Chapter Ten
Lana made the mistake of taking in a deep breath just as Slater walked into the living room after finishing his shower. He smelled amazing, not just of soap, but his own unique scent that lingered just beneath.
His hair was damp, and he ran a hand through it, all that was needed to make it look as if it’d been tousled and fallen in the perfect way to frame his face. A face that apparently had the ability to arouse her with a mere glance.
If they hadn’t been neck-deep in an investigation, she might have gone the reckless route and kissed him again. But she instinctively knew that a kiss wouldn’t just stay a kiss. The heat had escalated too much for that. The next time their mouths met, they’d likely end up in bed. That’s why she’d kept her distance from him the night before and now this morning. And she’d been faring fairly well until she’d seen this hot, damp cowboy version of the man who seemed to have nailed down more than his share of hotness.
Lana cleared her throat and drank some coffee while she glanced out at the Austin skyline. She certainly hadn’t expected to spend another night at the safe house, but that’s what she and Slater had ended up doing. All to accommodate Taylor, who wouldn’t budge on giving them the info unless it was in person. Of course, it had occurred to them that this could all be a ruse to draw her and Slater out, but after a long debate, they had decided to go for it.
With serious precautions.
Even though Taylor had insisted they not bring any cops, that wasn’t going to happen. Detective Thayer and some of her fellow officers had already scoped out the coffee shop, and while they would be keeping watch in a building across the street, one of the cops would be undercover as a waitress. After all, if Taylor truly did know something about an accomplice and had withheld that, the woman could be charged with obstruction of justice.
Taylor would no doubt curse and protest if an arrest happened, but Lana didn’t care. The only thing she wanted was the name of the person responsible so he or she could be arrested. Then, she and Slater could return to Saddle Ridge, and...well, she didn’t know what would happen next, but “next” couldn’t even begin until she was certain Cameron would be safe.
“How’s the baby this morning?” he asked, tipping his head to her phone she was still holding. Slater also knew that while he was showering, she’d phoned his sister.
“He was awake and so alert,” Lana said, well aware that she sounded like a gushing new mother. But Cameron had indeed been alert, and even though she’d read that a newborn’s eyes couldn’t focus well, it had seemed the baby was looking right at her.
“You’ll be back with him soon,” Slater assured her.
“Yes, hopefully soon and with no killer after us.” She waved that off, though, when he started toward her, no doubt to dole out some TLC. “It’s okay. I don’t have much faith that Taylor can actually give us a name, but I’m hoping whatever she tells us will lead to something.”
Slater made a sound of agreement and sank down on the sofa next to her, bringing his scent and that amazing face even closer to her. “If Taylor is the accomplice, then the danger could be over even if there isn’t enough to arrest her. Everything in her background points to her being an obsessed ex-girlfriend. She has no history of any kind of violence and no criminal record.”
That was all true. Marsh hadn’t even gotten a restraining order against Taylor when she’d basically stalked him. And not once had she attacked Marsh. Well, nothing official anyway, and Marsh certainly hadn’t mentioned it.
“You’re saying that without Buck to do her bidding Taylor won’t try to kill us,” she stated.
Slater nodded. “I can’t say the same, though, about what she might do to Marsh, and I hope he’s taking precautions. Taylor won’t be happy if he doesn’t reunite with her now that Stephanie is out of the picture.”
Again, that was true, and while it would be awful if Taylor hurt or killed him, Lana had her own concerns without taking him on.
Slater’s phone dinged with a text, and Lana immediately guessed who it was. And she was right.
“Sonya’s waiting for us out front,” Slater said as he read the message.
That meant it was time for them to leave for the True Blue Coffeeshop. Time to step out the door and pray that all their security measures were enough to keep them alive.
Since the plan was for Slater and her to return to Saddle Ridge right after the meeting, they grabbed their things, and Lana locked up on their way out. They got in the cruiser in the garage, checking their surroundings as Slater backed out.
