Chapter Three
Lexa wasn’t the least bit surprised when Aiden and she stepped into the police station, and she saw the sheriff waiting for them in the deputies’ bullpen. In the nearly four months that she’d worked for Owen, she had found him to be a very involved boss.
A possible dead body, the fire, and Aiden’s and her brush with death would be more than enough to have him show up.
“Are you both all right?” Owen immediately asked.
Aiden nodded, and she muttered, “Yes.”
Though they probably didn’t look all right. Their clothes reeked of smoke and were charred in spots where embers had landed on them. Her shirt also had blood on it, no doubt from where she’d wrapped the wedding dress around her. But other than their rough appearance, Aiden and she had fared well. They were alive, and her only injuries were a few scrapes and bruises.
Owen made a sound as if he was assessing their responses. Assessing them, too, and he didn’t quite seem to buy that “all right” insistences. Still, he didn’t call them on it, but instead shifted his attention to Brady, who had ridden there in the cruiser with them. Callie and Shaw were standing behind the man.
“Brady,” Owen greeted. Since Owen had been raised in Outlaw Ridge, he not only knew Brady, but rumor had it that he’d also once dated Brady’s late mother when they’d been teenagers.
Small worlds often complicated the devil out of situations like this. Objectivity could be a hard fought battle. But Owen was no doubt well aware that in cases of murdered women, the spouse or partner was usually the most likely suspect.
And Brady was indeed just that.
Because of that small world thing, Lexa hoped that Brady hadn’t offed his fiancée because if he had, that meant he had also likely been responsible for Aiden and her coming close to being burned alive.
Yeah, she didn’t want Brady to have done any of that.
“Callie, could you please take Brady to interview room one?” Owen asked. “Get him some water or a soda, and if he wants, let him call his lawyer.”
Brady made a strangled sound, a mix of a huff and a gasp. “My lawyer? Why would I need…”
His words trailed off, and realization must have sunk in. He didn’t get angry or shout out that he was innocent. Maybe because there was a hefty amount of shock playing into this. Brady lowered his head, and there was zero trace of the fearless Navy SEAL that he’d once been as he followed Callie out of the bullpen.
Owen watched them leave, and he didn’t say anything else until Brady was out of earshot. “I’ve already taken Esther’s statement and then let her go. She didn’t tell me anything that I think we can use to solve this case. It’s the same for the buttload of calls from people who saw the fire department and other responders but no actual attack or arsonist.”
“I’m guessing one of those calls didn’t come from Chloe herself,” Lexa muttered, hoping but knowing that was a serious long shot.
“No, I had Hayes and Jemma go to Chloe’s place, but she wasn’t there,” Owen explained, referring to the two deputies. Since the pair wasn’t on swing shift, Owen had obviously called them in. “Her doors were all locked, and the place looked secured. From what they could see through the windows, there were no signs of a struggle. Since there was some question about Chloe’s whereabouts and possible safety, they jimmied the lock and went inside. No Chloe.”
So, that ruled out the possibility that the woman was at home and had merely left her things at the manor before…well, whatever the hell was that had happened.
“According to Brady, Chloe was going to walk from her place to the manor so her car wasn’t there,” Aiden let Owen know.
Owen nodded. “It’s parked in front of Chloe’s house. The CSIs will go over it just in case there’s anything to find.”
Lexa doubted there would be since it hadn’t been near the site of all that blood. Still, examining her vehicle and her house were investigative boxes that had to be checked off.
“Did you manage to get in touch with Lily Whitaker?” Lexa asked. Because that was another box that needed checking off. The owner of the manor might give them some critical info.
“I did,” Owen verified. “She said that Chloe mentioned wanting to come to the manor, but there were no firm plans. Chloe did have a key to the place,” he added before Lexa could ask. “Apparently, she picked it up a few days ago when she brought over the dress.”
