Chapter 38 Our Only Play
OUR ONLY PLAY
“Sorry I was running late,” Gale said at the end of the day.
“Don’t worry,” Ford said. The minute Ford put the SUV in drive, his phone rang, so he stopped to answer it. “Ridgeway.” She watched as her brother’s face paled, then turned red. “Fuck. You’re kidding me, right?” There were more words she couldn’t hear, then her brother disconnected.
“What was that? Do you need to go?”
“The DNA results just came in on Rene’s ankle bracelet. I called Friday to check and they said they hoped today.”
“What?” she asked, reaching for his arm. “Who?”
“Not a hit exactly. A male genetic match to Daniel McGregor. He was in the system from decades ago to eliminate him from a rape.”
“Meaning a male related to Daniel. So, it’s Kane?” she asked. “I mean, we thought it, but I just don’t know that I see him crawling under cars and puncturing brake lines. I want it to be someone we can identify, but the guy gets manicures all the time.”
“We know nothing more than his DNA was at the scene of the crime. You know as well as I do, that doesn’t mean guilt.”
“Ford. We don’t even know where the crime scene was. It’s on her body.”
“I know,” Ford said. “We’ve got one shot at this. I’m going to give him an opportunity to come in and submit DNA on his own to rule him out and get his statement.”
“He’ll lawyer up before any of it.”
“As he should. We can’t allow for any mistakes.”
She took a deep breath and then another. “Go tell him now. I need to see his face when you do it.”
“Gale, this doesn’t concern you.”
“Yes, it does. Someone tried to kill Rory. Then they targeted me. I want to see his face when you tell him what you found. I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll stay in the car and you can call him out. I promise.”
Ford looked at her. She could see he was battling this. “It’s just a conversation. Nothing more. I’m telling him we’d like him to come in voluntarily to get a statement and keep this quiet. A courtesy of sorts.”
“Which he and his father will fucking eat right up,” she said. “I hate that part.”
“Let him think we don’t believe it’s him,” Ford said. “It’s our only play.”
She flopped back in the seat. “I want to tell Rory.”
“Not yet,” Ford said. “When we bring you home we’ll talk to him. I can’t risk him going after Kane alone, and you know as well as I do, he will because it’s what all of us would do.”
Ford's hands were flexing on the steering wheel. “You want to now, I know it.”
“I do, but I won’t. I can’t risk the conviction.”
“Which is why you aren’t calling Clay either,” she said. That brother of hers would beat them to Kane’s and get a confession for sure. Not something anyone wanted to happen.
Ford took a deep breath and drove to Kane’s. “Looks like Daniel is visiting.”
“Even better,” she said. “Let’s see both of their faces.”
“Stay in the car,” he said. “I’ll get him outside.”
She watched Ford climb the stairs, ring the bell and wait. Ashleigh answered, then a few seconds later, Kane came to the porch.
Gale had to hear this. She wanted to see the fear in the asshole’s eyes and got out of the SUV to stand next to it.
“Ford,” Kane said. “What can I do for you?”
“Why don’t we step down here and have a talk away from everyone?”
“I don’t need to do that,” Kane said.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked.
Ashleigh had come out on the porch as well.
“We’ve got a break in the Rene Connors’ murder. A DNA match has come back and confirmed a male genetic match to Daniel McGregor.”
Daniel's face turned bright red. “You can’t do that.”
“I can do what I need to to find a murderer. This is a courtesy visit, Kane, asking you to come down and make a statement and give your DNA voluntarily. If you choose not to, I’ll get a warrant.”
“It wasn’t me,” Kane shouted. He had a panicked look in his eyes, his head moving everywhere as if he was going to run. “I was drunk. I’ve got witnesses.”
“Shut up, Kane!” Daniel shouted.
“You know it, Dad!” Kane yelled. “Tell them. There is proof. I wrecked my car thirty minutes before it happened. The police were there. You had to come get me. You told them to make sure no one knew about it like you always did. I remember that day. The officer was called away to search for her and you told him not to leave yet until it was taken care of.”
Gale watched her brother’s confused face. “There is no record of you having had an accident that day,” he said. Her brother would have viewed everything going on the day of the murder and where other deputies or personnel were.
“Because my father got me out of it. He always did.”
“Kane,” Daniel growled. “Enough.”
