by Rita Herron
The million-dollar question. She had a good idea. But could she implicate the governor of Texas without talking to him first? Without proof?
Dread swelled in her chest. She hated to lie to Cole. Still, she couldn’t be certain yet. “I…I’m not sure.”
Cole’s blue eyes blazed a path over her face. “Then how did you know that Leland wasn’t his father?”
Joey shrugged, vying for calm. “I didn’t. I just played a hunch.” She searched Cole’s face, praying he’d understand. “When I saw Caleb, Justin, I thought he looked like Donna. The way he rode with such confidence was just like her.”
He nodded.
“But then I searched his face for signs of Leland, and I…didn’t see any of our father in him.” She struggled to recall conversations she’d overheard when she was a teenager. Before Justin was born and afterward. “It always bothered me that Dad could have used his own son for money. Then I remembered my parents fighting. Leland calling him ‘your’ son.” She squeezed Cole’s hands, clutched them to her, absorbing his strength. Oddly his presence calmed her, gave her a sense of balance amidst the storm of feelings raging inside her. “Now it makes sense.”
“If Leland knew Justin wasn’t his, why did he fight for custody?” Cole asked.
“To get back at Donna,” Joey said, her mind spinning. “And if Lou Anne suspected or found out Justin wasn’t my father’s, that would have been another reason she balked against raising him.”
“You’re right.” Cole stroked the palm of her hand. “But if she’d threatened to tell, Donna might have wanted to shut her up. Leland probably wouldn’t have been happy about it, either.”
Another reason he might have killed Lou Anne. To save face.
“So might the real father,” Joey said, her heart in her throat.
The door screeched open, and Detective Simmons poked his head in. “Is it safe now?”
Cole mumbled a yes, and Simmons strode in. “I spoke with our lab techs. They examined the bloodstain and are pretty sure it’s too old to pick up anything, but they’ll give it a try.”
Joey sighed in frustration, then an idea struck her. “We don’t have to disclose that information. Why don’t we leak that we know who the DNA belongs to and see if we can smoke out the killer?”
Her heart raced although other complications made her rethink the plan. Going public meant that Justin/Caleb would find out the truth. Then again, he was old enough to deal with it, she hoped. She only prayed he’d forgive her part in exposing it.
“Joey?” Cole’s deep, throaty voice washed over her. “It’s a good plan. But are you having doubts?”
Oh, yeah. But she had to do what was right. “No. I know just who to call. Harold Dennison.”
Cole nodded. “And I’ll call Zane, Sloan, Anna and Sheriff Matheson and tell them to meet us at the courthouse in Justice. I want everyone there when the news hits town.”
He punched in Zane’s number, and when he finished, Joey borrowed his phone. She’d left hers at the inn. Harold Dennison seemed stunned by her call, but she promised him an exclusive when the story broke, and he agreed to run the story that afternoon.
A mixture of excited anticipation and dread pitted Joey’s stomach as she disconnected the call, and she and Cole walked to the car. By nightfall, they might have the answers to the puzzle that had gone unsolved for fifteen years. Maybe Lou Anne and Sarah Wallace’s killer would be behind bars.
But which one of their suspects would it be: Jim McKinney? Her father? Her mother?
Or the man she was almost certain was Justin’s father, Governor Grange?
ADRENALINE RACED through Cole as he drove back toward Justice. Zane had agreed to have all the suspects meet at the courthouse. In light of this new revelation and the leaking of information to the press, they were bound to push one of them into a confession. Although Donna and Leland hadn’t broken yet…
And what about Jim? Or Stella?
His stomach knotted as a sickening thought occurred to him. If Leland wasn’t Justin’s father, and Donna had had an affair, whom had she slept with? Leland had been with Lou Anne and Lou Anne had slept with Jim McKinney. Dear God, what if his father had slept with Donna?
Nausea bolted through him. The connection still wouldn’t make him related to Joey, but it would mean that Justin might be his half brother.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, deciding not to alarm Joey with his speculations. He would talk to Jim McKinney, though. Find out if he’d slept with Donna.