So, a key but no set time for Chloe to be at the manor. That didn’t exactly conflict with what Brady had said. But it didn’t verify his account either.
Owen stared at them. “What I want to know is, has there actually been a murder, and second, did Brady do it?”
Aiden and Lexa exchanged a glance. And a sigh. “We didn’t find a body,” Aiden spelled out. “What we did find was a whole lot of blood in both the changing room and the women’s restroom. There were also some drops and smears in the hall leading between those two rooms.”
“Enough blood to indicate Chloe could be dead?” Owen asked.
Lexa shook her head, then shrugged. “Not sure. Like Aiden said, there was a lot of it, but it was mainly spatters, drops, and castoff except for one puddle in the dressing room.”
Owen took a moment, obviously processing that. “So, maybe a body or someone with serious injuries. And maybe it’s Chloe.”
“Her purse was in the changing room, and her phone was in the bathroom,” Lexa pointed out. “And Brady said that she had gone to the manor to practice walking down the aisle.” She pulled in a breath and hated that she also dragged in the stench of that smoke and blood. “There was also some damage in the main room where the ceremonies and receptions are held. Broken vases, trampled flowers, overturned chairs. That could have been from a struggle.”
It didn’t take a vivid imagination to see how it could have played out. Someone could have walked in on Chloe while she was at the manor. Chloe could have tried to get away and was stabbed, shot or hit with a blunt object in the process.
“There were drag marks and more blood behind the manor,” Shaw added, taking up the explanation. “That’s where we found the ring. The CSIs and Declan are there now combing through the area. There’s something else you need to know,” Shaw tacked onto that before Owen could respond. “Night before last, Brady and Chloe had one hell of an argument at Outlaw’s Rest.”
Owen, Aiden, and Lexa all turned in Shaw’s direction. The Outlaw’s Rest was an old-timey saloon on the edge of town, and while Lexa didn’t go there very often, she knew it was a popular place.
“I was there,” Shaw went on, “and I don’t know what started the argument, but it got pretty intense. They kept their voices muffled, but then Chloe threw a drink in Brady’s face and stormed out.”
Lexa groaned. Damn it. That didn’t make things look good for Brady.
Owen obviously felt the same. “Shit,” he snarled, and he scrubbed his hand over his face. “I’m guessing Chloe didn’t call off the wedding if according to Brady, she’d gone to the manor to practice her walk.”
The silence settled over them for a couple of snail-crawling moments. And Lexa figured they were all thinking the same thing.
That they couldn’t take Brady at his word.
In fact, it was possible that maybe Chloe had ended things with him. Then, if she’d gone to manor to get her dress, Brady could have followed her and killed her there.
“All right,” Owen said, shifting his attention back to Shaw. “Find me anything you can on the argument that the lovebirds had at Outlaw’s Rest. I’m sure there’ll be plenty who have their own version of events. Then, see if anyone knows about Chloe calling off the wedding.”
“Will do,” Shaw assured him, already taking out his phone and heading to his desk.
“I need photos of the ring and the wedding dress to show Brady,” Owen said, turning back toward Aiden and her.
Aiden held up his phone. “I snapped them right before we left the manor. The CSIs took both items for processing.”
Lexa had watched the CSIs bag the items and label them as top priority. The dress was ripped and sooty, but that big blood stain still showed up loud and clear. And since both Aiden’s and her DNA and prints were on file, the lab would be able to rule out any trace they’d left behind.
Owen slid glances at both Aiden and her. “Are you two up to being in the interview with Brady?”
“Yes,” she couldn’t answer fast enough. Lexa wanted to know what the man had to say. Aiden obviously felt the same since he gave a quick nod.
Owen motioned for them to follow him, and they made their way down the hall with its freshly painted walls and new tiled flooring. That newness applied to the entire building that Owen had personally paid to have renovated after it’d been damaged when most of the police force had been killed.
It was impossible for Lexa to walk this hall and not remember that.
