Chapter Nine
Slater sat in the living room of the safe house and continued to scour the reports that were pouring in. Reports from Duncan, Luca, Julia and Detective Thayer. Nothing was as nerve-rattling as Julia’s earlier news.
I don’t want another Alicia on my hands.
Still, Slater was hoping he’d find something to either link Leonard to Alicia’s and his dad’s murders or be able to clear him as a suspect. After all, everything was circumstantial. Even that remark about Alicia. Leonard could have possibly just been worried about Buck murdering someone else, and in this case, that someone else would be Stephanie.
But there was a problem with that theory.
How had Leonard even known about Buck’s connection to Alicia? Slater had only recently learned of it himself. And if Leonard had indeed suspected that Buck murdered Alicia, why hadn’t he given that info to the cops?
That was one of at least a dozen questions for which Slater didn’t have an answer, and it was the reason he was glad Lana and he had decided to delay the trip back to Saddle Ridge so they could immerse themselves here in the investigation. Exactly what they’d been doing for the past three hours.
Getting to the safe house, though, hadn’t exactly been a piece of cake. Within minutes of leaving the police station with Sonya as backup, they realized they were being followed. Slater had called in the plates to Thayer, who’d quickly informed him that the vehicle belonged to a PI agency that Leonard frequently employed.
Since Slater hadn’t wanted the PI or Leonard to know the location of the safe house, that’d meant trying to lose it. Not easy in Austin traffic. So Slater had called in the big guns. He’d had Thayer send out a patrol cop to pull over the vehicle. The moment that’d happened, Slater and Sonya had sped away.
Thankfully, that’d been the only drama of the afternoon, and now Lana sat across from him, working on her laptop and probably digging through the same reports he was. He was hoping a second pair of eyes would catch something he might miss. Hoping, too, that they’d get that one vital piece of info that would blow this case wide open.
Slater hated that the hornet’s nest revelations had come from a hacker. As a cop, he wanted to find this BoBo and arrest him. But as the son of a murdered man, he was grateful for what they might be able to use to build a case against Leonard. So far, though, they didn’t have nearly enough for that.
Because he was a cop, Slater had had a fierce debate with himself when it came to telling Detective Thayer about the hacked emails. No way could she use any part of them in her investigation, but it hadn’t felt right to keep them from her. And Lana had agreed. Even though it might ultimately cast a negative light on Sencor for dealing with hackers like BoBo, Thayer needed to have the big picture.
Thayer, of course, hadn’t exactly thanked him for spilling details that would essentially muddy the investigative waters and might lead to nothing. Still, Slater figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a third person, Thayer, looking at this new information with the hopes of verifying it. So far, though, verification simply hadn’t happened.
“Ted Bennington,” Slater said, hoping that by saying it aloud, it would jog something. Lana immediately looked up from her laptop, her attention zooming straight to him. “He’s worked for your father for over twenty-five years.” And he was the PI in the hacked emails. “Do you know him?”
“I’ve met him a couple of times when he came to visit my dad. He seemed all business, and he certainly never said anything about his actual job.”
That made sense. Leonard wouldn’t keep a blabbermouth on the payroll. “Bennington would have worked for him when Alicia was murdered, and we know that Stephanie went to a party at Alicia’s. So, if it weren’t for those three last words in the email, I would dismiss what Leonard said as some cautionary tale of him not wanting Stephanie to end up dead like Alicia.”
Lana nodded. Then sighed. “But those three last words are there. On my hands ,” she recited. “That sounds a lot more personal than a cautionary tale.”
It did, and that’s why Slater was piecing together other theories. “Bennington or another PI could have seen or heard something that would ID Buck as Alicia’s killer. I’m having a hard time figuring out why they wouldn’t have taken that info to the cops, but maybe what they saw or overheard involved Stephanie. Not as a killer,” he was quick to add.
She nodded again, and her forehead bunched up as she gave that some thought. “But maybe the PI heard or saw something that would in turn incriminate Stephanie. My dad would have definitely tried to cover that up, and in doing so, he might have covered up Buck’s guilt. That could work.” She paused. “But then why would Buck go after your father?”
