A Threat to His Family

by Delores Fossen

  His quick nod let her know that Owen had already considered it. “Kellan will try to get a search warrant on Terrance, too.”

  It would be easier to get that than it would be to get one for the bank, but Laney was betting Terrance had covered his tracks and there’d be nothing to find. There would definitely be nothing on his personal computer since he wouldn’t risk going back to jail.

  When they made it to Owen’s bedroom, she was surprised that it was empty, but she could hear the chatter next door in the master bedroom. Chatter that she was betting wouldn’t stop Eli from keeping watch. He was just doing it from the upstairs window now instead of the downstairs one. Laney had thankfully seen no lapse in security, which would need to continue until they found the person responsible for the attack.

  Too bad they weren’t any closer to doing that.

  Owen’s laptop was on a small folding table in the corner and he pulled out the chair for her to sit. The report was already on the screen. She noted the date and time.

  “Lee Kissner,” Laney said, reading the PI’s name aloud. “I don’t know him personally, but he has a good reputation.”

  “A good rep, but he was working for Terrance,” Owen pointed out.

  She nodded. Shrugged. “I sometimes took on slimeball clients who were trying to clear their names.” Laney could see this from that side of things, but it didn’t make her feel better that Terrance had had her sister and her followed.

  Laney read through the report, noting the description of the clothes Hadley was wearing. Red dress with silver trim and silver heels. Her sister did indeed have an outfit like that. In fact, the details matched all the way to the purse.

  “According to the notes, Hadley didn’t talk to anyone before going into the bank,” Laney pointed out. “But someone—an employee—inside would have spoken with her. I’m assuming they’ve all been questioned?”

  Owen nodded again. “One of the clerks thinks she might have remembered her when Kellan showed Hadley’s photo. That’s not enough to get a warrant,” he quickly added. “The clerk isn’t positive and doesn’t remember why Hadley was there.”

  Laney groaned softly. She’d never been to that particular bank, but she’d checked the facts about it online, and it was huge. In addition, this visit would have happened months ago. That wasn’t going to help, not with the steady stream of customers who would have gone in and out of there during that time.

  As she continued reading, Laney could feel her frown deepening with each sentence. Her sister had spent a half hour inside the bank. That was plenty of time to not only open an account for a safe-deposit box but also enough time to lock the pictures inside and then come out.

  Hadley hadn’t spoken to anyone as she’d walked back to her car. She had simply driven away. The PI hadn’t followed her since he was waiting on further instructions from Terrance. According to Lee Kissner, those instructions had been to suspend, at least temporarily, following Hadley. Too bad he hadn’t stuck with her because it might have given them more clues about her killer.

  Laney finished reading the report, stood and started to pace again, hoping that she could come up with an angle they could use to sway a judge. But nothing came to mind. Given the way Owen’s forehead was furrowed, he was drawing a blank, too.

  “I shouldn’t have kissed you,” he said. So, no blank after all. His mind hadn’t been on the report, though she was certain he’d already given it plenty of thought.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “Loss of focus, blurred lines, bad timing.” She’d hoped her light tone and dry smile would ease the tension on his face, but it didn’t.

  “Heat,” he added to the list. But Owen didn’t just say it. There was also some heat in his voice, along with a hefty dose of something Laney had been feeling all morning. Irritation and annoyance.

  Owen looked at her the same moment she looked at him, and their gazes collided. Oh, mercy. Yes, there it was. So much fire. Way too much need. Way too much everything.

  With all the memories going through her head, she wanted to smack herself as the image of Owen in the barn jumped right to the front of her mind. Followed by the more recent image of their kiss. Her body reacted and she felt that heat trickle through her.

  “It’s too dangerous for me not to be able to see all of this clearly,” Owen added.

  Until he’d said that, Laney had been about to go to him and kiss him. Nothing hard and deep like the one in the observation room. Just a peck to assure him that the heat could wait. It would have maybe sated her body a little, as well.