Lana glanced at Sonya, who was also making some glances around, but she thankfully didn’t see any alarm on the deputy’s face. Didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious, either.
Both she and Slater had already mapped out the safest route to the coffee shop, so they didn’t go the most direct way since it would have meant long stops at traffic lights. Stops where someone could have taken shots at them. Instead, they went the side streets that were not only less busy but also meant fewer stops.
When they arrived at the True Blue, Slater went past the shop and as planned parked in a lot just around the corner. Of course, anyone looking for them would easily spot the cruiser, but they hadn’t wanted to use a lot where someone would have had time to plant explosives or such.
They parked, and after getting the green light from Thayer, she and Slater went inside while Sonya waited in her cruiser. The deputy would be able to swoop in quickly if something went wrong and get Slater and Lana out of there fast.
Still keeping watch, they stepped in to the expected strong scents of coffee and sugary pastries. True to its name, the decor was of varying shades of blue, and despite it being crowded, Lana noticed Taylor right away. She was at one of the back booths, away from the storefront windows. That was by design as well, since it was where the undercover cop had seated her.
Taylor was drinking something white and foamy from a cobalt mug while reading something on her phone and didn’t seem to immediately spot them. When Slater and Lana slid into the seat across from her, she finally looked up.
“I thought you might chicken out and not come,” Taylor grumbled. “You’ll be glad you didn’t.”
Lana hoped she was right, and she wondered if Taylor knew what kind of risk she was taking. Especially if she was about to spill anything about the hacker she’d hired. Thayer wouldn’t arrest Taylor on the spot for that, but Lana had no doubts that the woman would eventually be charged. For now, though, the plan was to see if Taylor actually had any info helpful to the investigation.
Slater waved off a waitress who came over to ask if they wanted anything, and he pinned his stare to Taylor. “Tell us why we’ll be glad about deciding to come here.”
Taylor had a long sip of her drink first, and when she lifted her gaze, Lana saw the red in her eyes. Maybe from crying. But Lana figured she’d shed no tears for Stephanie. This had to be about something or someone else.
“Who’s Buck’s accomplice?” Slater came out and asked.
Annoyance flashed through Taylor’s eyes. “I’ll get to that, but there are some other things you need to know. Marsh and I are over. Yesterday, when I went to his place to try to comfort him, he basically told me to get lost. The SOB didn’t even want to see me.” She clamped her teeth over her bottom lip for a moment. “After all the waiting around I did for him, he wanted nothing to do with me.”
That didn’t surprise Lana, and judging from the sound Slater made, it didn’t surprise him, either. Marsh was all about Stephanie. Well, he seemingly was anyway, and if he’d planned on getting back with Taylor, he likely would have done it after Stephanie disappeared. Did that mean that Taylor was about to try to get some revenge by naming Marsh as the accomplice?
“So, this means I don’t care what happens to the SOB,” Taylor went on. “And I’m done protecting him.”
That got Lana’s and Slater’s attention. “You protected Marsh?” Slater questioned. “How?”
“By not telling the cops that Marsh knew where Stephanie was hiding out. He knew,” Taylor insisted, shifting her gaze to Lana. “Marsh found out just a week before Stephanie was killed. And I think your father knew that Marsh had found out. He might have even been the one to tell Marsh.”
Again, Lana wasn’t surprised since she now knew that her father had indeed learned Stephanie’s location. It was something he probably would have passed along to Marsh in the hopes that it would spur Stephanie and Marsh to reconcile.
“Did Marsh go see Stephanie when she was here in Austin?” Lana asked.
“Probably,” Taylor spat out. “Of course, he never admitted that to me, and I don’t have any actual proof that he saw her. But Marsh was a sad, sick puppy when it came to Stephanie, and he was too blind to see that Stephanie didn’t even want him. I blame your father for that, too. He made Marsh believe the only woman for him was your precious sister.”