“It’s going to come out, Daniel,” Ford said.
“If you were bribing and buying off law enforcement, that is a lot less of a crime than murder. But your lawyers can explain that to you.” Ford turned as if he was going to walk away.
“There will be a deputy posted on the grounds so don’t think of leaving town. ”
“No,” Kane said. “Wait. I’m telling you right now, it’s not me.
I was drunk and hit a tree. I don’t remember the officer’s name.
It was a detective. He was always called to get me out of shit.
Everyone knew to call him to take care of it.
” Kane was squealing like a toddler getting his prized toy yanked out of his hand.
This reaction was less surprising than if he had killed someone.
“I was messed up. The guy called my father who came down to get me. We were there almost an hour while you threw money around to get this not called in. Admit it, Dad.”
“I’m not saying anything,” Daniel said. “And you need to shut the hell up!”
“You threatened Gale. Told her people were going to get hurt,” Ford said.
“For her to stop this nonsense with that old case. It messed up our plans years ago too. Two years we had to wait to start those condos. I don’t need to deal with that again. It wasn’t anything more than that. I swear.”
It could be true, but she didn’t believe anything without hard facts.
“What’s going on out here?” Diana asked, moving through the front door that had been left open.
“Mom,” Kane yelled and rushed up the stairs. Ashleigh skirted away from her husband, the fear in her eyes clear as day. “They think I killed Rene Connors.”
She’d never seen a grown man, especially someone who flaunted his wealth and power so freely, break down in tears so quickly.
“That’s nonsense,” Diana said, crossing her arms and standing in front of Kane. “What proof could you possibly have? I knew that boy returning to town was going to cause nothing but trouble.”
“They’ve got DNA,” Ashleigh said. Ashleigh moved off the porch and closer to Ford. Gale didn’t blame her one bit. “A genetic match to Daniel.”
“Unless Daniel has another son, then Kane is a suspect for being at the scene of the crime. We are asking him to come in for questioning.”
“You’ve never listened,” Diana said, turning to Daniel. “You always have to undo your zipper for women and I knew it was going to bite you in the ass. Tell them, Daniel, or I’m going to do it. I’m done with this and all the lies in this town. You’re not taking my son down with you.”
“Do you have other children?” Ford asked. Gale’s shoulders tensed and her feet moved forward. She couldn’t miss a word of this.
The fear running across her arms and back told her they’d been way off base and time might run out if they didn’t get this information fast.
“Diana,” Daniel said. “Shut up. Everyone shut the fuck up until I get a lawyer for us all. I mean it.” Daniel pulled his phone out. “I’m calling him now.”
“You can cover your own ass, but Kane was home sleeping off his drunken stupor exactly as he said. No one will forget that day. I knew this would haunt us. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve tried to cover for Kane, I’ve got documents of it all.
I’ve kept a journal for years of every time that Kane got out of something. ”
“What?” Daniel asked. “Why would you do that?”
“For things exactly like this,” Diana snapped.
“For stupid crap that caused us to move here. You’d think you would have learned.
My baby isn’t guilty of anything other than being your son.
Go lawyer up your other son. Or maybe it’s more than the one I know of.
” Diana turned to Ford. “Daniel liked to sleep with his employees.”
“You have another child?” Kane asked, his eyes wide. “Who?” Didn’t seem as if Kane was aware of that information.
“Rocco,” Gale said. It just hit her. The comment about Daniel sleeping with employees. “Ford. It’s Rocco.”
Ford turned to look at her. “What? How do you know?”
“Tell me. It is, isn’t it? His mother worked for you for years. Daniel!” she screamed. “He’s trying to kill Rory. He’s with him now.”
“Yes,” Diana said. “Rocco is Daniel’s son and I’m done with all the secrets.”
“Don’t leave this town,” Ford shouted and turned to run back to his SUV.
Gale jumped in and Ford took off speeding through the streets toward her condo.
“How do you know they are together?” Ford asked.
“He told me. Rocco approached him to talk about a shed on the property that had stuff from the old cabins in it.” She pulled her phone out. “Oh my God, they left together ten minutes ago.” She turned her phone to show Rory at the door of her condo walking out with Rocco. “Hurry.”
“You stay back, Gale. I mean it.”
Yeah right. She never listened before and she sure the hell wasn’t going to now.