue eyes snapped to hers. “Not at all. Not at all. I’d be honored.”

  Anna smiled, but disapproval rolled off Zane in waves.

  “Go on in,” he told his father.

  As Jim entered the small interrogation room, Zane turned to Anna.

  “You are not to speak on the record. If you’ve got something you just can’t stand to keep quiet about, raise your hand and I’ll turn off the recorder. But try to just sit there and listen. If there’s any problem, you’re out. Understand?”

  “Of course. I can sign a nondisclosure agreement if you like.”

  Zane’s smoky gaze assessed her as his mouth turned upward just slightly. “I trust that won’t be necessary?”

  “I’m used to keeping secrets.” She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth.