A Threat to His Family

by Delores Fossen

  The suit set the box on a plain table that reminded Owen of the ones they used in the interview rooms, and he took out a key.

  “Is that the key we got from Laney Martin?” Kellan asked the cop.

  The uniform nodded and, several moments later, they had confirmation that it was when the manager used it to open it the box.

  The person holding the camera immediately moved closer, zooming in on the interior.

  Owen immediately cursed when he saw what was inside.

  Chapter Ten

  Empty.

  That definitely hadn’t been what Laney had expected when the bank manager opened the box. Nothing. Not even a scrap of paper.

  Her thoughts immediately started to run wild.

  “Maybe it’s not the right box.” Laney threw the possibility out there.

  Owen made a sound of agreement. Kellan wasn’t paying attention because he was already on the phone with the bank manager.

  The cops cut the video feed, leaving her to stare at the blank screen. Mercy. Why couldn’t there just have been pictures inside? Or something that would have confirmed what Hadley had told her about the affair with Emerson? Now they had nothing, no reason to go after Emerson so they could stop another attack.

  If Emerson was to blame, that was.

  “My name was on the box,” she added, talking more to herself than Owen. Still, he answered her, along with sliding a soothing hand down her back.

  “It was the right key,” he pointed out, “but Hadley could have moved the contents.”

  That was possible, but it didn’t answer why her sister would have done that, especially without telling Laney. After all, Hadley had volunteered the info about the pictures, but maybe she’d been murdered before she could let Laney know they’d been moved.

  Kellan was cursing when he finished his call. “The bank manager said someone—a woman—accessed the box yesterday.”

  That got her attention and Laney’s gaze shifted from the laptop to him. Yesterday. So, Hadley hadn’t been the one to empty the box. But that left them with a huge question of who exactly had done that.

  “Any reason the bank manager didn’t tell us this sooner?” Laney demanded.

  “He claims that he couldn’t release any info about it until he had the search warrant.” Kellan glanced down at the notes he’d taken during the call. “The person had a picture ID with Hadley’s name, and she must have also had a key.”

  “The missing second key,” Laney said under her breath. She wanted to blurt out some of that same profanity Kellan was using. “And she must have used a fake ID or one that she stole from Hadley when the key was taken.”

  Kellan stared at her. “Could Hadley have given the second key to someone else?”

  Her mind was whirling so it was hard to think, but Laney forced herself to focus. “She could have perhaps given it to Joe.” But almost immediately she had to wave that off. “He would have told me if she’d done that—especially after she was murdered. He would have known it could be critical to finding her killer.”

  So, not Joe, but maybe a friend. Still, a friend should have come forward by now, which led Laney to consider that Hadley’s killer might have taken the key. The only problem with that was why the killer had waited all this time to access the box.

  “Hadley might have left it at Joe’s place without him knowing,” Owen suggested several moments later. Obviously they were all trying to work this out.

  That was possible, but another thought flashed into her mind. Not a good thought, either. “Joe had...feelings for Hadley. Actually, I think he was in love with her. So, if she gave him the key and asked him to keep it a secret, he might have, especially since he knew I had found a key in her apartment.”

  Still, she was going with the theory that Joe hadn’t known. And that the person who’d murdered him had searched his place, maybe found the key and then used it. That would explain why the killer had taken so long to get into the box. Maybe a female killer.

  Maybe Nettie.

  Of course, it was just as likely that Terrance or Emerson had hired a woman to pose as Hadley.

  “The timing works,” Owen said as if reading her thoughts. “Whoever broke into Joe’s could have gotten the key and used it to go to the bank.”

  She shook her head. “But how would the person have known which bank?” Laney stopped, her eyes widening. “Terrance. He had the PI report, so he knew the location.”

  Owen was taking out his phone to call Terrance before she’d even finished. Because she was right next to him, she heard the unanswered rings and, a few seconds later, the voice mail message. Owen left a message for Terrance to call him back ASAP. Whether the man would actually do that was anyone’s guess. If he was guilty, Terrance might even go on the run rather than answer any questions that could lead to his arrest.

  “I’ll get the footage on the security cameras from the bank, and that way we can see who went in there. I also want Terrance’s financials,” Kellan grumbled. “And on any other PI reports he might not have shared with us.” He looked at Laney. “Do you still have any PI contacts?”

  “I do. You want me to make some calls to see if Terrance hired anyone else that he hasn’t told us about?”

  Kellan nodded. “I’m especially interested if he had a female investigator who could have passed for your sister. Of course, he wouldn’t need a PI for that because he could have hired anyone, but we might get lucky.”

  It was a long shot, but at this point, it was all they had. Laney went back to Owen’s desk where she’d left the loaner laptop and got to work, finding contact numbers for every PI she could think of. Too bad her cell phone had been taken in the break-in because she’d had plenty of the numbers in it.

  Laney had just finished a list when the front door flew open. Owen came rushing out of Kellan’s office and he automatically stepped in front of her and drew his weapon. But it wasn’t a hired gun who’d come there to attack them.

  It was Emerson.

