Chapter Six
Cully paced across the floor of Owen’s office. Not that there was much room to do that in the ten by twelve foot space, but she had to do something to burn off this restless energy.
What she wanted was to question Roscoe and Renee, to demand answers about, well, everything. But Owen had nixed that right away because of the personal involvement.
The nixing hadn’t been just for her but for Declan, too. And that’s why Declan was also in Owen’s office, coping with the restless energy in his own way by working on his laptop. Last time she’d checked about a half hour earlier, he had been searching for anything on Noah.
Before that, they’d both checked old social media pages for any hints that what her mom had said was true. That Roscoe had been planning to divorce Renee and marry Savannah. They hadn’t found anything, which meant they’d have to resort to hearsay and gossip. Not exactly solid evidence, and it wouldn’t help that all of this had happened two decades ago.
For her father and Savannah anyway.
There was still no credible explanation as to why Jessica and Brandon had been murdered.
Judging from his occasional muttered profanity and scowl, Declan wasn’t coming up with anything useful during the searches on Noah either. Too bad about that since as far as Cully was concerned, Noah was just as much of a person of interest as Roscoe and Renee.
The problem was they couldn’t find Noah to question him, but the other two lived right here in Outlaw Ridge. Hopefully, Owen had already managed to get them into the station and was interrogating them now.
Cully stopped in the doorway and peered down the hall. She didn’t see anyone, but she could hear the buzz of activity going on in the bullpen. Since it was going on six pm, the swing shift of deputies were already in place, and she caught scents of the various meals that the cops were no doubt consuming at their desks. Burgers, onions, and pizza.
Her stomach growled, a reminder that it’d been hours since Declan and she had had those sandwiches Harley had brought over for them. She’d have to get something to eat soon. Since Outlaw Ridge wasn’t exactly a haven for online food deliveries, that meant she’d need to stop and get something on her way back to San Antonio. She didn’t intend to leave though until she got an in person update from Owen.
“The diner’s still open. I can give Harley a call and ask him to have something sent over,” Declan said, looking up from his laptop. Obviously, he’d heard her stomach announcing its need for food.
She shook her head. “I’ll get a bite to eat later.”
He shrugged, took out his phone. “You’re sure? I’m going to order me a cheeseburger, salad, and a milkshake.”
Until he’d added that last part, she’d been about to decline. But milkshakes were a weakness of hers. And Declan knew that. This was probably his sneaky attempt to make sure she ate.
“All right, order the same for me,” Cully said, and she added, “Thanks.”
He did a text order and got a quick response. “Harley said he’ll have someone bring it over in about thirty minutes.”
She repeated her thanks and started pacing again while her mind went back to the conversation they’d had with her mother. Back to Jessica and Brandon, too. With the revelation of a possible Roscoe-Savannah affair, that seemed like a clear motive for murder, but she still wasn’t seeing that with the other two bodies.
“I just can’t wrap my mind around the possibility of Roscoe or Renee killing their own child,” she voiced on a heavy sigh. “So, that points to someone else.”
Declan shrugged. “Could have been a heat of anger thing. Roscoe or Renee finds out about Jessica eloping, and there’s an argument that escalates into violence. Brandon and Jessica are accidentally killed.”
He stopped, and even he didn’t sound convinced that’d happened. Sighing, Declan set his laptop aside, got to his feet, and as she’d done seconds earlier, he went to the door to look out.
“But even if an argument with Jessica, Brandon, and Roscoe had turned ugly, then why cart the bodies to the house to put them behind that wall?” he continued, voicing one of the many questions that had been repeating in her head. “Or if they were already at the house, then why were they there? And that applies to all four victims. Why are they there at that out of the way place?”
Cully didn’t have an answer for any of that. “Mom said she used to go to parties at the house so maybe she took Dad with her after she started dating him. Or, heck, maybe it had become my father and Savannah’s meeting spot.” She put those last two words in quotes. “Jessica’s and Brandon’s, too. It’s not an especially romantic environment, what with the cobwebs and mice, but it’s private.”
