Chapter Nine
Sipping his third cup of coffee, Declan stood at the window of the Sunset Inn, something he’d spent a lot of time doing throughout the night. Keeping watch didn’t lend itself to a peaceful sleep, but he had wanted to make sure someone didn’t try to burn Cully and him alive.
Thankfully, no one had come for them.
He wasn’t sure if that was because they weren’t actual targets. Maybe they’d just been in a wrong time, wrong place situation. But the bottom line was the arsonist would have almost certainly known they were inside and had set fire to it anyway. That could mean the killer thought Cully and he were getting close to learning the truth about the murders.
But they weren’t.
In fact, they weren’t any closer than they had been yesterday when the remains had been discovered. That was yet something else Declan hoped to remedy today. Once they found Renee, then the woman could be questioned, and she might come clean if she was the one who’d attempted to murder Cully and him.
Of course, it could have been a wrong time, wrong place situation for Renee, too. She might be innocent in all of this. Still, her disappearance went a long way to making her look guilty as sin.
There was a soft knock at the interior door that joined Cully’s and his rooms. That was something Declan had insisted on in case he had to get her out of there fast. He was pretty sure the close quarters hadn’t pleased Cully.
Not after the heat stirred up from that kiss.
But he hadn’t backed down on being just a few yards away from her overnight. And his body hadn’t let him forget that, either.
“It’s unlocked,” he called out to her.
She eased the door open, and with a whole lot of caution on her face, Cully peered inside. The caution might be because she thought he wasn’t dressed and she hadn’t wanted to catch sight of him naked. But he amended that theory when he caught the flash of the heat in her eyes.
Yeah, it was still there all right.
And once again, that brainless part of him behind the zipper of his pants wasn’t going to let him forget it.
“A quiet night,” she remarked, stepping into the room.
Declan nodded. He caught her scent—something citrus from the shower soap—and the coffee in the mug she had gripped in her hand. Like him, she’d obviously made use of the coffeemaker in her room.
“Any updates from Owen?” she asked, going to the other window to look out as he was still doing.
“Nothing good,” he admitted, and he gave her a thumbnail summary of the various texts he’d gotten. “There’s been no progress in finding Noah. The fire department hasn’t found a gun yet in the rubble of the house. And Roscoe and Renee still aren’t responding.”
So, there it was. All bad news.
Declan checked the time. “Renee’s supposed to be showing up for an interview at the police station in about fifteen minutes. If she’s not there, Owen will get the Rangers involved in tracking her down. Strike Force, too.”
It wasn’t the norm for a small-town sheriff to mobilize the expensive services of an elite and private security company, but since Owen owned Strike Force, he would put it to good use.
Cully cleared her throat. “About last night. The kiss. You learning about the miscarriage. Those things can muddy waters between us. Maybe cause us to lose focus.”
Declan nearly smiled. She was trying to set boundaries, trying to backpedal. It wouldn’t work, and he conveyed that to her with one look.
Their gazes met. Held. And, yeah, there was that undeniable chemistry again. They might not have started out their teen years as a hot ticket, but they had become one, and that hadn’t vanished simply because they were divorced.
However, that miscarriage was something he needed to deal with. It didn’t matter that it’d happened 20 years ago. For him, it’d happened just last night, and he’d need to somehow get past it. Because Cully was right about it causing him to lose focus. And that couldn’t happen.
Not with a killer on the loose.
Their phones both dinged with a text at the same time, the sounds cutting through the silence that’d settled between them. Declan read the message that popped up on his screen and felt both the surprise and the relief.
Renee and her lawyer had just shown up.
“She hasn’t explained yet where she was and why she didn’t return my calls. Will start the interview as soon as you two are in observation,” Owen had added.
That got Cully and him setting aside their coffees. She hurried to her room to grab her purse before Declan and she went out the door. They made their way to the cruiser he’d left near the exit.
That’d been a precaution.