Lana blamed her father for that as well. But then, he’d done a lot of things that she disapproved of.
“How did you learn that Marsh knew where Stephanie was?” Slater pressed when the woman fell silent.
Taylor’s attention went back to her drink. “I had a PI keep track of him. I did it for his own good,” she was quick to add. “Because I needed to know if he was about to make a huge mistake by trying to see Stephanie. Like I said, I was protecting him.”
“Yet Stephanie is the one who ended up dead,” Slater threw out there.
Taylor’s gaze slashed back to him again. “Marsh didn’t kill her. He’s not Buck’s accomplice.”
“Do you believe that because you’re still in love with Marsh?” Lana wanted to know.
“I believe it because it’s true,” Taylor snarled. “I didn’t ask you to come here so I could get you to arrest my ex-lover. I want your father arrested.”
Lana waited, but Taylor didn’t add more. She certainly didn’t add any proof, and then it occurred to Lana what might be going on here. Taylor clearly blamed Leonard for orchestrating the relationship between Marsh and Stephanie, and Taylor wanted him to pay for that.
“Are you saying that Leonard is Buck’s accomplice?” Slater demanded.
Taylor gave a firm nod. And that was it. Nothing more.
Slater huffed. “If you have proof that Leonard is the accomplice, then you should have told Detective Thayer.”
“I’m not telling her anything,” Taylor snapped. “She questioned me like I was a common criminal, and I won’t be treated like that.”
“So instead you’re telling us, knowing we’ll report it to Thayer,” Slater summarized. On a heavy sigh, he leaned back in his seat. “There’s just one problem with that. No cop will arrest Leonard Walsh just because of what you’ve said. They need proof.”
Taylor gave him an indignant look. “I have proof,” she said, picking up her phone from the table. “I remembered this picture I took, but it took me a while to find it because I’ve put my photos in several different online storages over the years. It’s all the proof you’ll need that Leonard and Buck are best buds.”
Lana held her breath and waited while Taylor tapped her screen and showed them the photo. It appeared to have been taken at a party, not a recent one, either, and it was of her father and Buck. Her father was smiling and had his arm slung around a very youthful, fresh-faced Buck. There were no traces of the thug that Buck had become in recent years. In this shot, he looked like the other preppy-dressed partiers milling in the background.
One of those preppy partiers was Marsh. Lana had no trouble recognizing him, either. He was standing back from Buck and Leonard, but he didn’t seem to have his attention on them.
“When was this taken?” Slater asked.
“According to the date in the storage cloud, it was nearly twenty years ago,” Taylor answered. “That would have been my first year of college. I think Leonard was there because Marsh’s family hosted it.”
So that’s why Marsh was there. Perhaps Lana’s mother had been, too.
Slater made an odd sound, a sort of grunt that came deep from within his chest, and Lana turned to see what’d caused it. She doubted his reaction was because of this old picture of her father and Buck, which in no way proved they were best buds or had ever conspired to commit murder.
Slater took the phone, causing Taylor to snarl out a protest, but he ignored it and enlarged the photo. Not the portion with her father and Buck. But of the person next to them. And that’s when Lana saw it.
Or rather Lana saw her .
Alicia Monroe.
Sweet heaven. It was the young woman who’d been murdered nearly twenty years ago. The woman whose murder Slater’s father had been investigating. Slater clearly saw her, too, and he muttered some profanity under his breath.
“Buck was a person of interest in Alicia’s murder,” Slater said. “And here they are.”
Yes, they were in the same photo, which was proof that Buck did indeed know her. But in this picture, there was an odd sort of dynamic going on. Marsh was looking at Alicia. Lana could see that now. And Alicia wasn’t looking at either Buck or Marsh. No. Alicia and Leonard were staring at each other, and in that frozen snapshot of time, Lana could practically see the attraction sizzling between them.
Lana gasped. Oh, mercy. Had her father and Alicia been lovers?