All of that was a stretch. Her father had money and could have taken Savannah out of town to a hotel. And as for Jessica and Brandon, well, it was possible there’d never even been an affair.
“Going back to the voicemails Jessica and Brandon left us,” she continued a moment later, “if those were fake and from the killer, then maybe they were never planning to elope. That could have been a ruse by the killer to throw the cops off the scent that they’d actually been murdered.”
“Yeah,” Declan said with his back still to her. There was no hesitation in his response, and that let Cully know he’d already come up with that particular theory.
So, if that was true, that left them with the probability that Brandon and Jessica hadn’t betrayed them. That they hadn’t crushed Declan and her and sent them into each other’s arms.
“Was your mom right? Did you cry yourself to sleep at night after our breakup?” he asked, the question coming out of the blue.
Obviously, he’d gotten onto the same train of thought as she had. But with a twist, of course. She hadn’t wanted him to know about the heartbreak she’d been going through over losing their baby.
“There were tears,” she admitted.
He turned to face her, spearing her with those intense stormy gray eyes, as he walked closer to her. Declan right in front of her, only inches away.
“Then, why do it? Why the divorce?” he asked.
Sighing again, she took a moment to steady herself before she answered. “Because it was right thing to do on many levels. For as long as I’d known you, you had plans to be a military officer, and you needed a college degree for that. Marrying me meant working two and three jobs so we’d have a place to live.”
“So, you did it for me,” he said. Again, not sounding convinced.
Well, she was leaving out the part about the unplanned pregnancy which would have almost certainly derailed his plans. But there was another component to it as well.
“I did it for me, too,” Cully admitted. “I had plans as well. I needed to focus on school.”
She was leaving a lot out, of course. After she’d gotten pregnant and dealt with the initial shock of that, Cully had intended to move to Dallas to live with an aunt, have the baby there and then somehow manage to complete college.
Somehow.
The odds were she would have ended up dropping out of school if she hadn’t miscarried. And that was a reminder of the guilt. Guilt that was still so heavy at times, like now, that it felt as if it were vising her chest and squeezing the breath right out of her.
At the time she’d made her decision to leave Declan, she’d reasoned that only one of them should have to ditch their life plans. If she’d stayed and had the baby, Declan would have never let her make that sacrifice.
He kept his gaze pinned to hers, and Cully could have sworn he was trying to will the secrets out of her. And he might have managed to do it, too, if Owen hadn’t stepped into the office.
“The interviews aren’t going to happen today,” Owen informed them when they both turned toward him. “Both Roscoe and Renee lawyered up, and the lawyers won’t be available until morning. I’m guessing you’ll both want to observe those interviews,” he tacked onto that.
“Yes,” Declan and she said at once.
“All right, then be here at eight AM sharp for Renee. Roscoe’s will be at noon. For now, leave and get some rest. It’ll be a big day tomorrow, and if we get lucky, we might be able to get a confession, then make an arrest.”
Cully was hopeful for that, too, but she doubted Roscoe or Renee would just blurt out being a killer.
“Harley’s sending some dinner over for us,” Cully said, checking the time. “And I think I’ll get a room at the Sunset Inn. I’ve got a go-bag in my car, and staying in town will save me a trip back and forth.”
“Or you can use the guesthouse at my place,” Declan offered. “It’s separate from the main house so you wouldn’t be under the same roof as me,” he added. “And we can keep working, looking for any proof that Roscoe and Savannah were having an affair.”
That last part was tempting. But with this heat stirring between Declan and her, Cully knew that wasn’t a good idea. She would have politely refused if her phone hadn’t rung.
“Tansy,” she said, answering it right away. “Is everything all right with Mom?” Cully couldn’t ask fast enough.
“No,” Tansy was equally quick to answer. “She sneaked out of the house. I’m so sorry, Cully. I was in the bathroom, and when I heard the car outside, it was too late. She was driving away. I’ve tried to call her four times now, but she’s not answering. God, Cully, what should we do?”
The panic slammed at Cully, and she looked at Declan. “Mom left without telling Tansy where she was going.”