  No assuring and sating now, though. They were just standing there, much too close, their gazes connected, the weight of the attraction and their situation bearing down on them.

  It stunned her when Owen leaned in and brushed his mouth over hers. Stunned her even more that just a peck from him could dole out that kind of wallop. It was a reminder that any kind of contact between them was only going to complicate things.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” someone said from the doorway.

  Jack.

  The man moved like a cat. And, despite the fact that he’d no doubt just witnessed that lip-lock, he didn’t give his brother a ribbing smile.

  “Just got a call from one of the hands,” Jack told them. “Emerson’s at your house, and he’s demanding to see you.”

  Emerson had likely heard about Kellan taking the computers from his home. Or maybe Nettie had finally filled her husband in on everything.

  “Emerson’s already spoken to Kellan,” Jack went on. “Guess he didn’t get the answers he wanted, so he drove out to the ranch. I’m thinking it’s not a good idea to have Emerson brought here.”

  “No, it’s not,” Owen agreed. He paused, his forehead bunching up even more. “Tell the hand to keep Emerson at my place. I’ll drive over there to see him.”

  “Not without me—” Jack immediately said just as Laney piped in, “I want to see him, too—”

  She knew Owen wasn’t going to argue with his brother about going, but considered he would nix her request. He surprised her when he didn’t. He gave her a nod.

  “Just let me check on Addie first,” Owen muttered.

  Jack stepped to the side so that Owen could head there.

  “No one in the room will bite,” Jack added under his breath to her. “And if anyone can lighten the mood around here, it’s Addie.”

  Jack was right. The little girl had a way of making everything better. Laney thanked him for the reminder and followed Owen, intending to stay in the hall and just get a glimpse of Addie. She didn’t want to interfere with Owen’s time with her. But Gemma remedied that as she took hold of Laney’s arm and led her into the room.

  Eli was in the exact spot that Laney thought he would be. Keeping watch at the window. Francine, seated near him, was sipping coffee. Laney smiled when she saw Addie on the bed, playing with a stash of stuffed animals, blocks and books. Addie smiled when she spotted her dad and put aside a toy horse to scoot toward him. Owen picked her up and kissed her cheek.

  “Da-da,” she said and dropped her head in the crook of his neck. The loving moment didn’t last, though, when Addie’s attention landed on Laney. “Aney,” she attempted to say.

  Laney didn’t know who was more surprised when the little girl reached for her, but she felt a lot of relief. She’d been so afraid that Addie would associate her with the loud blasts from the gunfire and the terrifying run to the barn, but apparently she hadn’t remembered that as well as she had Laney’s name.

  Owen passed Addie over to her, and when Laney had her in her arms, she had another surprise when Addie kissed her. The little girl babbled something that Laney didn’t understand, but she caught the word horsey, so maybe she was talking about her toy stash.

  Jack stepped up to Eli, probably to tell him about Emerson’s arrival. When Jack went back into the hall, clearly waiting, that w
as Owen’s cue to get moving.

  Owen took Addie from Laney, giving his daughter another kiss before putting her back on the bed.

  “My advice?” Eli said. “Put on a flak jacket because Emerson won’t be a happy camper.”

  No, he wouldn’t be, Laney thought. And it was possible that Nettie hadn’t even told him the whole truth. The woman certainly would have put her own slant on things, and that, in turn, could cause Emerson to aim even more venom at Owen and her.

  With Eli following them, Jack, Owen and Laney went back downstairs, and she heard Eli reset the security system as soon as they were out the door. They hurried into the cruiser so they wouldn’t be out in the open too long. Of course, even a minute was probably too long as far as Owen as concerned.

  Laney waited for Owen to remind her that it was an unnecessary risk for her to insist on going to this meeting. But he didn’t. Maybe because he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Besides, just seeing her might trigger Emerson into a fit of temper that could get him to spill the secret he’d been keeping about Hadley.

