Chapter Six
With Slater right by her side and Detective Lisa Thayer across the table, Lana sat in the interview room of Austin PD and read through the now-typed statement she’d just given about her sister’s murder. It was all there. All spelled out.
Details that twisted and ate away at her like acid.
In hindsight, she could see so much potential for an outcome like this. Stephanie’s secrecy. The fear she’d seen in her sister’s eyes. Lana hadn’t gotten to the source of that fear, hadn’t managed to fix it in time, and now Stephanie had paid the ultimate price.
“Buck,” Lana muttered under her breath when her gaze landed on his name in the statement. She was well aware she’d spoken it like profanity, and it wasn’t the first time. It was something she’d been doing most of the night and now into the morning.
She couldn’t wrap her mind around Stephanie hooking up with a man like Buck, especially since according to those photos on social media, she had been involved with Buck’s brother, Patrick. Knowing Cameron’s bio-father didn’t lessen Lana’s love for her nephew, not one bit, but she knew it made their situation even more complicated.
If Patrick had been the dad, he could have petitioned for custody of Cameron. Had Patrick not been murdered, that is. But Buck was very much alive. And possibly a killer. Lana didn’t want someone like that to try to stake a claim on the baby.
“There’s still no sign of him,” Detective Thayer remarked after checking her phone. “Buck,” she added, though no clarification was needed.
Lana wondered where he was. Wondered if he was trying to figure out how to get to Cameron or her. She doubted the man would just run and hide, and part of her hoped he didn’t. She didn’t want to have to look over her shoulder for years, waiting for Buck to attack.
“You’ve got enough to arrest him if you find him,” Slater said. Not a question. He was no doubt just looking for verification.
Thayer nodded. “We’ve got the security camera footage from the break-in at Lana’s. The footage, too, of his hit-and-run. That’ll be enough to hold him while we build a case for murder.”
Murder .
There it was. Another word all spelled out, and even though it wasn’t fresh info, just hearing it brought back the avalanche of emotions. Lana had spent half the night crying for a sister she wasn’t even sure she loved. That had brought on yet another mother lode of guilt, not loving her only sibling. But there’d been so many times when Stephanie just hadn’t been likable.
That lack of love didn’t extend to Cameron, though. Just the opposite. Lana had loved him from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. And now she had a fierce instinct to protect him from the scum who was his biological father.
Did Buck know that he was Cameron’s father?
Maybe.
That could be the reason he’d gone after Stephanie, but it was just as likely he would want to eliminate Stephanie and Cameron regardless if he or his brother was the father. Because any baby born to either of them would be a threat to the inheritance.
Thayer’s phone dinged with another text, and her face seemed to relax a little. “Your parents and Marsh Bray are coming in at one today for interviews. Their lawyers had been stonewalling that, but I guess they gave in.” The detective looked at Slater. “If you’re interested, I can let you observe the interviews.”
“I’m very interested. Thanks,” Slater added.
The detective sighed a little when she turned to Lana. “I’m afraid I can’t extend that offer to you. Slater’s a cop with a vested interest in the outcome of this investigation, but I can’t let civilians observe.”
“I understand,” Lana said, and she did. She wanted this all done by the book so that Buck wouldn’t be able to shake off some of the charges on a technicality. She wanted him to serve the maximum time possible.
Thayer checked her watch. “It’ll be at least four hours before the interviews,” she said. “You’re welcome to wait in the lounge, or you can come back. I can have a police escort follow you to wherever you want to go.”
“We have a deputy from Saddle Ridge waiting outside,” Slater explained, standing when Thayer did.
As planned, Sonya had returned to Austin to escort them to police headquarters for the statement, and she’d be following them when they drove back to Saddle Ridge.
“Any chance during the interviews you can bring up Alicia Monroe and any possible connection to my father’s murder?” Slater asked Thayer.
The detective certainly didn’t jump to agree to that. Nor did she ask who Alicia was. That was because she’d already mentioned that she had gone through all the case notes on Buck and had seen that Buck had once been involved with the murdered teenager.
“You can’t think that Leonard and Pamela Walsh know anything about that particular murder,” Thayer finally said. “Do you?”
Slater shrugged. “Stephanie was at a party at Alicia’s house, and Stephanie clearly knew Buck, so maybe her folks did, too.” He stopped, shook his head. “Yeah, it’s a long shot, but I’d like to know if they, well, have any details we don’t already know about. It’s possible when you bring up Alicia’s name, they might recall Stephanie mentioning Buck or her.”
Lana considered what he’d just said and had a theory. “When Stephanie and I were teenagers, our parents made a habit of hiring PIs to keep an eye on us. They didn’t want us getting into any trouble that would cause bad publicity. So they might have known about Stephanie going to that party.” She paused. “They might have known about Buck and Alicia, too.”
“If they did, why wouldn’t they have volunteered that sooner?” Thayer came out and asked.