He’d wanted something close and bullet-resistant if they’d had to make an escape. Added to that, Declan had wanted everyone to know there was a police presence in the building, which would hopefully deter anyone from another attack.
They made the short drive to the station, and when they stepped inside, Declan immediately spotted Owen, Renee, and her lawyer, Hal Crowder. Declan had come up against Crowder in a couple of court cases and knew the attorney was good at his job and he didn’t come cheap. Maybe Renee had realized she’d need someone solid to keep her out of jail.
Renee turned toward them, and Declan saw that once again she wasn’t her usual polished self. Her sapphire-colored dress was wrinkled, and while she was wearing makeup, it hadn’t covered the dark circles under her eyes. He was guessing she hadn’t got much sleep.
“I didn’t set that fire, and I didn’t try to kill you,” Renee blurted.
Her lawyer stepped in front of Renee and whispered to her something that Declan didn’t catch. Probably a warning for his client to keep quiet. If so, that didn’t stop Renee.
“I went there to that horrible place because I wanted to see where my daughter had died,” Renee continued, moving to the side so she could face Cully and him again. “I needed to see where she’d last been.”
Her voice dissolved on those last two words, and tears began to spill down her cheeks. Declan had to admit that it looked like genuine grief. And maybe it was. But he’d also seen some convincing liars, and he reminded himself that Renee could be one of them.
“My client needs a quiet moment to compose herself,” Crowder said, but no one responded to that.
Declan looked at Owen. “Has she been Mirandized?” he asked just in case Renee confessed to something incriminating.
“She has been,” Owen verified.
Good. Because while this wasn’t an official interview, anything Renee said could be used against her. Declan was certain though that Owen would prefer any such confession to happen in the interview room where it would be recorded.
“This way,” Owen said, motioning for Renee and Crowder to follow him down the hall.
Renee didn’t budge. “You have to find out who did this to Jessica,” she went on despite another attempt from her lawyer to stop her. “I know both Cully and you hated her for running off with Brandon, but she didn’t deserve to die.”
Declan agreed with that not deserving to die, but he had to shake his head. “I didn’t hate Jessica,” he admitted. “But I sure as hell wasn’t pleased with what she did.”
Or rather what he’d thought she’d done. All of that was in question now since Jessica and Brandon might not have been planning to elope after all.
“Did you kill her?” Renee demanded, her wild gaze slashing back and forth between Cully and him.
“No,” Cully stated, and Declan repeated the response.
If Renee believed them, she showed no signs of it. “Well, I hated Brandon. Hated him,” she spat out, and the anger replaced some of the grief in her eyes. “He was all wrong for Jessica, and you should have made the two of them see that.”
“I had no idea they were going to elope until I got that voicemail,” Cully reminded the woman.
“Neither did I,” Renee snapped. “If I’d known, I would have locked Jessica in her room until she came to her senses. I wouldn’t have let her try to elope with Brandon.” But the fit of temper came as quickly as it went, and she dissolved into tears again.
“Sheriff, I must insist we reschedule this interview,” Crowder protested. “My client is obviously in distress.”
“Your client will be questioned as to whether or not she tried to kill two people last night,” Owen argued right back, but then he huffed and clearly tried to rein in his frustration. “You’ve got thirty minutes,” he offered and motioned toward the hall. “Take her to interview room one and settle her down.”
“I didn’t try to kill them,” Renee repeated. She was still sobbing as her lawyer attempted to lead her away.
They didn’t get far, only a few steps before the front door opened, and Roscoe burst in. His gaze zoomed across reception and the bullpen to land on Renee.
“Where the hell have you been?” Roscoe shouted.
Shaw immediately got up from his desk and went to Roscoe, who was trying to barge his way through the metal detector. “Sign in,” Shaw ordered.
Without taking his gaze off Renee, he dashed off his signature and followed Shaw’s instructions on going through the metal detector.
“Well?” Roscoe yelled. “Where have you been? I’ve been out looking for you all night.”
