Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
“We need to leave,” I tell Alfie.
We’ve been locked away in an interrogation room of the small sheriff’s station. It was way too fucking easy to get in here and gain unrestricted access to files. All we had to do was wave our badges and say some bullshit about following a lead in our investigation on Emmanuel Lopez.
“What was that about?” my cousin asks, nodding at my phone.
“Poppy said she found something,” I explain as the door opens and Sheriff Cane Searlait walks in.
“Poppy Kestral?” he questions.
“You know her?” I keep my tone casual.
Alfie closes all the files. We didn’t find anything in them. It was all the same bullshit we’ve already read.
“I was her mother’s partner when she was murdered.” The sheriff nods. “Good girl, that one. What did she find?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said Poppy found something. What’d she find?” he presses.
Fuck, I’d love to just put a bullet in this fucker’s head right here. That’s not going to get me anywhere, though.
“No idea. We visited her this morning. Gave her a card and asked her to give us a call if anything came to mind on what her mother was investigating prior to her death. But you being her partner and all, you would know more than any kid would. What was she investigating?” I turn the question back to him.
“No idea. Kestral kept shit to herself a lot. Honestly, I just figured she was on the take, up to dodgy shit because everyone in this town knows that the Kestral Ranch isn’t successful just because of its beef,” he grunts.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing’s ever been proven, but a lot of bodies go missing out on that ranch. They like to hire ex-cons as ranch hands too.” He shrugs.
“Maybe they believe in giving second chances to hard workers,” I suggest.
“We’re done here. There’s nothing new in any of this. If anything comes up, give me a call.” Alfie takes out one of his fake FBI cards. He hands it to the sheriff and then we both walk right out of the station.
Neither of us says a word until we’re in the car and about five minutes down the road. I take my phone out and call my mother.
“Did you find anything?” Mom asks.
“No, but Poppy went to her parents’ house and said she did. Meet us at the ranch. And that cop knows something. He overheard me telling Alfie what Poppy said and was very interested in what she knew,” I reply.
“Where is she now?”
“She’s with her cousin. She should be back at the main house.”
“You need to hurry up and get to her. Don’t let her out of your sight, Sammie J,” Mom says.
“See you soon.” I cut the call.
“I don’t like how interested he was in Poppy,” Alfie grunts.
“You think I do?” I throw back at him.
“Obviously not. You think she was on the take? Poppy’s mother?”
“No.”
“What the fuck goes on at that ranch?” Alfie flicks his glare in my direction.
“No clue, but I don’t like the idea of Poppy being out there surrounded by criminals.”
My cousin laughs. “Everyone we know is a criminal. Our family is made up of a bunch of criminals.”
“Yeah, but we have morals, and there isn’t a pay check high enough to make any of us go after one of our own.”
“True.” He nods.
Pulling up to the ranch, I spot the SUV my uncle rented. He’s leaning against the side of it, waiting.
“Hey.” I nod. “Where’s my mom?”
“She had an errand to run. She’ll be here soon,” Uncle Louie tells me.
An errand, my ass. She’s going after the cop. There’s nothing I can do about that right now.
“Come on.” I nod towards the house and walk up the stairs. The door swings open before I reach the top step.
“You stop for lunch or something? Get in here and fix this.” Poppy’s cousin Joel ushers me inside.
“Fix what?” I ask him.
“Poppy. She’s fucking… Just follow me.” He walks farther into the house.
Fuck following him.
“Poppy?” I yell as I pass Joel and start running from room to room until I find her in a living room towards the back of the house.
She’s sitting on the floor with a pile of books laid out in front of her.
“Poppy?” I call out again, and she looks up.
Tears stream down her face. “What the fuck?” I walk over and drop down in front of her.
I take her face in my hands. “What happened?”
“I…” She shakes her head from side to side. “These are my mom’s journals.”
“Okay.” I nod, but I don’t know why she’s crying. I glance past her at Jaxson. He lifts a shoulder as if he has no idea. “Poppy, you gotta tell me who made you cry so I can kill them.”
“It’s all here, Sammie. She wrote it all down,” Poppy whispers.
“What did she write down?”
“You were right. It wasn’t the cartel,” she says.
Well, no shit. I knew it wasn’t.
“What does it say, Poppy?” I ask her.
With shaky hands, she opens the book on her lap to a page and turns it around for me to read.
I found it today. The evidence I need to put him away for life.
I’ve been working towards this for seventeen years.
Ever since that asshole took the one thing from me I could never get back.
Took the one thing from John. He’s going to be devastated.
He can never know about this or about Poppy. It would destroy him if he found out.
John thinks I’m investigating my partner. I was, because I know Cane is taking bribes from Daniel. If my husband knew just how evil his brother was, it would blow everything up. This ranch would be destroyed forever. I can’t do that to him or the kids. They didn’t ask for any of this.
I can put Daniel away, though. Maybe not for the crime I’ve wanted to, but I can now charge him with murder.
I’ve got the body, I’ve got the bullet that matches a gun registered in the name of Daniel Kestral.
He’s not going to get out of this one, no matter how much money he has.
I just need to keep Cane from finding out until I get the warrant signed by the judge.
Tomorrow. I’m going to bring justice to this town, to the many women who have suffered at Daniel’s hands, because I know I’m not the only one.
I’m just the only one who got a gift out of the torture. Poppy. I wouldn’t take it back, because I got her. John and I thought we would never have kids. He thinks Poppy is our miracle, and I’m going to make sure he continues to think that way.
I look up at Poppy, and my stomach drops. What the fuck am I reading?
Anger takes over me. Anger for her mother, for Poppy having to find this out. Standing, I pull the gun from my side and aim it right at Jaxson’s head. “Did you know?”
I don’t have to say a word before my cousin and uncle are both pointing their weapons too, one at Jaxson, the other at Joel.
Jaxson doesn’t flinch. “Know what?”
“Who is Daniel Kestral?” I grunt.
“My father,” he says, which is exactly who I thought he was.
“Did you know he was also her father?” I nod to Poppy, who is still crying.
“What? That’s ridiculous.” Jaxson shakes his head.
Poppy stands. “Jaxson, you really didn’t know?”
“What are you talking about?” he asks.
“It’s written here.” Poppy hands her cousin the book. “My mom was trying to put your father away.”
“There’s no way that’s true. You’re our cousin, not our sister,” Joel says. “Uncle John was your father, Poppy.”
Jaxson’s face pales as he reads the journal. “What the fuck?” he hisses out. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“What? No, you can’t believe that, Jaxson. Dad wouldn’t do that.”
“He would,” Jaxson says. “I’ve seen him. When I was thirteen, I saw him with a woman. He said it was a game they played. It wasn’t. He raped her, and then I just never saw her in town again.”
Joel looks from his brother to Poppy.
“Poppy, there is no way I would have let you stay under the same roof as that asshole if I thought he would do something like that to family. Did he… He never… to you, did he?” Jaxson asks.
“No.” Poppy shakes her head. “He was always so nice to me.”
“Where is he now?” I glare at Jaxson.
“In a nursing home.”
“Actually, he’s right here.” My mom’s voice has me spinning around. She’s standing in the doorway with an older man in a wheelchair.