Lana didn’t have to think about this. “Again, bad publicity. They might have hoped to keep my sister’s pregnancy under wraps, but when she was murdered, they would want to do any possible damage control.”
“Not lying to the police, though, right?” Thayer questioned.
Lana had no choice but to just spell this out. “Lying is second nature to them. And right now, their focus isn’t on losing a daughter but rather keeping a lid on unsavory details that might come out. They won’t be happy to learn that a thug like Buck fathered Stephanie’s child.”
Thayer stayed quiet a moment. “So, maybe I can use that. They don’t know he’s the father, right?”
“They didn’t learn it from us,” Lana assured her.
“Good. Then I can mention it and see how they react. That’d be a good lead-in to bringing up Alicia and that party.”
Lana wished she could see her parents’ reaction to that. And Marsh’s. She wondered if Marsh would see Stephanie’s pregnancy as a betrayal. If so, that would give him motive for murder.
“I’ll let you know everything that happens in the interview,” Slater told Lana as they made their way out of the interview room.
Lana had had no doubts about that and murmured a thanks while she considered something else. “Once they know about Buck being Cameron’s father, my parents might feel obligated to try to get custody of him. I mean, how would it look in the press if they didn’t?”
It sickened her to think of handing over that precious baby to people like her parents. Thankfully, there’d be no way Buck could try to assert his parental rights. Not with his criminal record and the charges about to be leveled against him. Buck wouldn’t be a threat to custody. However, her parents might put up a good fight if they thought it would benefit them.
After they made their way down to the bottom floor, Slater texted Sonya to let her know they would soon be coming out of the building. That would mean another uneasy walk through the large visitors’ parking lot.
She and Slater retrieved their weapons from the security checkpoint at the front of the building and stepped outside, immediately glancing around for any signs of a threat. There were some uniformed cops going in and out of the sprawling headquarters complex. Some civilians, too. The place was a beehive of activity, which didn’t settle Lana’s nerves one bit.
As they threaded their way through the sea of parked cars, Lana’s phone vibrated, a reminder that she’d silenced it during the interview, and she frowned when she saw her mother’s name on the screen. She didn’t answer, not wanting to deal with either of her parents right now, but her mother immediately texted her.
Did you see the headlines? her mother asked. Someone is spreading lies about Stephanie.
Groaning, she showed the message to Slater just as he got his own text from Detective Thayer. The media’s picked up the story about Stephanie’s murder.
Great. It had to be bad press for the cop to give them a heads-up. Lana figured she’d need to glance through the article on the way back to the safe house. Not now, though. She didn’t want the distraction.
That thought had no sooner crossed her mind when Lana sensed the motion to her right. She snapped in that direction, her gaze automatically scanning for any sign of threat. She didn’t see any, but every nerve in her body was yelling for her to take notice. That danger was near.
And every nerve in her body was right.
Before she could even see exactly what the threat was, the man jumped out from behind the back of a large SUV, and Lana caught just a glimpse of the weapon before he jammed it against her chest. She felt the jolt of the stun gun go through her. Felt it rob her of all of the sensations in her body except for the pain. She could feel the pain. Every bit of it. And it literally brought her to her knees.
The feeling in her legs vanished, and she was suddenly boneless. Unable to move. Lana had no choice but to drop down on the concrete. Hard. So hard that it seemed to send a jolt through her.
Beside her, she heard the frantic footsteps, the spewed profanity, all mixed with the sickening thud of flesh slamming into flesh. But she couldn’t tell what was going on.
Oh, God. Was this Buck, and was he now going after Slater since he’d neutralized her? And she was neutralized. There was no question about that. Lana couldn’t reach for her gun. She couldn’t do anything to save Slater and herself.
It took every ounce of her energy, but Lana finally managed to roll onto her back so she could look up at the nightmare that was playing out in front of her. Slater hadn’t managed to draw his weapon, and he was in a hand-to-hand fight with a hulking brute. It was Buck all right, and he was even bigger and bulkier then he had seemed in his photos. He towered over Slater and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. She could only watch as Buck slammed one of his huge fists toward Slater’s face.
Slater managed to turn just in time so the fist was a glancing blow rather than a full-on punch, but that deflection didn’t stop Buck. He merely tried again, and when that one missed, he grabbed hold of Slater’s shoulder to drag him closer.
Around them, Lana could hear the shouts, and she prayed help was coming. Buck’s face was etched with rage, and she had no doubt if he got the chance, he would beat Slater to death.
Lana tried to kick out, hoping she could make contact with Buck’s leg so she could off-balance him, but the impact only seemed to anger him further. He looked down at her, cursing her.
“You’re a dead woman,” he snarled.
The threat cost him, because Slater took advantage of Buck’s distraction and drew his gun. Buck acted fast, though, latching onto Lana’s hair and dragging her up in front of him as a human shield. He pressed his back against the SUV.