It certainly appeared Roscoe was telling the truth about that. He was just as disheveled and sleep-starved as Renee.
“I drove around,” Renee answered. “I needed to see where Jessica had died.”
Roscoe flung an accusing finger at Owen. “Well, he thinks you burned down the old Kincade house with Declan and Cully in it.”
“I guess that means you listened to at least one of the messages I left you,” Owen snarled. “Any reason you didn’t return my calls?”
“Yeah, I was looking for my wife. We were having a discussion, and she walked out.”
“Because you were being an asshole,” Renee fired back, and she matched the volume and intensity of her husband’s voice. “You were saying that Noah probably killed Jessica and the others, and I know he wouldn’t do that.”
Roscoe opened his mouth, no doubt to yell out a response, but Owen stepped between them. And he read Roscoe his rights.
“You think I tried to kill them?” Roscoe growled out, shooting Declan and Cully glares. “Is that what they said?”
Owen ignored him and continued with the Miranda Warning. “Do you understand your rights?” he asked when he was finished.
“I understand they’re lying sonsofbitches if they say I tried to kill them,” Roscoe replied.
“They didn’t say that,” Renee blurted. “They think I set that fire. And I didn’t. I didn’t kill anyone and neither did Noah.”
Roscoe’s eyes went to slits. “Oh, your beloved Noah wouldn’t kill, huh? Always defending him when he dumped you. He wanted nothing to do with you, Renee. When is that going to get through your thick skull?”
Renee launched herself at Roscoe, but her lawyer held her back. “You’re the sonofabitch. You’re the one with a thick skull and a cold heart.” She looked at Owen. “He’s not even grieving Jessica’s death.”
Owen held up his hand to stop Roscoe from responding. “Have either of you been in touch recently with Noah? Do you know where he is?”
Roscoe laughed, but there was no humor in it. “No and no. That dick, Noah, hasn’t shown his face around here because for one, he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Renee and the high school crush she had on him. And two, he knows if he shows, he’ll have to pay up what he owes me. He’s a good-for-nothing loser.”
An eerie stillness settled over Renee, and in that moment, Declan was certain she was capable of murder. He’d never seen her like this, but then, he hadn’t exactly had a lot of contact with her after Jessica had left. Maybe that’d changed Renee. Or it could have been there all along, and he just hadn’t noticed it.
He thought of what Alice had told them about Renee’s parents practically arranging the marriage with Roscoe. So, it was possible that Renee had had decades to build up this venom for the man she might have felt forced to marry.
“Noah is Jessica’s father,” Renee stated, her words dripping with ice. “Not you.”
The bombshell brought on a silence over the entire station. This was definitely the first time Declan had heard this, and Jessica had certainly never mentioned it.
“You’re lying,” Roscoe snapped, but it seemed to Declan there was no real anger, or surprise in his tone or expression.
Hell, had Roscoe known this whole time? If so, that shed a different light on things when it came to her murder.
Roscoe shifted his attention to Owen. “Renee’s saying that because she wants to get back at me. But it’s a lie.”
“It’s not,” Renee insisted. “Just like it’s not a lie that you were having an affair with Savannah right before she disappeared.”
Cully made a soft gasp, letting Declan know this was yet another bit of info neither of them had known. They’d been aware of a possible affair, but they hadn’t realized it’d been going on so close to the time of Savannah’s death.
And Roscoe certainly didn’t deny it.
He just stood there, glaring at his wife.
“Roscoe was all puppy-eyed lovesick over Savannah,” Renee went on. “He gave her a ring that cost ten grand. Ten grand!” she emphasized. “I saw the receipt. Apparently, it had diamonds and rubies.” She leveled her gaze on Roscoe. “You must have been so pissed when Savannah ran off with another man while wearing the ring you gave her.”
It took Roscoe a moment to get his teeth unclenched. “Yeah, I was, but I didn’t kill her.”