  When Owen’s house came into view, she immediately saw the crime scene tape fluttering in the breeze. Laney also noticed the sleek black car parked in front just a split second before she spotted Emerson. He was talking on his phone while he paced the front porch. And yes, he was riled. Every muscle in his body and face showed that. She had even more proof of the man’s anger when they got out of the cruiser.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Emerson barked. The question wasn’t aimed at Owen but rather at her.

  “I’m trying to find out who nearly killed me and Owen,” Laney answered. She didn’t dodge Emerson’s fiery gaze and definitely didn’t back down. That was one of the few advantages of being just as riled as he was.

  Despite the thick tension in the air, Owen somehow managed to stay calm as he unlocked the door. “There’s a hired killer still at large, so we’ll take this inside.”

  Emerson looked ready to argue, but he probably would have argued about anything at this point. He was spoiling for a fight.

  Owen ushered her in first and Laney immediately saw that some of the items had been moved. Likely the CSIs’ doing. She was betting the entire place had been checked for prints and trace evidence. An attack on a police officer’s home would have caused everyone involved to be on the top of their game.

  “You convinced Kellan to have a CSI go into my home,” Emerson ranted at Laney as he came inside. He was still aiming his rage at her, too. “You upset my wife.”

  Owen didn’t say anything until he had the door shut, and then he eased around to face his brother-in-law. “Nettie gave us permission to get the computers and have them analyzed. Did she tell you why?”

  “Yes,” Emerson snapped while Jack went to the living room window to keep watch. “It’s because someone set her up so that it looks as if she planted a bug in your guesthouse.” His narrowed eyes cut to Laney. “You set her up.”

  “I have no reason to do that.” Laney tried to restrain her temper enough to keep her voice calm as well, but she wasn’t quite as successful as Owen.

  “Yes, you do, because you have some kind of vendetta against me.” Emerson opened his mouth as if to say more, but then he closed it.

  “What else did Nettie tell you?” Owen asked.

  Silence. For a very long time. Emerson finally cursed under his breath and leaned against the wall. “Nettie said she met with her—” he tipped his head toward Laney to indicate the her “—sister.” While there was still some anger in his voice, she thought she heard disgust, too.

  “Hadley,” Laney provided, though she was certain he knew her sister’s name. “Hadley Odom,” she said, spelling it out because she wanted to try to gauge his reaction.

  Emerson dismissed her with a glance before his attention went back to Owen. “Nettie heard rumors that I was having an affair with Hadley.” He said the name as if it were venom. “I’m guessing your sister started those rumors. So, Nettie confronted her. Apparently some private investigator witnessed the meeting and told Kellan about it.”

  “Did Nettie also confront you about the affair?” Owen asked.

  Another long pause. “No. I didn’t know that Nettie had heard those rumors until about two hours ago when she told me what’s been going on.”

  “Rumors?” Owen questioned.

  Since it sounded like the accusation that it was, Emerson cursed again. Then he groaned when Owen continued to stare at him. “I knew Hadley.”

  For only three words, they packed a huge punch. Finally, Laney had heard the man admit the truth. Truth about knowing her sister anyway. But she figured Owen was experiencing a gut punch of a different kind. As a cop, he wouldn’t have wanted to hear his brother-in-law just confess to a relationship that was now a motive for murder.

  Owen dragged his hand over his face and did some cursing of his own. “I need to read you your rights.”

  “I know my damn rights.” Emerson pushed away from the wall. “I’m the damn DA!”

  Owen went closer until they were toe-to-toe. “Then act like it and tell me what happened between Hadley and you. Everything that happened,” Owen emphasized.

  Emerson’s glare went on for so long that Laney thought he was going to clam up or demand that she leave. Maybe even ask for a lawyer. He didn’t. He stepped back, shook his head. When his gaze returned to Owen, some of the anger was gone.