Slater shrugged. “Maybe my dad was asking the wrong questions, and Buck got spooked.”
“And maybe my father got spooked, too,” Lana added. She set her laptop aside and leaned forward. “Just speculation here, but whatever the PI or my father learned about Alicia could make him some kind of accessory after the fact. That’s some serious jail time.”
“Yeah, it would be.” And that led Slater to another point. “Alicia’s body was never found, so maybe that’s where Leonard comes in. Maybe he or his PI helped Buck dispose of the body in some way.” He stopped and scrubbed his hand over his face. “But again, his reason for doing that would be to protect Stephanie.”
Lana made a sound of agreement. “Stephanie never once mentioned anything about Alicia’s murder, and I think she would have let something slip if she had witnessed it.”
Slater made his own sound of agreement. “But what if Buck convinced Leonard that Stephanie had been involved in some way? That would spur Leonard to do a cover-up.”
“It would, and it would also explain why my father wanted to monitor Buck. Maybe he wanted to make sure Buck didn’t get too close to Stephanie.” She stopped. “Of course, all the monitoring didn’t stop Buck from killing her.”
Slater heard the pain in Lana’s voice. Saw it on her face, too, and he set his own laptop aside to go to her. Yes, it wasn’t exactly a safe move, not with them being alone, but he hated to see her suffer like this. However, Slater had barely reached Lana before his phone rang, and when he saw Detective Thayer’s name on the screen, he knew it was a call he needed to take.
“You’re on speaker,” Slater said when he answered. And he hoped she was calling with good news.
“I just interviewed Taylor Galway,” the detective said.
Surprised, Slater shook his head. “I guess she changed her mind about coming in.”
“Well, she brought three lawyers with her and spent most of the interview saying no comment, but she came in without any additional prodding.”
“Did Taylor admit to posting those pictures of Stephanie?” Lana asked.
Thayer groaned softly. “That was one of the no comments. Ditto for hiring a hacker. About the only thing she did admit to was that she hated Stephanie and that she had an alibi for the time of Stephanie’s murder. It’s an airtight alibi, by the way. She was front and center at some charity fashion show.”
“As an accomplice, she wouldn’t need an alibi,” Slater muttered.
“No, she wouldn’t, but she might have thought it best if she wasn’t anywhere near the hospital at the time of the murder. And she wasn’t. The fashion show was on the other side of the city.” Thayer paused a moment. “I didn’t get Buck’s phone records until after Taylor left so I’ll have to get the woman back in here to question her about it.”
Slater latched right onto that. So did Lana. They both moved closer to the phone. “Buck called Taylor?”
“Twice,” Thayer verified. “But don’t get your hopes up. It wasn’t recent. The techs had to go back six years to find it. Hardly a smoking gun unless they’d been planning murder all this time.”
No. Those calls were likely about something else. Probably a party or something.
“Any calls about a murder would have likely been done on burner phones,” Slater muttered. “What about the phone Buck had on him when he died?”
“A burner, but he hadn’t used it to call anyone yet. There weren’t any in his house, either, but there were two crushed ones in his garbage. The techs will see if they can recover anything from those. Other than the phones, there was no evidence in his house as to what he’d been planning.”
So Buck had been thorough. Slater had hoped he wouldn’t be. “Have the techs been able to access any of Buck’s emails?”
“Not a one,” Thayer said. “Everything on his laptop was encrypted, and so far, they haven’t been able to get past it. They’ll keep trying,” she tacked onto that, maybe just trying to give them a glimmer of hope. “What about the two of you?” Thayer asked. “Have you found anything?”
“No,” Slater said, and Lana echoed the same. It was Lana, though, who continued.
“If the hacked emails do point to my father as being Buck’s accomplice, my father will never admit to it. In fact, we won’t even get to ask the question because his lawyers will block it,” Lana spelled out. “So I’m thinking of calling my mother to see if she knows anything.”
“You think she’ll admit it if she does know something?” Thayer asked. “Because I didn’t get the impression she’d go against your father.”