The scenario played through his head. Years ago, both Donna and Jim had a drinking problem. Jim claimed he didn’t know what had happened the night Lou Anne died. What if she discovered that her lover was also sleeping with Leland’s ex-wife? That the child Leland wanted her to raise was Jim McKinney’s?
He cut his gaze toward Joey, but she’d closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat. Night was falling and shadows streaked her pale face. He didn’t have the heart to trouble her with more theories, especially unfounded ones.
The traffic and noise of the city gave way to countryside, and the road was nearly deserted. He checked the rearview mirror and saw bright lights approaching. Déjà vu from the earlier hit-and-run sent a ripple of anxiety along his nerve endings. Ahead, a tractor-trailer raced toward him. He flashed his lights, signaling for the driver to switch to low beams, but he weaved across the centerline as if he’d fallen asleep.
A pickup truck pulled out from a side road, too, a little too slowly, and crawled across the road in front of him. He swerved to avoid it and the truck, and saw the river approaching. Suddenly the car behind him slammed into him, and sent him into a spin.
Joey’s eyes jerked open. “God, not again.”
“I’m afraid so.” He hit the gas hoping to outrun it, but the car crashed into him again with a vicious thud, and he lost control. The sedan spun a hundred and eighty degrees, then skidded and raced toward the embankment. Tires ground and churned on the asphalt. Metal screeched and splintered.
Joey screamed, and water rushed up to meet them as the car nose-dived into the edge of the river and plunged toward the murky bottom.
Chapter Fourteen
Joey braced herself for the impact of the accident, used her hands to block the force of the air bag, then immediately reached for the seat belt. This time, thank God, the belt slid free.
“Joey?”
“I’m all right. You?”
“Yeah.” He released a string of expletives, then tore at her air bag again. “We’re sinking. Got to get out.”
She tried her door but it refused to budge. “My door is stuck.”
He was pushing on his. “Hold your breath. Water will rush in when I open the door.”
She inhaled a sharp breath, then did as he instructed while he used his shoulder to shove against the weight. The current swept them up, carrying the car deeper and further into the river. Seconds later, icy water flowed into the car, rising quickly to her neck as he opened the door. Cole reached for her hand, and she latched onto his, grateful for the contact as he yanked her out of the sinking car and through the murky water. A chill slithered up her spine as they battled the current. She kicked and fought, determined to survive. Her knee hit a jagged rock and pain sliced along her leg. She clawed for the surface, propelling her arms forward as the water dragged her and Cole apart. Gasping for air, she broke the surface, but the current trapped her and sucked her back under.
“Joey!”
She struggled under the surface, swimming toward Cole, then finally pushed upward enough to lift her head above the water. He swam toward her, but the current tried to drag her the other way. She was losing steam. Her legs ached, her arms throbbed, her lungs begged for air.
Then suddenly Cole grabbed her around the waist and dragged her upward. She kicked, moving on autopilot, furious that someone had almost killed them when they were so close to solving the case.
The call…Dennison. He had already leaked the news a
nd the killer knew they were closing in. He might be here now. Waiting for them. Watching them, hoping they’d drown.
Determination mushroomed inside her chest, and her strength rallied long enough for her to break the surface again, then she gasped in a breath and began to swim alongside Cole. It seemed like miles as they fought the water and made their way toward a tree overhanging the deepest part of the river. A branch had splintered in a recent storm, and Cole grabbed it and used it to haul himself forward. He thrust out his hand, and she grabbed it and kicked while he pulled her to the branch. She clutched it with shaky fingers and maneuvered her body along the thick length until they crawled onto the embankment.
Joey’s arms felt ragged as she collapsed onto the grassy edge. Then they glanced up in horror to see a rifle pointed at them.
Heavens, no. They’d survived the crash only to have the killer waiting.
She blinked away the water and murk, shoving at her tangled hair, then lost her breath when she saw the person holding the gun.
Not Donna or Leland. Or Jim McKinney. Not even Governor Grange.
The one person she’d trusted unconditionally—Rosa.
COLE HEAVED for air, silently thanking God he had managed to get himself and Joey to safety. But the sight of the rifle barrel and the frantic-looking woman holding it froze the blood in his veins. Her eyes looked wild and panicked, and her arm was trembling so badly he feared she’d accidentally press the trigger.
