Chapter Six
Addie sat in Grace’s office, as Grace had instructed, while Judson worked at her desk. The sheriff was driving to the Bulverde hospital to try to question Courtney.
The waiting was hard, but Judson was making good use of the time while going through reports and doing some paperwork. In fact, all the deputies were doing that, including a reserve cop who Grace had called in to assist with the extra workload.
She imagined that Grace was seriously shorthanded, what with multiple facets of an investigation going on.
That’s why Addie was thankful Grace had given Judson the time off to do personal protection detail.
Addie hated to add to Grace’s manpower burdens, but she hated more that the twins wouldn’t have someone around who could protect them.
The two deputies with them now were a good substitute, temporarily anyway, but Addie didn’t trust anyone more than Judson when it came to keeping Lily and Rose safe.
At the thought of the girls, Addie checked her phone again and reread the last text she’d gotten from Etta Jean.
It’d come just fifteen minutes earlier, and there’d been one a half hour before that.
Addie was thankful for each and every one of the messages, but especially this one, since Etta Jean had included a photo of the babies, sleeping peacefully in their bassinets.
“The CSIs are going over Courtney’s car now,” Judson relayed, obviously reading from a text update he’d just received. “Her clothes will be processed, too, once the EMTs are able to bag them. It’s hard to stab someone and not leave at least a little of your own DNA behind.”
Addie hoped that was the case here. Or better yet, she hoped that maybe Courtney herself would be able to give them that info.
That was the reason Grace had decided to keep Jennifer in custody a while longer.
There wasn’t enough evidence to actually arrest her, but that could change in a blink if Courtney named Jennifer as her attacker.
“The CSIs also checked for prints on the two plastic bags of drugs,” Judson went on. “There are some smudges and what appear to be paper fibers on the outsides, as if someone tried to wipe the bags clean. Still, the lab might be able to enhance them enough to get a match.”
She considered that a moment. The drugs were yet another question mark in an investigation crammed with questions.
“How much access did Jennifer and Shane have to the Cateses’ house?” Addie asked.
“Shane was there recently. Jennifer claimed she’d never been there before today.” He paused. “You’re thinking one of them could have planted the drugs.”
She nodded. “Maybe to set Trevor up and make it look as if he was drugging Yvette. Or could they have done that to discredit him in Yvette’s eyes?”
“Possibly. Both Jennifer and Shane have made it clear they despise their stepfather. There’s no evidence, though, that Yvette was ever given or took the drugs. And by that, I mean no witness statements or tox reports.”
That was true, and Addie would have given that more thought as well if the sound of approaching footsteps hadn’t caught her attention. She was still on edge enough to get to her feet, ready to defend herself.
A moment later, Livvy stepped into the doorway, and she wasn’t alone—Shane and his lawyer were right behind her. Addie recalled the lawyer introducing himself as Ira Covington when he’d arrived at the police station shortly after Grace had left for the hospital.
“Grace texted and said she’s decided to reschedule Shane’s interview,” Livvy let them know.
“The cops have no grounds whatsoever to hold my client,” the lawyer piped up, causing Livvy to roll her eyes. Obviously, she was tired of dealing with the attorney’s complaints.
“The cops have rescheduled your client’s interview for tomorrow morning at eight,” Livvy replied, mimicking the same snappy tone as the lawyer’s.
“I’d like to see my sister before I leave,” Shane said, aiming that request at Judson.
“I’ve already told him no,” Livvy volunteered.
“Then you won’t be seeing her.” Judson aimed that remark at Shane.
Shane huffed. “But if there’s no cause to hold me, the same applies to her. You should have her come back in tomorrow, too. For now, I can take her home so she can get some rest.”
“The same doesn’t apply,” Judson was quick to point out, but he didn’t elaborate, holding on to the details of Jennifer being found with a knife in her hand.
“And the reason you’re not speaking to her is because we don’t want her statement skewed by any outside information.
It needs to be an accurate account from her perspective of what actually happened. ”
The lawyer stepped into the doorway, bumping Livvy as if trying to nudge her aside. But Livvy held her ground.
“Are you saying you believe my client and his sister will fabricate something if they have a simple conversation?” Covington demanded.
Judson gave him a hard stare. “Yes. I’m saying it’s possible.
And it might not even be intentional or with criminal intent,” he added, cutting off what appeared to be the start of a rant from the lawyer.