But the newness also made her made her think of fresh starts. And she had to pray that nothing like that would ever happen again, especially with all the security equipment Owen had had installed. No killer would be able to just walk in and start murdering cops.
Owen, Aiden, and she stepped into the interview room to find Callie by the door and Brady pacing like a caged tiger. The gravity of the situation had clearly sunk in, and Brady was no longer in the stage of hanging his head. Nope. There was fire in his pale blue eyes.
Because of that no degrees of separation, Lexa forced herself to look at Brady as if she’d never seen him before. He was tall and lanky with blond hair and a light complexion. He was basically a reverse image of Aiden’s features of black hair and brown eyes.
There was no blood on Brady’s clothes, and Lexa couldn’t see any scratches or bruises anywhere on him. That was in no way conclusive proof that he hadn’t been in some kind of altercation. It was possible that Chloe simply hadn’t been able to fight back.
“I need you to help Shaw with what he’s working on,” Owen told Callie. “And try to chase down any preliminary reports from the CSIs.”
“I didn’t do anything to harm Chloe,” Brady insisted as Callie exited the room.
Owen held up his hand in a wait a second gesture, and he gave a verbal command to turn on the recorder. Once he named the date, time, and everyone present, they all sat at the table, and he recited the Miranda warning to Brady.
Brady squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “I didn’t kill her,” he insisted when Owen had finished. “I love Chloe. We’re getting married the day after tomorrow.”
Owen didn’t respond to any of that. “Deputy Brodie, could you please show Brady the photos.”
Aiden complied, lifting his phone so that Brady could see the pictures. “Do you recognize either of these things?” he asked.
Brady’s mouth went tight. “Yes, that’s Chloe’s engagement ring, and I think that’s her wedding dress. What happened to it?” he quickly tacked onto that. “What happened to her?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Owen assured him.
“There’s blood on the dress,” Brady muttered, and he swallowed hard. “Is it Chloe’s? Has she been hurt?”
Owen lifted his shoulder. “We don’t know yet. The dress is on the way to the lab. If Chloe’s DNA isn’t in the database, then the CSIs will try to get a sample from her house to try to use as a match. Or they can maybe get it from a close relative.”
“Her brother, Hudson,” Brady volunteered. “He’s a bartender and lives in San Antonio.” He took out his phone and showed them the number in his contacts. “Their parents are dead, so it’s just the two of them.”
“I don’t recall ever seeing Hudson around,” Lexa said, jotting down the number on the notepad that was already on the table.
“No,” Brady agreed. Another pause, and the muscles stirred in his jaw. “Hudson and I don’t get along. He, uh, didn’t want Chloe to marry me.”
Interesting. And it gave them another person of interest in this possible murder. At Owen’s nod, Lexa texted Callie so she could get started on locating Chloe’s brother.
“Brady, when’s the last time you saw your fiancée?” Owen asked.
He glanced at the clock. “About five hours ago. I was at my office, finishing up some work, and she dropped by to see me and to tell me about her plans to go to the manor.”
Lexa made a note of that, too. Brady was a lawyer in his dad’s firm, and the building was right next to the town’s pharmacy. That meant there’d be security cameras that might have recorded Chloe’s visit.
“Your wedding is supposed to be in two days, and you were working,” Owen pointed out. “No stag party? No last minute things to deal with?”
“The party was last weekend,” Brady said, and he got a confirming sound of agreement from Aiden. “And as for the wedding details, Chloe wanted to handle all of that. She insisted the only thing I had to do was show up.”
That meshed with what Lexa knew about the woman. Chloe was a CPA, and if the gossip was true, she liked to be in charge.
“Why did Chloe visit you at your office?” Owen continued a moment later.
Some color flushed on the man’s cheeks. “To do some more kissing and making up. We’d had a spat the night before last. We resolved that,” Brady was quick to add. “But Chloe wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings left between us.”
“And was there?” Lexa asked.