“You wouldn’t leave things alone,” Rosa wailed. “I begged you, Miss Joey. I begged you to think of your mama.”
“Rosa, put the gun down,” Cole said, using a tone meant to calm her but one that reeked of authority.
“You don’t want to hurt us, Rosa,” Joey rasped. “You know you don’t.” Joey lifted her hand, but Rosa stabbed at her with the blunt end of the gun.
“Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you both.”
Cole gestured for Joey to drop her hand, and she did, but shock tightened her features.
“You helped raise me, Rosa,” Joey whispered. “Justin and I both loved you. You were part of our family. Special to us.” She hesitated, cleared her throat. “If you’re doing this to protect my mother, it’s not worth it. I’ve already talked to her. I know Justin is alive. I saw him with my own eyes.”
Rosa made a strangled sound. “You were never supposed to find him. Never supposed to know. You were free to go on with your own life.”
“Go on with my life?” Joey’s voice vibrated with pain. “How could I do that when I blamed myself for his death?”
Rosa pushed at the loose strands of her black braid. She looked tired and at her wits’ end. “Justin was safe and happy with the Sangstons. Now you mess everythin’ up.”
“I’m glad he was happy,” Joey said in a strained voice. “But he’s my family. I had a right to know where he was.”
“Family…I did everything for family, to protect little Justin.” Rosa’s voice broke. “Family is all that matters.”
Joey knotted a fist over her heart. “But I was your family, too.”
“You don’t understand. You were older, Joey. Strong. I knew you would be okay no matter what.” Rosa’s English became garbled with a few words of Spanish. “Justin, my little boy, Mr. Leland…he was going to have him kidnapped. I had to stop it.”
“So you took him?” Cole interjected. “Before Leland could put his plan into effect?”
Rosa nodded, tears tracking down her cheeks. “He didn’t love Justin. Knew he wasn’t his bebé. He hated Donna for pretending like he was. He was d…esperate for the money.”
“So you heard about his plan and you set the fire that night?” Cole asked.
“The fire! Oh, my goodness. You set it!” Joey staggered. “Rosa, we could have been killed.”
“No, no…” Rosa wailed. “I called firemen, get us out. No danger, not really.” Her crazed expression alarmed Cole. “My cousin, he got the bebé. Took him to the ranch. I know the family. My cousin, Hector, he work their ranch. The Sangstons, they want bebé of their own. They good people. Love our Justin.” Rosa’s voice grew colder. “Not like Ms. Donna back then, drinking. Or Mr. Leland. Always think of themselves. Pass bebé back and forth like he sack of flour.”
“But my mother found out where Justin was,” Joey said, obviously trying to make sense of it all. “Did you tell her, or did she find him on her own?”
“I not tell her.” Rosa gulped, the gun wavering. “Not at first. But my cousin—”
“Hector Elvarez,” Cole supplied.
Rosa nodded. “He tell me Ms. Donna hire man to hunt for Justin. Then Ms. Donna, she change. She not drinking by then. She make right choice. Leave little Justin be. Best thing for everyone.”
“Except I didn’t know, Rosa,” Joey cried.
“What about Lou Anne Wallace?” Cole asked. “She found out about Leland’s plan and called Donna, didn’t she?”
“She a mess, too. Mean to our Justin.” Rosa’s voice shook with agitation. “She going to tell everyone Justin not Mr. Leland’s. I have to stop her or little Justin be take away. Foster care. Strangers. Not ever see him again.”
Cole tried to inject calmness into his voice. “And you killed Sarah Wallace when she came to town because she found out what you’d done?”
Rosa broke into a sob. “Not want to, but my sister, she sick now, needs Rosa to take care of her. Couldn’t go to jail or let Justin be found.”
“You tried to strangle Anna, too?” Joey asked in horror. Rosa nodded, tears filling her eyes.
“What about Sheriff Mattheson and the fire at the jail? Did you set that?” Cole asked.
Rosa shook her head. “Hector, but he only wanted to protect me.”
“Where is he now?” Cole asked. “Back in Mexico?”
