Chapter Fifteen
Bree rode with Tanner to the sheriff’s office in the northern part of Grand County the next morning. She still had the day off work and wanted to be there in case Whitaker was too oblivious to see what was right in front of his ass.
She offered to write it down for Tanner in case he needed a direct quote.
Tanner had no intention of allowing Bree to admit any illegal doings to Whitaker. He didn’t trust the man not to lose sight of the bigger picture—finding the murderer—and arrest Bree just out of spite.
It would take a while for Whitaker to follow up on everything Tanner would present. Tanner didn’t expect to be reinstated today, although he was hoping the wheels would be turning enough that maybe he’d be back tomorrow.
But today both he and Bree had the day off. Too bad it was cold and rainy out, or else he’d spend it convincing Bree to move in with him permanently at the ranch and hauling the rest of her stuff.
He wanted her there. He’d never met someone who belonged at the ranch and loved it as much as he and Noah. If it were up to Tanner, Bree wouldn’t spend another night away from him for the rest of their lives.
So much for trying to take it slow for her sake. At least he hadn’t dragged her off in front of a county judge to get married.
The thought had crossed his mind.
“What do you want to do today?” she asked, smiling over at him from the passenger seat. “My vote is for going back to bed and—”
She gasped and gripped the door handle as a car cut in front of them on the rainy road, way too close.
Tanner let out a low curse. Not only had the guy cut him off, he was now hitting his brakes. Tanner slowed down, then tried to go around him, but the guy swerved again so they were trapped behind him.
“What the hell?” Tanner muttered.
The driver continued to tap his brakes, forcing Tanner to slow further behind him. He flipped on his blinker and pulled to the side of the road. Tanner pulled off also.
He reached over into the glove compartment and pulled out his backup firearm that he had a concealed-carry permit to keep inside his vehicle.
“What just happened?” Bree’s green eyes were huge.
“Stay here. I’m going to talk to this guy and see what the hell is going on.”
He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze before opening the car door and stepping outside. At least the rain had reduced itself into a mist.
The door of the car in front of him opened and Tanner stopped, firearm ready but pointed at the ground. Then Tanner saw who it was.
“Ryan?” Tanner relaxed his grip on the gun. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. Why the hell did you almost run us off the road?”
Even through the low light and heavy mist, Tanner could see the tension radiating through Ryan Fletcher. It was unlike the lawyer to be so discombobulated. Every time Tanner had seen him in the courtroom, he’d been completely unflappable.
“Tanner, thank God I caught you. Sorry for the vehicular dramatics. I just didn’t know how else to get in touch with you.”
Tanner tucked his Glock into the back waistband of his jeans. “How about a telephone. That would work.”
“I couldn’t call. There couldn’t be any trace of a call.”
Now Tanner was getting concerned. “What’s going on?”
“You can’t go in to the sheriff’s office. They’re going to arrest you.”
Tanner shook his head. “No, it’s all been taken care of. We found some other evidence. Doesn’t clear me outright, but it at least provides another link between the two dead guys besides me.”
“I just came from Sheriff Duggan’s office. Now there are three dead guys. Another body showed up this morning. Stabbed in the back again.”
Damn it. “Well, I have a pretty ironclad alibi for last night.” Bree would be able to provide a statement that he’d been with her for the entire night.
He rubbed his hand over his face. Except she wouldn’t be able to attest to that in all honesty, would she?
She had no idea how long he was gone from the bed before she came out and found him on the couch.
She’d be willing to say he’d been in bed with her all night, but there was no way he was going to allow her to lie and commit perjury for him for that.
Tanner gritted his teeth. “I’m assuming this third victim is tied to me also, if they are threatening to get a warrant?”
“They’ve already got the warrant, Tanner. Judge issued it immediately based on the evidence. And the guy is tied to you and me both. Owen Duquette.”
Tanner’s curse was low and foul. “I wanted that bastard in prison, but I didn’t kill him.”
Ryan ran his hand through his hair. “Look, I’m not going to be shedding any tears over Duquette’s death. Honestly, if you did kill him, I’m not even sure I would care, after how he was tied to Nate’s death. But I don’t think you did, and that’s why I’m here.”
He heard the car door open and held his hand out to Bree without even looking behind him. This affected her, too.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
He pulled her to his side. “Bree, this is Ryan Fletcher. He works in the district attorney’s office.”
“Fletcher?” she asked softly.
Tanner nodded. “Nate Fletcher’s brother.”
Ryan stepped forward and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
Tanner wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “There’s been another murder. Somebody else connected to me.”
Bree’s curse echoed his from a moment ago. “I don’t understand what the hell is going on.”