“It’s best if Jennifer gives us a clear account of what happened at her mother’s house.
We don’t want her to add or draw conclusions from anything that anyone else says. That includes her brother.”
Clearly, neither Covington nor Shane cared much for that answer, but they must have sensed the deputies weren’t going to change their minds. The lawyer muttered something about seeing them in the morning and motioned for his client to follow him out of the building.
Because Addie kept her attention on them, she saw the beefy man with sandy-brown hair approach Shane and Covington just outside the door. She couldn’t tell what the three were saying, but it was obvious Shane knew this man.
Obvious, too, that the man was furious.
After a short conversation with Shane, the man practically threw open the door to the police station.
“Where the hell is Jennifer?” he snarled.
“That’s Elijah Banks, Jennifer’s boyfriend,” Judson informed Addie. “I recognize him from his DMV photo.”
Both Livvy and Judson turned to face the man. Addie moved as well, positioning herself right behind them and looking over their shoulders so she could see Elijah try to storm toward them.
Try but fail.
Deputy Garrison Zimmer blocked him and tipped his head to the metal detector. “Walk through there,” Garrison ordered.
Elijah looked ready to argue with that, too, but, muttering obscenities under his breath, he finally went through. And immediately set off the alarms. Garrison drew his gun, and while he didn’t actually aim it at Elijah, it caused the young man to thrust his hands in the air.
“There’s a sign on the door that reads, ‘No firearms or knives allowed on these premises except for law enforcement officers,’” Garrison pointed out. “There’s even a picture of a gun with a red line drawn through it.”
“I didn’t notice it, all right,” Elijah snapped. “All I was thinking about was getting in here to see my girlfriend.”
“Using just two fingers, remove your weapon and place it there,” Garrison instructed, motioning toward a box on the table next to the metal detector.
Elijah glared at him, but did as he was told and produced a small handgun from the back waist of his bulky cargo pants. He put the gun in the box and lowered his other hand.
While Garrison dealt with locking up the gun in the box, Judson walked through the bullpen to reach Elijah.
“We’ve been trying to reach you for hours,” Judson told the man. “Where were you?”
“At work,” Elijah said without hesitation.
“And then training for a boxing match.” He tapped a bruise on his right cheekbone.
“I don’t answer my phone or check my messages when I’m at the gym or in the ring.
Good way to get your face busted. When I finished and listened to the voicemails, I drove straight here. Now, I want to see Jennifer.”
“I’m sorry, but Jennifer can’t have visitors,” Judson informed him. “And Shane probably told you that when you saw him outside.”
Elijah cursed. “Shane’s a wimp. I figured he didn’t press hard enough about that.” He rammed his thumb against his chest. “But I will see her.”
“You won’t.” Judson returned the fierce stare the man was giving him. “I can have her contact you after her interview.”
Oh, Elijah didn’t care for that, and the fury raced through his stormy gray eyes. “Is Jennifer under arrest?” he demanded to know.
“Not at the moment, but she’s been detained for questioning,” Judson replied.
“Why?” the man insisted. “What is it you think she did?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you” was Judson’s reply.
Elijah cursed some more. “Did that train wreck Yvette have something to do with this? If so, you shouldn’t believe a word she says. The woman is a walking, talking bag of…lies,” he finally finished, but Addie thought he wanted to use much stronger language to describe her.
That clearly got Judson’s attention. “You know Yvette?”
“Of course I know her. She’s always trying to worm her way back into Jennifer’s life. Always boo-hooing about forgive me, baby,” he said in a mock-pitiful voice. “As if. That woman has put Jennifer through hell and back over the years.”
“What about Trevor?” Judson pushed. “Has he done that, too?”
Elijah had a surprising response. His glare shifted to a smirk. “Trevor’s lazy and worthless, and he’ll suck every penny out of Yvette. Personally, I hope he does. That’ll be exactly what Yvette deserves.”
So, maybe that meant Jennifer wasn’t concerned about Trevor’s possible gold-digging. Unlike Shane, who seemed to want his share of his mother’s money.
“Any idea where Yvette and Trevor are?” Judson asked.
“Hell if I know. Last I checked, I wasn’t their keeper.” He paused again. “Did one of them do something to hurt Jennifer?”
Judson turned the question around on him. “What makes you ask that? Has one of them hurt her before?”