  “I didn’t kill her...” Emerson started. “I swear, I didn’t kill her.” He looked at Laney when he repeated that. “And I don’t care what she told you. There was no affair. I barely knew her.”

  She studied his eyes, looking for any signs that was a lie, and Laney thought she detected one. However, she didn’t know Emerson well enough to use his body language to try to convince Owen that the man wasn’t being honest with them.

  “How’d you meet Hadley?” Owen persisted when Emerson didn’t continue.

  “At a party that I attended in San Antonio. She came onto me, and I brushed her off. Told her I was a married man, that I didn’t play around on my wife.” Emerson glared at Laney as if challenging her to prove him otherwise.

  She couldn’t.

  She’d never personally seen the two of them together, but she’d believed her sister when Hadley had told her about the affair. And, just as important, she didn’t believe Emerson. Yes, she could see Hadley coming onto him, but Hadley was a very attractive woman. She could have likely had her pick of the men at that party and wouldn’t have come onto Emerson had he not been sending off the right signals. Or in this case, the wrong ones, since he was a married man.

  “I never saw Hadley again after that night,” Emerson went on. “But she called me and claimed I’d given her some kind of date rape drug at the party. I denied it, but she didn’t believe me. She cried and carried on and told me that I’d be sorry.”

  Owen jumped right on that. “She threatened you?”

  Emerson shook his head. “Not then, not with actual words anyway, but I knew she was very upset and believed I’d actually drugged her. So upset that when I first heard she was dead, I wondered if she’d killed herself to set me up, to make it look as if I’d murdered her. The woman was crazy,” he added in a mumble.

  “Hadley didn’t commit suicide,” Laney insisted. But she would give him a pass on the crazy part. Hadley could be overly emotional. Still, Laney didn’t believe she’d lied about having an affair with Emerson.

  That meant Emerson was lying now.

  “I agree about her not killing herself,” Emerson said when Laney just kept glaring at him. “I realized that when I read the police report about her murder. The angle of the blunt-force trauma wound was all wrong for her to have done that to herself.”

  For just a moment Laney saw something more than anger. Maybe regret? Or it could be that Emerson had once had feelings for Hadley. That d
idn’t mean, though, that he hadn’t murdered her.

  “There’s more,” Emerson continued, his gaze firing to Laney again. “And if you’re responsible, so help me God, I’ll make sure you’re put behind bars.”

  Laney raised her hands. “What the heck are you talking about?”

  “Blackmail.” Emerson let that hang in the air.

  Owen didn’t even glance at her to see if she knew what Emerson meant, and that helped ease a little of the tension in her chest. Twenty-four hours earlier, if Emerson had accused her of something, Owen would have considered it a strong possibility. Or even the truth. But he now knew she wouldn’t do anything like that.

  “A couple of days ago, I got a phone call,” Emerson explained. “The person used one of those voice scramblers, so I didn’t know who it was. Still don’t. But the person claimed to know about the so-called affair I had with Hadley and threatened to tell Nettie if I didn’t pay up. He said he had some kind of proof, but that’s impossible. There’s no proof because there was no affair.”

  Owen kept his attention nailed to Emerson. “You paid the blackmailer?” he snapped.

  “No. Of course not. I’m not going to pay for something I didn’t do. I put the person off, said that I needed time to get some money together. I’ve been using that time to try to figure out who’s behind this.”

  Owen huffed and Laney knew why. Emerson’s first response should have been to go to the cops. To his brother-in-law, Owen. Of course, that was the last thing a guilty man would have wanted to do.

  “And did you find out who’s behind this?” Owen challenged, the annoyance dripping off his tone.

  Emerson shook his head, took out his phone. “I got another call yesterday. I recorded it and had a private lab analyze it. They were unable to get a voice match because of the scrambling device the person used, but the tech thought the caller was male. You can listen to the recording if you want.”

  Owen nodded.

  Both Laney and Owen moved closer to Emerson’s phone before the man hit the play button on his phone.