Chapter Four #2
“Yes, please don’t be mad at her,” Rowena said. “I told her I needed to speak to you and try to make peace with you before… I, uh… I’m dying, Addie. I only have a few weeks to live.”
“You can’t make peace with me ever,” Addie let her know and didn’t give Rowena a chance to respond. She hit End Call and immediately blocked the number.
Now, she let out the emotions. The stormy mix of anger and the bitter memories. Suddenly, her legs felt way too shaky, and Judson must have noticed that, because he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
She felt the instant relief go through her body. Felt his strength, too. And while this closeness might come back to haunt them, Addie gave in to it and sagged against him.
“I can get a no-contact restraining order,” Judson murmured against her ear. “Or I can have the local cops go have a word with Rowena and tell her to back the hell off.”
There was a firestorm of emotions in his voice, too, and again he was trying to protect her.
That only fueled the closeness. Barriers that had always stood steady between them were coming down fast, and she wasn’t going to try to stop it.
Addie just stood there, taking every bit of the comfort he was giving her.
“It’s okay,” Addie let him know. “The blocked number should take care of her trying to contact me again.”
She hoped so, anyway, and she made a mental note to find out if Rowena was well enough to attempt a visit to the Horseshoe. One thing was for certain: Addie wouldn’t be emotionally blackmailed into seeing the woman.
“I don’t need closure with Rowena,” she spelled out to Judson. “I shut her out of my life when I was six, and I’m not letting her back in.”
“Good. Because I remember all those times she’d manage to call you or sneak a letter to you when you were a kid. It always ripped you apart.”
It had, and Rowena had managed to do that three times before Mellie had made a trip to the prison and threatened the powers that be with legal action if they didn’t stop the woman from contacting Addie in any way.
There had been no more letters or calls after that.
Until now, that is. And Addie refused to let even a sliver of Rowena climb back into her life.
Addie jolted when she heard the soft buzzing of a phone. Not hers this time, but Judson’s, and it wasn’t from an unknown caller but rather Livvy. Even though Addie was still feeling plenty shaky, she welcomed it, since this could be good news.
As Addie had done with her call from Rowena, Judson answered it, put it on speaker and alerted Livvy that she was listening in. However, he kept his attention pinned to Addie, no doubt checking to make sure she was okay.
She wasn’t. Not yet.
But she was getting there. Every second that she spent being shaken up seemed like a victory for Rowena, and Addie didn’t want to let the woman win.
“Just wanted to give you some updates,” Livvy started the moment she was on the line. “Jennifer’s being examined, and she seems to be coming out of the shock. She says she wants to give a statement. All we have to do now is wait for the okay from the doctor and we can take her to the station.”
“Did she say if she killed her mother?” Judson asked, taking the question right out of Addie’s mouth.
“No, and we advised her not to say anything about that, not until she was medically cleared,” Livvy explained. “We didn’t want a confession to be inadmissible if it turned out she wasn’t declared competent to understand her rights.”
Of course, that made sense, but it was still hard to wait. When Jennifer finally was able to be interviewed, maybe she would also spill about the location of Yvette’s body.
“Will the two of you be coming into the station to observe Jennifer’s interview?” Livvy asked.
Until Livvy mentioned that, Addie hadn’t considered it. But she knew it was something she wanted to do. She wanted to hear firsthand what the woman had to say and maybe even speak to her afterward.
But Addie rethought that when she glanced at the babies. So did Judson, and she saw the concern on his face. She also figured he was champing at the bit to hear that interview.
“I don’t want to risk leaving the twins,” Addie muttered.
“Understood,” Livvy was quick to say. “And I spoke to Grace about that. If Judson and you want to be here, Grace can send two deputies to the Horseshoe to do protective duty while you’re away.
Before you answer, I’ll sweeten the offer by letting you know that you’ll also likely be able to observe an interview with Shane. ”
“Shane?” Judson questioned. “Why are you bringing him back?”
“That’s the next thing I need to tell you.
I got a call about him,” Livvy explained.
“Remember when Shane said he’d never been to the Horseshoe as an adult?
Well, that was a lie. Or a partial lie, anyway.
He might not have actually gone there, but he was damn close.
Holly Dennison was on her way into town and spotted a car turning on to the ranch road.
A man in a small white car. Shane owns a white Ford Focus. ”
Addie knew Holly well since hers was the closest ranch to the Horseshoe. Holly was also observant, so Addie didn’t doubt the validity of what the woman had seen. But why had Shane been here?
And better yet, why had he lied about it?
“Holly said she didn’t think anything of it at the time,” Livvy went on.
“She thought it might be someone visiting a foster kid, but after the Amber Alert and APB were issued, the news media ran Yvette’s pictures.
One of them put up a photo of Yvette and her kids, and Holly recognized Shane as the man she saw taking the turn to the Horseshoe. ”
“When did she see him?” Judson pressed.
“Holly estimates that it was around nine this morning. That would have been before the twins were snatched. Yeah,” Livvy muttered, no doubt anticipating the questions Judson and Addie had about that.
“Trust me, I’ll be asking Shane about that when he comes in for an interview.
Not sure exactly when that’ll be. He didn’t answer when I tried to call him, but I left a voicemail and told him to come into the station right away. ”
Good. Because if Shane had played any part in the abduction, Addie wanted him to pay and pay hard for his actions.
“Hold a sec,” Livvy said. “I have an incoming call from the lab.”
Livvy put them on hold, giving Addie some time to think. Judson was obviously doing that, too, but neither one of them had much thinking time, because it was less than a minute before Livvy came back on the line.
“Well,” Livvy said on a heavy sigh. “We’ve got a problem.” And she continued after both Addie and Judson groaned. “The blood found in Trevor and Yvette’s house doesn’t belong to either of them.”
“What?” Addie blurted. “Then whose is it?”
Livvy sighed again. “We’re not sure. But according to the ME, there was enough to conclude that whoever’s blood it is, that person is almost certainly dead. Now we need to find out who was probably murdered in that house.”