“No,” Brady snapped. “We had worked all of that out.”
“What exactly did you have to work out?” Aiden asked. “What was the argument about?”
Brady opened his mouth, closed it, and then shook his head. “Chloe was upset because she’d heard talk about me kissing a stripper at my bachelor’s party. I hadn’t. But she was mad, and I didn’t handle it right. I tried to joke about it, and she, well, she threw her drink at me. She’s never done anything like that before.”
Lexa had certainly never heard of that happening, and in a small town, that kind of juicy gossip wouldn’t have stayed secret. “I take it Chloe is the jealous type?” she wanted to know.
Brady shook his head, shrugged. “She never has been, but I guess that hit a nerve with her. Plus, she’s super stressed about the wedding, so I think she overreacted. But we made up,” he emphasized.
Again, that would be something they’d have to check. Someone would likely recall seeing Brady and Chloe in public since that argument at the saloon.
“Where were you this evening before you showed up at the Yellow Rose Manor?” Owen asked.
“Home,” Brady answered without hesitation, but judging from his expression, he seemed to think that was a trick question. “I, uh, left work shortly after Chloe dropped by, went home, ate dinner, and showered. Chole had said she might drop by after she did the walking rehearsal.”
“Showered,” Owen repeated, and Lexa heard the concern in her boss’ tone. It was possible that Brady was telling the truth about his evening. But the shower could have been taken to wash away any blood from an attack.
“Chloe and you don’t live together?” Owen asked, though he no doubt already knew the answer.
“No. Chloe’s old-fashioned like that. She didn’t want us to live as a couple until we were married.”
“Will you consent to us searching your house?” Owen pressed. “Or do we need to get a warrant?”
“Search it.” Again, Brady was quick with that. “Do whatever you need to do to try to find Chloe.” He stopped and glanced at his phone. “Hell. I need to call my dad. I don’t want him to hear about this through the gossip mill.”
Lexa was surprised Brady’s father, Wylie, hadn’t already heard. And hadn’t already called. Chloe wasn’t the only person in town with a reputation for wanting to control things. That description fit Wylie to a tee.
“My dad thought Chloe would call off the wedding,” Brady said under her breath.
“Why is that?” Owen didn’t waste any time asking.
Brady flushed again. “Because he thought Chloe was after family money. She wasn’t,” he snapped out. And there was obviously some anger about his father’s opinion. “Chloe loves me, and I love her.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a shout rang out. “I will see the sonofabitch now,” someone yelled.
Brady got to his feet. “That’s Chloe’s brother, Hudson. He might know where Chloe is.”
With that, Brady rushed to the door, and Owen didn’t stop him. He merely said, for the sake of the recording, “Interview paused. All parties exiting the room.” And he added the time before they hurried out after Brady.
“Let me see him,” Hudson yelled, his voice seemingly echoing through the whole building.
They rushed into the bullpen area to find Shaw trying to restrain the beefy brown-haired man. Lexa noted the family resemblance. Noted, too, that Hudson was about to burst with fury.
Fury that he aimed at Brady when his narrowed gaze landed on him.
“There you are, you sonofabitch,” Hudson snarled. He took a swing at Shaw, clearly trying to break free of him.
Hudson rammed his elbow into Shaw’s gut, and both Owen and Aiden hurried forward to help control the man. Hudson had to be fueled by a whopping amount of rage and adrenaline because he tried to fight all three.
A fight he soon lost.
Aiden outmuscled the larger man, pinning his arms in place while Shaw cuffed him. “Put him in a cell until he calms down,” Owen insisted.
“I’m not calming down,” Hudson snarled, tacking on some vicious profanity. Again, that was all aimed at Brady, who was stock still at the back of the room. “Not until you arrest that sonofabitch.”
“Arrest him for what?” Lexa demanded.
Hudson didn’t take his attention off Brady. “For murdering my sister. He killed her. I know he did.”