“I’ll snap her neck,” Buck growled, the raging heat and anger in every word. “I’ll kill her where she stands.”
“No, you won’t,” Slater said. In contrast, his voice was all ice. As was his expression. “Because then you’ll have no cover. Look around you, Buck. Look at what you’re up against.”
Lana couldn’t fully turn her head, but from her peripheral vision, she could see several cops. All had their weapons drawn and aimed at Buck. She felt Buck’s breath quicken and could feel his heart slamming against her back. Lana also felt something else. The movement of Buck’s arm. When she felt the cold barrel of a gun jam against her head, she realized he, too, was armed.
“Yeah, but she’ll still be dead,” Buck taunted. “Tell your badge friends to back off, and she lives.”
Lana figured there was little to no chance of that. She suspected Buck wanted to use her to get to Cameron, and once she’d served her purpose, he’d kill her just as easily as he had Stephanie.
But she wouldn’t help him get to Cameron.
No way.
She’d die here before she let that happen.
“I think you badges call this a standoff,” Buck grumbled. “None of you has a clean shot. Can’t risk shooting me without putting bullets in her and any other unlucky person in the parking lot.”
Lana knew all of that was true. But she also knew that Slater wouldn’t just let Buck drag her away from here.
“So here’s my suggestion,” Buck went on. “Lana and me get in this SUV, and I drive off. I dump her a couple of blocks over—”
“No,” Slater said, his fierce gaze locked on Buck. “You’ll let her go now and will surrender to Austin PD.”
Buck made a snarky yeah-right. “And I guess you’ll say I’ll live happily ever after.”
“No,” Slater repeated. “You’ll be arrested and tried. But the alternative is dying right here, right now. At least with a trial you stand a chance of walking away a free man.”
He did. But Lana tried not to think of that as a possibility. She wanted this monster to pay for what he had done, for what he was continuing to do.
Lana tried to keep her breathing steady and tested some of her muscles. Slowly, the movement was starting to return. Not enough for her to have full control over her body, but she could maybe do something. Lana did more testing, trying to loosen the muscles in her neck while she tried not to panic over Buck’s tightening grip around her throat.
She made direct eye contact with Slater, trying to let him know that she was about to attempt something. Something he likely wouldn’t approve of, since it would be dangerous. But anything she did at this point could turn out to be fatal. It was the same if she did nothing at all.
Yelling to give herself a jolt of adrenaline, Lana rammed the back of her head into Buck’s face. She put as much force behind it as she could manage, and when he howled in pain, she rammed her elbow into his gut. That wasn’t nearly as effective as the headbutt, but it was enough to cause him to loosen his grip on her. The second he did, Lana dropped to the ground.
The sound of the shot immediately blasted through the air.
For a horrifying moment, she had no idea who’d been shot, and she was terrified that Buck had managed to shoot Slater. She looked up, trying to pick through the blaring morning light, and she saw Slater. Standing and with his gun still aimed.
Buck collapsed next to her.
She saw the blood spreading on the front of his shirt, but that didn’t stop Buck from reaching for her. He was going to try to pull her back into that human shield position. But Slater put a stop to that. He took hold of her arm and dragged her away from Buck, and in the same motion, he kicked away Buck’s gun.
Three other cops, including Sonya, moved in, all of them continuing to keep their guns trained on Buck. He didn’t move, though. Didn’t try to grab her again or attempt to fight back. Not that he could have. Lana was pretty sure he was bleeding out.
Slater hoisted her up, moving her behind him and anchoring her between him and a car. Good thing, too, since Lana didn’t have the feeling back in many parts of her body and she wasn’t sure she could stand on her own.
“Ambulance is on the way,” someone shouted. Several of the Austin cops moved in and one began to check the wound on Buck’s chest. “Is this the guy wanted for murder?”
Slater muttered, “Yes,” but continued to stare at Buck. “Did you kill Stephanie?” he asked.
Buck laughed. Or rather attempted one, anyway. It sounded more like a throaty gurgle. “No comment,” he managed.
So, even now, he wasn’t going to confess to relieve his conscience. Maybe because he thought he was going to live. Lana seriously doubted that, though, and obviously so did the cop tending to his wound. He was adding pressure to try to slow the bleeding, but it wasn’t working.
“Did you kill Sheriff Cliff McCullough?” Slater tried again.
Buck didn’t snarl out a verbal response, but he stared at Slater for a long time. In the distance, Lana could hear the wails of an ambulance.
“Did you kill him?” Slater repeated, speaking now through clenched teeth.
“I’m not gonna give you that,” Buck muttered, his voice growing weaker while the rage still flared in his dying eyes. “Here’s what I’ll give Lana and you. The truth. I’m not working by my lonesome. I’ve got a helper. A cold-blooded one. And Lana and you are going to die.”