Well, that certainly gave Roscoe motive to kill her. Derrick, too. And maybe Roscoe had had a second fit of temper with Jessica and murdered her as well.
“Renee,” her lawyer whispered to her. “I need to have a word with you.”
Yeah, because Renee had also just given herself motive for Savannah’s murder since she knew Roscoe was having an affair with the woman.
Renee stayed put at first, but she finally allowed her lawyer to lead her in the direction of the interview rooms.
“Jessica was my kid,” Roscoe growled.
“It’ll be easy enough to prove,” Cully said. “The lab can compare DNA they get from her remains.”
That seemed to give Roscoe a jolt, and Declan wondered if that was because he did have doubts about Jessica’s paternity.
“Do your tests,” Roscoe finally snapped. “Hell, I’ll even give you my DNA so you can compare it. I’m going home to grab a shower, and I’ll be back for my interview. In the meantime, my advice is don’t believe a word my wife says.” And he turned to leave.
“Why were you looking for Renee last night?” Owen asked, stopping the man in his tracks. “Why was it so important for you to find her?”
Roscoe didn’t turn around. He kept his back to them. “Because I was worried she’d do something stupid like kill Cully and Declan. She was ranting about them and how they were responsible for Jessica’s death.”
A soft groan escaped Cully’s throat. “Did Renee say why she thought that?”
“No,” Roscoe simply said, and he walked out.
“I’ll try to get more on that when he’s in interview,” Owen assured them.
Good. Because Declan thought there was a lot more that Roscoe could say about that.
“When you interview Renee, will you ask if she kept the voicemail that Jessica supposedly left when she eloped?” Declan asked Owen.
Owen nodded. “I will. You believe the voicemails were fake?”
“I believe it’s possible they were. Cully and I didn’t keep ours, but maybe Renee did.”
“All right, I’ll ask her about that and try to play Roscoe and her off against each other. There’s obviously some years of venom there.”
There was, and sometimes people said more in anger than they meant to say. Declan was hoping that could lead to some answers.
And there was one more way they might get answers. “You want me to contact the lab and get started on retrieving DNA from Jessica’s remains so they can compare it to Roscoe’s?”
“Definitely,” Owen said.
“I can arrange for that,” Shaw volunteered, stepping up next to them. “FYI, I just got word from forensics that all four of the dead were killed with gunshot wounds to the head. Same caliber of wounds. A .38. No way of knowing though if the same weapon was used to murder all of them.”
“Have either Roscoe or Renee ever had a .38 registered to them?” Cully wanted to know.
Shaw shook his head. “Roscoe has a Sig and a Glock. Renee doesn’t have a registered gun, but her father owned a snubbed nose .38. Not sure what happened to it, but Renee was their only child, she might have inherited it and never registered it.”
“I’ll ask her about that,” Owen assured him. “And what about a record of a gun Noah might have owned?”
“Nothing,” Shaw replied. “Again, it could have been an inheritance thing because Thaddeus owned several guns, including a .38.”
“So, any of the three could have committed the murders,” Cully said on a sigh. “Renee has a strong motive to murder Savannah but not the others. Noah had motive to kill my father since he owed him money. And Roscoe…well he could have killed them all, especially if he knew Jessica wasn’t his daughter.”
That was all true. And it meant they still had way too many questions and were short on answers.
Owen checked the time again. “I’ll give Renee a little more time with her lawyer, and then I’ll go in and get this show started.”
He turned to head to his office but stopped when the front door opened again. Not Roscoe this time. But Harley.
“Sheriff,” Harley greeted, and he nodded to Shaw, Cully, and him. “We need to talk.”
“All right,” Owen agreed. “But it’ll have to be quick.”
“I won’t take much time,” Harley said, making his way through signing in and the metal detector. He didn’t say anything else until he was a few feet away from them. “I’m here to make a confession.”
That got their attention.
“A confession for what?” Owen asked.
Harley pulled in a long breath. “Murder. I’m the one who killed those four people and put them in that wall.”