  Along with being out of breath, the DA looked disheveled. His suit was wrinkled, his hair messed up, and there was a fine layer of sweat on his forehead. He opened his mouth and then glanced around at the two other deputies and the dispatcher before he motioned toward Kellan’s office.

  “We need to talk,” Emerson said, his voice a little shaky.

  Owen studied him for a couple of seconds before he got moving, staying between Emerson and Laney as they entered Kellan’s office. Emerson immediately shut the door.

  “The blackmailer called me again.” Emerson took out his phone, put it on Kellan’s desk in front of him and hit the play button.

  “Time’s run out, DA,” the caller said. It was the same mechanical voice they’d heard before. “You’ve got an hour to get me that fifty thousand or I tell your sweet wife what’s going on. No routing number this time. I want cash, and I’ll be in touch as to where you can leave the money.”

  Kellan listened to it again and checked the time on the call. “It’s already been nearly an hour.”

  Emerson nodded. “I figure he’ll call me back any minute now. I don’t have the money,” he quickly added.

  “You shouldn’t be paying him anyway,” Owen insisted. He moved so that Emerson and he were eye to eye. “You need to tell Nettie. That won’t give this snake anything to hold over you. It’d be a lot better for her to hear it from you than him.”

  Obviously that wasn’t the solution Emerson wanted because he huffed. Then he groaned and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “Nettie could believe the lie about the affair. She could leave me because of it.”

  “Maybe,” Owen said. “But she’s going to find out one way or another.” He paused. “Besides, Nettie might have her own secrets.”

  “What do you mean?” Emerson snapped, his attention slicing to Owen.

  Owen dragged in a long breat
h. “Go home, Emerson, and talk to your wife.”

  Emerson’s stare turned into a glare. He held it for so long that Owen figured the man was about to have a burst of temper. But Emerson finally just shook his head. “I want to clear up this mess with the blackmailer first.” His gaze shifted to Kellan and now there was some temper in his eyes. “If you can’t or won’t help me, then I’ll have to handle it myself.”

  “I wouldn’t advise that,” Kellan told him.

  Emerson’s glare intensified as he snatched up his phone, obviously ready to storm out.

  But Owen stopped him. “Rohan Gilley wants to talk to you.”

  Laney studied Emerson’s expression, and she figured Owen and Kellan were doing the same. Something went through his eyes, something she couldn’t quite peg. Frustration maybe? Or maybe something more. Fear? Of course, she could just be projecting that.

  “I don’t have time for Gilley right now,” Emerson snapped. “Tell him that. Tell him I’ll get back here when I have some things settled.”

  Emerson walked out, leaving Laney to wonder if that had been some kind of assurance or even a veiled threat for the gunman.

  Kellan sighed. “I need to get both Nettie and him in here, together, for a face-to-face interview. An official one where I ask some hard questions. I think a good air clearing might help all the way around since both of them have motives for the attacks.”

  Owen shook his head when Gunnar stepped in the office doorway. “Emerson won’t be talking to Gilley for a while,” he told his fellow deputy.

  “I’ll let him know, but that’s not why I’m here.” Gunnar paused. “It’s bad news. We have a dead body.”

  * * *

  OWEN STARED AT the photo the Austin PD had just sent them and felt the punch of dread when he saw the dead woman’s face. A face he’d seen on the surveillance footage that the bank had sent over earlier. He had no doubts that she’d been the same person who’d gotten into the safe-deposit box with Hadley’s fake ID.

  And now she wouldn’t be able to tell them what she’d taken or where it was.

  Laney touched her fingers to her mouth as she studied the photo, and Owen saw her blink hard. No doubt fighting tears. “She doesn’t look like my sister. Not really.”

  No. The hair color was the same, but that was about all. It was something the woman could have easily dyed to come closer to a physical match for the person she’d been impersonating.

  “What happened to her?” Laney asked, glancing at Gunnar before her gaze went back to the photo.

  “Two gunshot wounds to the chest,” Gunnar explained. “Point-blank range. She had two IDs on her. One in your sister’s name and the other was her own driver’s license. Her prints were in the system, so they were able to confirm her identity as Nancy Flanery.”

  Laney’s forehead creased, and she repeated the name as if trying to recall where she’d heard it before. “It sounds familiar, but I don’t recognize her.”

  “Austin PD’s running a background check now. I’m doing the same,” Gunnar added a moment later. “She’s from San Antonio and is a criminal informant.”

  That got Owen’s attention. “A CI?” he said under his breath. “For Austin PD?”

  “San Antonio,” Gunnar clarified. “She has a record for drug possession, but her latest arrest was three years ago. She seems to have stayed clean since then. Or maybe she just hadn’t gotten caught.”

  Either was possible. Obviously she had crossed paths with someone who’d either paid her to impersonate Hadley or had forced or coerced her into doing it.

  “Someone must have hired her to go to that bank,” Laney said.

  That was Owen’s top theory, too. Hired her, used her to get their hands on the photos and then murdered her so that she wouldn’t be able to tell the cops who’d paid her to get into that safe-deposit box.