“She won’t,” Lana was quick to say. “But I think she’s grieving for Stephanie, and that makes her vulnerable.” Lana stopped, cringed. “I know that sounds callous—”
“It doesn’t,” Slater interrupted. “You need answers about your sister’s death, and your mother might be able to provide them. And, no, I’m not saying Pamela had anything to do with killing her own daughter, but she’s got eyes and ears, and she might have heard or seen something that’ll help us ID Buck’s accomplice.”
“Yes,” Thayer quickly added. “All of that. I have no idea if this accomplice is dangerous and will come after the two of you. Or heaven forbid, the baby. But I know I’ll feel a whole lot better once we have this person. Call your mother,” she insisted. “And let me know what she says.”
Lana assured Thayer that she would, and Slater ended the call just as Lana took out her own phone. However, she didn’t press her mother’s number. She sat there a moment as if trying to gather her thoughts. He didn’t blame her. This could turn out to be a critical conversation.
“If I tell her you’re listening, then my mother will almost certainly be more careful about what she says,” Lana said. “But I want you to hear every word. You might pick up on something I miss.”
He nodded, though he knew what this meant. If the call was on speaker and Pamela spilled something incriminating, then her lawyers could argue that the admission had been obtained illegally. But she could only do that if she knew Slater was listening.
Slater cursed because he knew what he was about to do. He was going to bend the hell out of the law with the goal of finding a killer’s accomplice. No way would he have done it if the threat to life had been over, but it wasn’t. Lana and possibly the baby could still be in the line of fire.
He nodded. “Put the call on speaker,” he instructed. “I won’t say anything to let her know I’m listening.”
She nodded as well, and she finally pressed her mother’s number. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long because Pamela answered on the first ring.
“Lana,” her mother said, the word rushing out with her heavy breath. “Are you all right?”
Since this was more concern than the woman had previously shown, Slater was surprised. Clearly, so was Lana.
“I’m safe,” Lana replied, her response obviously cautious.
“Good.” Her mother let out another heavy breath and repeated it. “I was worried because you refused the bodyguards your father wanted you to have.”
“Yes, and we got rid of the PI he had following us,” Lana was quick to point out.
“Your father and I are both worried about you,” her mother said as if that excused everything. “We don’t want you involved in something that could be dangerous. Deputy McCullough can’t protect you the way we can.”
Lana looked at him and managed a weary smile. Despite everything that was going on, Slater latched right onto that smile, savoring it and committing it to memory. He and Lana hadn’t had many quiet, warm moments, but that was one of them.
It didn’t last.
“Are you there?” Pamela demanded. “Did you hear what I said?”
“I heard,” Lana assured her. “Where is Dad now?”
“In his office. He’s so upset,” she added in a mutter, and she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Some man called him and said he’d been hired to hack into his emails. He tried to blackmail your father.”
BoBo had obviously struck again. The hacker was attempting to get paid three times for his crime.
“Blackmail,” Lana repeated. “What is he going to do about it?”
“I’m not sure,” Pamela was quick to say. “He’s with some of the lawyers and the PIs now.”
But not the cops. Nope. Slater was betting Leonard wouldn’t be reporting this to the police, and he made a mental note to tell Julia that she should warn BoBo that he could be in danger for poking a rattlesnake like Leonard.
“What emails did this man hack?” Lana pressed.
“I have no idea, but they must have been important because your father hit the roof. I’m sure he’ll find the hacker and make him pay.”
Yeah. Slater definitely needed to give Julia a heads-up.
“Mom, I’m calling to let you know that a video has surfaced,” Lana continued. “It proves Buck murdered Stephanie.”
Pamela gasped. “Oh, God. So it’s true. He really did kill her.”
“It’s true,” Lana verified, and then paused. “There’s been a lot of security camera footage collected of Buck, and one of Dad’s PIs was following him. Did you know that?”
“No.” Pamela sounded adamant about that, too. “Why...” But that trailed off. “Because he was worried about Stephanie. Rightfully so.” She cried out a hoarse sob. “I wish the PI would have been able to stop Buck. I wish someone could have, and then Stephanie would still be alive.”
“Yes,” Lana muttered, and it seemed to Slater that she was affected by her mother’s grief.
“Alive,” Pamela repeated a moment later, “and she would have done the right thing.”
Lana pulled back her shoulders. “The right thing?”