Rosa nodded. Her eyes pleaded with Joey to understand. “I check on Justin, Miss Joey. I see him every Sunday, at church. He growin’ up. Big strong man, good rider.”
“I know,” Joey said, her tone more even now. “I saw him, and he is happy. He loves his new family.” She started to rise, and Cole reached to stop her, but she gently pulled away from him. “The Sangstons were good to him, much better than Donna and Leland would have been.”
“The mama, Mrs. Sangston, before she go, she tell me how much her son mean to her.”
“Did she know that Donna had found him?” Joey asked.
“She guessed. I tell her Ms. Donna different. Only want her boy happy.”
“That’s right, Rosa. And you did what you did for our family.” Joey inched closer, but Rosa thrust the gun up, and Cole’s breath lodged in his throat.
“Rosa, you can’t hurt me, I know you can’t. Justin has met me now. You don’t want him to think that you killed his sister.”
Rosa’s hand sagged, and she sobbed louder. “I so sorry…so sorry, Miss Joey—”
Joey grabbed Rosa, and they wrestled with the gun. It went off, but the shot pinged into a tree. Cole pushed Joey aside, and pried the weapon from Rosa’s hands. She collapsed onto the ground in a fit of tears.
Cole clutched the gun and reached inside his pocket for his phone. But water had ruined it. Damn.
He glanced at Joey, wondering if he should tie Rosa to restrain her, but Joey slumped down by Rosa and cradled her in her arms.
Rosa leaned into her, crying. “I’m so sorry, Joey, so sorry.”
“I’m going to flag someone down and call for help,” Cole said.
Rosa removed a cell phone from her skirt pocket and slipped it into Joey’s hands. Joey handed it to Cole, and Cole stepped away to call Zane and Sloan.
A DEEP SADNESS pervaded Joey as Zane McKinney snapped handcuffs around Rosa’s wrists. Rosa had loved her brother and her more than Donna and Leland had, yet in her panicked attempt to help them, she’d still hurt them.
And she’d taken two lives during the process and almost taken others.
Did Donna know about Rosa’s guilt? Had she covered for her all this time?
“We still have to question Donna,” Cole said as if he’d read her mind. “See if she conspired to keep the truth from the police.”
“And my father has to answer for the fake kidnapping/murder plan.”
Her body throbbed and ached with fatigue, though. “Could we do that tomorrow? I…don’t think I can handle anything more tonight.”
Cole pulled her up against him. “I think that can be arranged. It’ll take a while for Zane and Sloan to process Rosa. I’ll tell them to make some calls, and we can set up the interrogation for the morning.”
“By then news of Rosa’s arrest will have hit the papers,” Joey said sadly.
Cole squeezed her hand, then went to speak to his half brothers. She wiped at tears as they situated Rosa into a squad car. Sloan handed Cole his car keys, and he rode with Zane, while Cole drove her back to the inn. She expected Donna to confront them, but thankfully she must not have received word of Rosa’s arrest yet. Joey hoped they could forestall it until morning when she’d had time to absorb the shock herself.
Still damp from the river, she shivered as she entered her room. Cole rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “You’re soaked and trembling. Why don’t you relax in a hot bath, and I’ll grab us something to eat.”
She ran a hand over his damp clothing. “You’re wet, too, Cole. You need to change.”
“I’ll grab a shower in my room and meet you back here with some food.”
Too weary to argue, she nodded and moved into the bathroom. She found a small bottle of bubble bath on the counter, sprinkled some into the tub, then filled it with water. The day’s and night’s events replayed in her mind like a movie trailer, and she shuddered. How could her family have gotten so messed up? What would Justin—Caleb—do now? Would he want to see her? And what would happen to Donna and Leland?
In the morning, they’d find out. Then she’d talk to Governor Grange.
Or maybe she should get it over with tonight. She retrieved her cell phone and punched in his number, but received his service again. She left a message that it was urgent, that an arrest had been made in the Wallace murders and that she needed to speak to him privately. Then she hung up, contemplating how to handle the situation as she lowered herself into the sea of bubbles and closed her eyes. Slowly she let the heat melt away the soreness and chill in her limbs. But the ache in her heart couldn’t be assuaged so easily.