  “Oh, and I thought this was interesting...” Gunnar continued, reading from his notes. “According to the preliminary report, Nancy Flanery had gunshot residue on her hands, but there was no weapon found on her.”

  Owen thought about that for a second. “Maybe because her killer took it. But she could have gotten off a shot first.”

  With luck, perhaps she could have even wounded her attacker. If so, Austin PD might find blood other than the victim’s at the crime scene.

  Laney went into the squad room and brought back the laptop she’d been working on. “Let me do a search of my files to see if anything pops up. Like I said, her name sounds familiar, so it’s possible she was connected to one of my investigations.”

  She put the laptop on Kellan’s desk and, leaning over, typed in “Nancy Flanery.” She frowned when nothing came up. “Let me switch to Joe’s files.” Laney repeated the process.

  Then she froze.

  “She’s here.” Laney turned the screen so that Kellan, Gunnar and Owen would better be able to see it. “A week ago Joe talked to her after he’d gotten a tip that she knew something about Hadley’s killer. Nancy claimed she didn’t, but Joe apparently didn’t believe her.” She tapped the screen to show the triple question marks Joe had added at the end of the short report.

  “Did you ever meet this woman?” Kellan asked.

  “No. I’m almost positive I didn’t. According to these notes, this was the first time Joe had met with her. Since it was only a week ago, I was already at Owen’s. I didn’t do any interviews after I moved there.”

  She looked at Owen and once again he saw the apology in her eyes. He definitely didn’t like that she’d lied to him, but with the attacks, he knew why she had been so cautious.

  “Do you think she’s the one who killed Joe?” Laney asked. “If she’s working for the person who attacked us, then she could have gone after Joe.” But she waved that off. “I know it’s a long shot.”

  It was, but it could still be a connection. Joe might not have had his guard up if someone he’d known had approached him, and it was possible Nancy had murdered Joe and then gone to the bank in Austin. The timing would work. If she had indeed committed murder and then fraud, the woman would have been a bad loose end.

  And it had likely gotten her killed.

  “I’ll try to put a rush on that background check,” Gunnar offered. He headed back into the squad room just as Kellan’s phone rang.

  Kellan scrubbed his hand over his face and showed them the name on the screen. Nettie. After blowing out a huff of frustration, he answered the call and put it on speaker.

  “Emerson’s missing,” Nettie blurted out before Kellan could even issue a greeting. Her voice was practically a shout. “You’ve got to find him now.”

  “Nettie, he’s not missing,” Kellan assured her. “He was just here in my office.”

  She made a hoarse sob. “He’s there? I need to talk to him.”

  “He left already.” Kellan huffed again. “I was hoping he’d go home to you.”

  “He hasn’t been here. What did he say?” Nettie demanded, her words running together.

  Owen could tell from his brother’s expression that Kellan was trying to figure out how to answer that. He took several moments and the woman continued to cry. “What’s this about, Nettie?”

  Nettie took a couple of moments, as well. “His assistant said Emerson was very upset, that he grabbed some things from his desk and practically ran out. She’d never seen him like that, and was worried about him, so she let me know about it. But when I tried to call him, he didn’t answer. Something’s wrong, and you need to find him now.”

  That didn’t help ease the frustration on Kellan’s face. “I’ll see what I can do. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Emerson could be meeting with the blackmailer,” Laney said the moment Kellan ended the call with Nettie.

  Kellan made a sound of agreement and stepped out into the squad room. “Raylene,” he said, speak
ing to one of the deputies, Raylene McNeal. “I need you to find Emerson. Make some calls, ask around, see what you can come up with.”

  Since Raylene had witnessed Emerson storming out earlier, she didn’t seem especially surprised by the request. She just nodded and took out her phone.

  Owen was about to volunteer to help, but he saw their visitor walking toward the front door. Terrance. The moment he was inside, he flicked Laney a glance before his attention zoomed to Owen.

  “I couldn’t take your call, but your voice mail sounded...urgent,” Terrance said. “What can I do to help?” As usual, there was a chilly layer of indifference in his tone and expression.

  “It is urgent,” Owen assured him. “A woman was murdered, and I want to know if one of your PI tails happened to see her.”

  Terrance shrugged his shoulders. “I can ask them, but why would they have done that? Does this dead woman have a connection to Laney?”

  Owen held off on answering. Instead he turned the computer screen toward Terrance so he could see the photo Austin PD had sent them. “Her name is Nancy Flanery.”

  The indifference vanished and Terrance whirled toward Laney. This time, there was fiery anger in his eyes. “What kind of sick game are you playing?” he demanded.

  That rage was in his voice, too. So much rage that Owen actually stepped between Laney and him. Laney didn’t let that last long, though. She moved to Owen’s side and faced Terrance head-on.

  “I’m not playing a game,” Laney insisted. “Do you know that woman?”

  Terrance had to get his jaw unclenched before he spoke. “Are you trying to set me up?”

  Owen figured Laney looked as surprised as he did. “Why would you think that?” Owen demanded.

  Terrance jabbed his index finger at the picture on the screen. “Because Nancy works for me.”