“Stephanie would have married Marsh.” Again, Pamela was adamant. “I’m sure of it.”
That caused Lana’s sympathy for her mother to vanish. “I think Stephanie’s priority would have been her son.” She looked as if she wanted to add a maybe to that, and he understood why. After all, Stephanie had had Lana bring the baby to him, so maybe she’d never had any intention of raising the child.
“I think you’re wrong,” Pamela argued. “Stephanie showed no interest in being a mother.”
“That might be, but she had a baby,” Lana argued right back. “Your grandson.”
“That child is not my grandson,” Pamela spat out.
Lana’s eyes went cold and flat. “So you won’t be challenging me for custody of him?”
“Of course not...” She stopped again. “Wait, are you saying you intend to raise that baby?”
“My nephew,” Lana said. “Yes. I love him and I’ll raise him. I think that’s what Stephanie would want me to do.”
“Stephanie would have wanted to put her past behind her and marry Marsh. Marsh is a very forgiving man, practically a saint, but I don’t believe even he would want to raise Stephanie’s mistake. Unless...has Marsh said something to you about that? Is he willing to raise the child with you?”
Lana cursed, and it wasn’t under her breath. It was plenty loud enough for her mother to hear. Pamela scolded her, but Lana talked right over her. “Stephanie did the paperwork to declare Slater as the baby’s father, so if I raise Cameron with anyone, it’ll be him.”
“With that cop?” Pamela said like the profanity Lana had just used. The woman geared up for what would no doubt be a tirade, but Lana ended the call.
“Sorry for bringing you into that,” Lana muttered. “I don’t expect you to be a father to Cameron.”
She was giving him an out, but Slater didn’t jump on it. At the moment, he wasn’t sure what his future would be with Lana and the baby, but he sure as hell didn’t want to be excluded.
Sighing, he moved onto the sofa with her, but before he doled out any TLC to repair the damage her mother had just done, he tapped her phone. “Let Julia know to warn BoBo.”
She nodded so fast that calling Julia must have already been on her to-do list. Lana sent the text, and then every last drop of energy seemed to drain right out of her. Or so he thought. But then Lana did something that he was certain shocked both of them.
She kissed him.
Her mouth landed on his, not particularly hard, but this wasn’t just a peck of reassurance, either. It was a full-blown kiss that she quickly deepened.
The taste of her roared through him and fired up everything inside him. Much too hot, much too fast. This was the kind of kiss that lovers shared. A foreplay moment right before landing in bed. And while his body was suddenly all up for that, Slater figured it wasn’t a good idea. Not at the moment, anyway.
Lana only took her mouth from his when she was forced to breathe, and she gulped in some air. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry,” she insisted. “I’m not going to regret this.” She stopped, though, and squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “All right, maybe I regret it some. It feels as if I’m using you to help me get through the grief.”
Slater wanted to nip this in the bud. “Were you attracted to me before Stephanie died?” he asked.
She blinked, nodded. “Yes.”
“Then the heat is real, period, and there’s no rule against kissing someone you’re attracted to because it feels good. Or because it makes you feel as if you’re not in this alone. Because you’re not.”
Lana stared at him a long time, and the corner of her mouth lifted as if she might manage a smile. The sound of her phone ringing put an automatic stop to that, though. She muttered something about it probably being her mother and looked at the screen, only to shake her head.
“It’s Taylor,” she said, and Lana’s sigh told Slater that she really didn’t have the desire to deal with the woman, but that didn’t stop her from answering the call on speaker.
“I want you to meet me, and I don’t want you to bring a lot of cops with you.” Taylor said in lieu of a greeting. “Just Deputy McCullough and you. Hear that? Just the two of you. I can’t make it today, but I’ll be at True Blue Coffeeshop tomorrow morning at nine.”
“And why would I want to go there?” she asked. “Why do you want to see me?”
Taylor huffed. “You’ll want to do it because it’s important.” She added a duh.
“If it’s that important, why not just tell me over the phone?” Lana demanded.
“Because I know something you don’t, that’s why.” The woman’s tone was beyond mere snark. “Be there tomorrow if you want to know the name of the person who teamed up with Buck to murder your sister.”