“You want an APB on her?” he wasted no time asking.
Cully lifted her finger in a wait a second gesture. “Tansy, I’m putting you on hold, and I’ll try to call her.”
She did that as quickly as she could, and Cully’s heart dropped when her mom’s phone rang and rang. Cully left a voicemail insisting Alice call her. She then hung up, tried again. Got the same results.
“Do the APB,” she told Declan.
And she started to pray that her mother was all right. Earlier, her mom had been thinking clearly, for the most part anyway, but something had obviously happened. Maybe learning her ex-husband was dead had been more than she could handle.
Cully switched back to the call with Tansy, and she put her phone on speaker for Owen and Declan. “Did Mom say anything when you last saw her?” she pressed.
“Not really. She was still going through those photo albums.”
Maybe something there had triggered her. “Look at the albums,” Cully instructed. “See if you can tell the last thing she was looking at.”
She heard Tansy’s hurried footsteps as she no doubt raced to Alice’s room. Cully also heard Declan put out the APB. This might turn out to be nothing. Maybe her mom had simply wanted to go for a drive and hadn’t remembered she shouldn’t be doing that. Maybe, too, she hadn’t charged her phone.
But to Cully, this felt like something.
Something bad.
“I’m in her room, and there’s only one album open,” Tansy said, sounding out of breath. “And it’s a picture of a very young looking Alice standing in front of…Cully, it’s the house you bought in Outlaw Ridge. You think that’s where Alice went?”
“It’s possible,” she admitted, already reaching for her purse and keys.
Declan took out his keys, too. “I’ll drive,” he insisted.
“And I’ll make sure there’s a rush on the APB,” Owen offered. “Call me as soon as you know something.”
“Will do,” Cully assured him, and Declan and she raced out of the police station to his SUV. The moment they were inside, Declan took off.
Cully tried to call her mom again. And got no answer. That didn’t do squat to settle her nerves, but she forced herself not to give into the panic. Maybe her mother just wanted to get another look at the house. Or see it now that she knew Derrick’s remains had been there.
“There could still be CSIs at the house,” Declan reminded her. “If so, they won’t let Alice in.”
True. But it was getting late, and it was possible the team had already called it a day, especially since the remains had already been removed and taken to the morgue.
Even though it was only a short drive to the house, each second felt like an eternity. Cully kept watch around them, looking for her mother’s car and saying more prayers that Alice wouldn’t get into an accident wherever she was. No way should she be driving with the cocktail of meds she regularly took to manage her condition.
The tires of the SUV squealed when Declan quickly took the final turn to the house, and Cully breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar blue Volvo out front. It was her mother’s car.
But she didn’t see her mother.
However, a CSI van was indeed still there so hopefully that meant someone had stopped Alice before she could compromise a crime scene.
Declan stopped behind the Volvo and the van, and they barreled out. “Mom?” Cully immediately called out.
No response from her mother, but Harris Mendoza, who was still dressed in his CSI protective outfit, came onto the porch. “She’s in here. I’ve already sent my guys home, but I stayed behind to lock up when your mom came running in. I was just about to call you to let you know she was here.”
“Thank you,” Cully muttered though her mind was on getting inside and checking on her mother.
Harris lifted the crime scene tape from across the door so that Declan and she could run in, and they hurried straight to the room where the remains had been found.
And there was Alice.
Cully got hit with both the overwhelming relief and the anger at her mother giving her this scare.
“I’ll text Owen and let him know to call off the search for Alice,” Declan muttered.
While he did that, Cully had an important question for her mother. “Mom, what are you doing here?”
Alice turned toward Declan and her, and Cully immediately saw the vacant Who are you ? look in her eyes. “Is Noah here?” Alice asked. “I came to see him.”
Declan and Cully exchanged a glance, and she went closer to her mom. “Do you know Noah Kincaid?”
“Of course, I know him,” Alice spat out. She was clearly agitated now, wringing her hands and muttering something under her breath. She fired glances around as if she expected Noah to jump out of nowhere.