“When it was just Anders and Newkirk, I was willing to accept that it was a nasty coincidence. But three people tied to me?”
“This is some sort of setup,” Ryan finished for him.
“I’m not big on conspiracy theories, but three dead guys that I arrested? That I lobbied pretty hard to keep in jail and am on record for being frustrated when they were let out? That’s really starting to look like pretty good motive.” Tanner scrubbed a hand down his face.
“But motive shouldn’t be enough. Not for someone like you who has a stellar reputation in law enforcement,” Bree said.
Ryan nodded. “She’s right. Nobody would think about trying to arrest you based just on potential motive, even if it was good.”
Tanner wasn’t so sure. Whitaker didn’t seem to need much more than that to be convinced of his guilt.
“But there’s more than just motive,” Ryan continued. “Your DNA was present at Duquette’s crime scene. It was also present in Anders’s car and at Newkirk’s body.”
“I’ve already admitted to being in Anders’s car, and I was first on scene at Newkirk’s death, so that would explain both of those. But I definitely haven’t been anywhere near Duquette since he got out of prison.”
The three of them looked at each other, the truth unavoidable. Someone was trying to frame Tanner for murder.
“Who would do this?” Bree whispered.
He wrapped his arm more tightly around her. “I don’t know. But I’ll talk to the sheriff, and we’ll start gathering some possibilities. She and I have known each other for a long time. She worked for my dad. She’ll give me the benefit of the doubt.”
“Sheriff Duggan may not have that luxury,” Ryan said. “I was at her office first thing this morning, because I got a call directly from the governor. Evidently, there’s some concern that the sheriff may not be able to consider you objectively.”
Tanner and Bree both cursed. Tanner had to smile when hers was quite a bit more colorful and descriptive.
But Ryan didn’t have anything to smile about. “I just came from a meeting with the sheriff, Whitaker and Dr. Michalski.”
“Let me guess. Whitaker was the one leading the charge for my arrest.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Actually, he seemed excited that there was real police action going on. It was Dr. Michalski who provided the most damning information. He overheard us talking after court last week. Remembered you saying Duquette would get what was coming to him.”
Tanner threw up his hands. “As in, put back in jail as soon as he broke the law again, not murdering him.”
“The sheriff asked Dr. Michalski point-blank if he thought you were capable of killing someone. Michalski said yes.”
“I’m capable of killing someone,” Bree muttered. “Actually, I don’t have to kill them. I can just get into a computer system and make their entire identity—”
Tanner lifted his hand off her shoulder and wrapped it over her mouth. Ryan was his friend, but he was also the district attorney.
“She didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Just ignore her.”
He shot her a warning look then removed his hand, a little afraid she might bite him. But she kept quiet.
“Look, your worst problem is your DNA showing up at Duquette’s murder scene.
Psych opinions and possible motive play a very distant second fiddle to that.
I don’t have all the details. I was just trying to get out of the sheriff’s office and to your ranch so that I could warn you.
If you go into that building right now, you’re not coming back out a free man. Not today, at least.”
Tanner hated the look of fear in Bree’s eyes. “He’s right,” she whispered.
Tanner shook his head. “I’ve worked in law enforcement for a decade. My dad did for twice as long. I trust the system. It’s not perfect, but it works, by and large.”
“Unless you have someone working that system against you.” Bree’s small hand squeezed his. “I spent a good chunk of my life running from people who used the system against me.”
“I’m not telling you to run,” Ryan said. “As far as anybody in Grand County thinks, you don’t know anything about this. Why don’t you go off grid? A lovers’ getaway, where no one can get in touch with you. Use that time to see if you can discover further information. I’ll do the same.”
Damn it. Tanner didn’t want to run. It only made him look guilty.
“You can do a lot more for yourself out of a cell than you can inside one,” Ryan continued. “Whoever is doing this has a pretty big reach. If you’re inside, you’re leaving others unprotected.” His eyes shot to Bree.
She immediately shook her head. “No, I can take care of myself. I’ve been taking care of myself for a lot of years. If you feel the best thing is to turn yourself in right now, you should do that. I’ll be doing what I can to help you from out here.”
Which would undoubtedly be illegal.
While he had no doubt that Bree could and would take care of herself, he’d made her a promise a few months ago that she was no longer in this—in life—on her own. That was doubly true after last night.
Ryan was risking a significant amount by trying to warn Tanner. Tanner didn’t take that lightly. The man could lose his job or even go to jail for obstructing justice.
He was being given a gift. A head start on figuring out who was hunting him. He’d be a fool not to take it.
“Okay, I won’t go in. For forty-eight hours, seventy-two at most, just to try to get a bead on who’s after me.”
The hunter was about to become the hunted.