41. Colt
Ipin my wrists together and hold them out.
“Don’t tempt me,” Terry warns, holding the door to the interview room open.
Marc Robard, my attorney, takes a seat beside me as I settle in for whatever BS Terry’s going to ask me about.
There’s a reason I haven’t been arrested, as much as there’s a reason why he asked me to come in. A part of me thought it might have something to do with last night’s fun and games, but I don’t think Terry would have disturbed me so early in the morning if it was MC-related.
I woke up to Marc’s call with the RCMP’s request for another interview, then had to disentangle myself from Zee’s arms.
This was not a part of my to-do list today and my patience is rapidly wearing thin with this imbecilic investigation.
“When was the last time you spoke with Clyde?”
“Around about the time I got married. I know he sneaked onto the ranch one day after the wedding. Mrs. Abelman’s the only one who spoke to him.
“As I’ve already told you, Zee’s talked to him more recently. He wants her to spy on me.”
Terry blinks. Marc clears his throat.
“Your family, I swear.”
“Tell me about it. He’s ignoring me. Since I threw him off the ranch, he’s not very happy with me, much as I’m not happy with him.”
“For the obvious reason that he wants to spy on you?”
“That and he stole from me.”
Terry rubs his jaw. “What did he steal?”
“The ranch.”
“The ranch,” the sergeant repeats blankly. “How did he do that?”
Marc interrupts, “We’ll present our case to the appropriate channels once our investigation is complete.”
Terry frowns. “Then why tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to think I was colluding with him for any reason. The man made my childhood hell and nearly killed my mother. I put a protective order on him and you think I’m on his side?” I scoff. “You have to wonder if he’s trying to frame me to stop the investigation into his dealings. He could lose everything if he can’t stop me from digging deep.”
Terry’s eyes widen but it’s Marc who demands, “Was there a reason for this interview?”
“For the record,” Terry mutters, still looking shell-shocked by my comment. “I’m showing Mr. Korhonen Marcy Armstrong’s journal.”
My brows lift. “You found her journal?”
“Doug gave it to us.”
I stare at him, then at it. “There’s a new piece of evidence in there?”
“Until recently, it was hidden,” is the only answer he’ll give us. “‘CK and I met at the lake tonight. I’m going to tell him about the baby,’” he quotes.
Tension fills me. “I had nothing to do with her. I didn’t even talk to her, never mind get her pregnant. What I do know is that Clyde used to take girls up to the mineral springs on the Bar 9.”
“How do you know this?”
I take Zee’s truth and bend it: “I saw him there. In fact, I saw them together after the fire.”
“Cole was a grade below Marcy.”
“He wasn’t here that year, was he? He was playing in Winnipeg. Callan was too young, I was in university, and Cody had graduated and was in Saskatoon after enlisting. None of us dated Marcy, dammit.
“You know I wasn’t behind the hit-and-run. My prints weren’t?—”
“Prints can be wiped away and you did pay off the blackmail demand. Plus, Susanne could be lying on your behalf?—”
Outraged, I snap, “I’d never get anyone to lie for me. Certainly not my wife. You’re only doubting her word because she’s a McAllister.”
“My client has already explained to you, sergeant, that he paid the blackmail demand as an act of kindness for a neighbor in acute financial distress.”
“And because she was threatening Susanne,” Terry says pointedly. “If Marcy was pregnant and Clyde was the father then you’d have another child to split your inheritance with.”
“You’re clutching at straws. That’s not how the Korhonen inheritance works. The eldest inherits the ranch. I wouldn’t have to share anything with him or her.”
“There’d be a trust fund?—”
I scoff. “And? Not like we can’t afford it. Anyway, why do you keep asking me where he is? You’re the cops. Shouldn’t you know better than me?”
“He’s more slippery than an eel.”
“That’s doing a disservice to an eel.” I grunt. “Are you finally bringing him in for questioning?”
“And to take his fingerprints. If you do hear from him, remember to keep in touch.”
“Did you have to drag me out of bed for this?” I snipe once the recording’s off.
He prods the diary. “She was pregnant, Colt. That puts a whole other slant on things. Especially when Lydia believed you were the baby’s father.”
“But I wasn’t, dammit,” I snarl.
“Why didn’t you mention seeing Marcy with your father during the original investigation?”
“I didn’t think it was pertinent.”
“We decide that. Not you,” Terry snaps. “You’d better not be withholding any information from me, Colton. I’m catching heat from all quarters here. Don’t add to my burden or I’ll bring you in with cuffs next time.”
“I’m not withholding anything. I don’t have anything to withhold. I came to you about the poison pen letters. I put the suspicion on me when I didn’t have to do that. I had no reason to kill Lydia. I wasn’t the father of Marcy’s baby.
“That year, I was too busy on suicide watch with Callan and not failing my classes that fucking anything in a skirt was the least of my worries, dammit.
“Lydia was wrong to suspect me. The CK in that diary will be my father. You and I both know what he’s like. She was just hoping that Marcy wasn’t sleeping with someone thirty years her senior.”
“I need to bring him in.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. He isn’t answering my calls either.”
Terry squints at me. “If he contacts?—”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let you know.” Then, a thought occurs to me. “Cody said Clyde had been to visit him in the hospital.”
“Which hospital?”
“Montfort in Ottawa. I doubt he’s still there since Cody came home, but it could be worth a shot checking it out.”
“I appreciate the intel, Colt.”
When Marc and I leave the interview room and handcuffs don’t decorate my wrist, I mutter my thanks to my attorney.
“You talked too much,” he chides.
“It was an informal interview.”
“Nothing’s informal when it’s being recorded. Keep your mouth shut next time, Colton. It’ll serve you better if you do.”
“I want to help. The sooner this is over the better. I didn’t hurt anyone, Marc.”
“Whether you did or not, the cops always look for an easy way out. Reilly is either dumb, on the take, or is trying to do your father a favor. He clearly wants to pin this on you so confer with me next time,” he warns.
I scrub a hand through my hair. “Fine.”