Or out of that wall.
And that caused everything inside Cully to go still. “How do you know Noah, Mom?”
Alice turned away from her, studying what remained of the wall. “Noah’s a bad man. Don’t trust him.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard her mention him,” Cully whispered to Declan.
“How is Noah bad?” Declan asked, his voice calm and easy.
“Bad,” Alice repeated, and she kept mumbling it when she turned to go out of the room.
All three of them followed her, and she stopped at the base of the stairs, looking up to the second floor landing. “It’s up there,” Alice whispered.
“What is?” Cully wanted to know.
“Noah’s gun.” Alice still kept her voice low, as if she was afraid someone might hear her. “It’s under the floorboard of his room.” Her fingers were trembling when she pointed to the open door on the second floor. “I think Noah killed someone with that gun.”
Cully looked at Declan, and it was obvious he was trying to figure out how to handle this. “Would that Fido machine have detected a gun?” he asked her.
“It would if they used it on the floor, but I’m pretty sure they only checked the walls. Are you going to call Owen?” Cully tacked onto that.
“I will if we find something, but this could be…” He trailed off, not spelling out that this could be a wild goose chase. “All right.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and turned to Harris. “Would you mind taking Alice out to her car and sitting with her? I just want to take a quick look upstairs.”
“Of course,” Harris agreed. “Mrs. O’Banion, why don’t you come with me? You remember me, right? You used to serve me breakfast at the diner.”
Alice looked at him, and some recognition seemed to light in her eyes. “Of course. Harris. Two eggs over easy, bacon, and a biscuit with extra butter.” She took a step with him and then stopped. The confusion returned when she glanced at Declan and Cully. “Why are you here? Why am I here?” she amended.
Cully gently kissed her cheek. “We’ll talk about that in a little while. For now, go with Harris. Declan and I will be out in a few minutes, and I can take you home.”
“You could wait with your mom,” Declan said when Harris led her mother toward the front door.
“I want to see if there’s a gun,” Cully insisted. And she wanted to know a whole lot more about Noah. Maybe her mother would stay lucid enough so she could answer some questions about the man.
Thankfully, Declan didn’t give her an argument about her going with him. Also, thankfully, the stairs were sturdy. The contractor had checked them and all the floors, and he’d deemed them safe so there was no need to fear falling through. However, the stairs did seem to creak with each step Declan and she took.
“That’s the main bedroom?” he asked, motioning to the door where her mother had pointed.
“It is. And there’s no furniture or debris in it. It’s been cleared so a bathroom can be added, but the demolition hasn’t started.”
Her heart and breath were racing now, and while finding a gun wouldn’t necessarily be proof that Noah was the killer, it could be the break they needed in this investigation.
Even though the sun hadn’t set yet, the outside light was already going dim which meant the entire upstairs was dim as well. That was especially true for the bedroom when they stepped into it. She flipped the light switch, but it didn’t work so she took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.
As she’d told Declan, the room was empty, and the floors were in fairly good shape. She scanned the flashlight over the boards, looking for any one of them that might be slightly lifted. But they were all level and didn’t appear to have been pried up at any time.
Declan turned on his phone flashlight as well, and he started stepping onto the boards one by one. Not actual stomps but hard enough to detect if there was a hollow space beneath any of them.
Cully went to the other side of the room and did the same, listening for any clue that there might actually be a gun hidden here. Working together, Declan and she made it through the entire room.
And heard nothing.
He cursed. “All the floors will need to be checked.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “We can get Fido up here in the morning. If there was a gun, and it’s been removed, there might still be some kind of evidence left behind in a hidey hole. Sometimes, even the dust around it can leave a clear enough imprint.”
Declan opened his mouth to say something, but then he lifted his head, sniffed. “Do you smell that?” he asked.
She sniffed, too, and was ready to say no when she caught the scent. Or rather scents . Gasoline and smoke.
“Hell,” Declan spat out, and he ran out onto the landing. And he cursed some more.
So did Cully. Because below on the first floor, the fire was already racing up the steps toward them.