A Threat to His Family Read online

  Apparently, Owen hadn’t ignored the insult after all, and it caused Laney to smile. Not for long, though. She spotted Nettie sitting in Kellan’s office. Terrance, who looked in at the woman, too, as his lawyer and he walked past Kellan, cast a glance at Laney over his shoulder. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of that look, but she dismissed it when Nettie jumped to her feet.

  “You planted that bug so that I’d get blamed for it,” Nettie immediately blurted. “Well, you won’t get away with it. I won’t have you telling lies about me.”

  Laney had already considered that Nettie might try to blame her for this, but it was odd that the woman was the one making the denial. Laney had thought it would come from Emerson first.

  As she’d done with Terrance, Laney faced Nettie head-on. “I didn’t plant a bug, didn’t tell lies about you and I certainly didn’t have men fire shots at Addie, Owen and me.”

  There was a bright fire of anger in Nettie’s eyes as she glared at Laney before snapping at Owen. “Please tell me you don’t believe her.”

  Owen dragged in a breath and put his hands on his hips. “I believe her. Laney could have been killed in that attack, so she’s not the one who set this up.”

  Nettie opened her mouth, closed it and then made a sound of frustration that might or might not have been genuine.

  “I have no motive to plant a bug and link it to you,” Laney reminded the woman.

  “But you’re wrong about that. You do have a motive. This could be your way of getting back at Emerson.”

  That got Laney’s attention and she stared at Nettie.

  Nettie practically froze, but Laney could see the woman quickly gathering her composure. “I don’t know exactly what grudge you have against my husband,” Nettie amended, “but I believe that’s why you’re here. Why you came to Longview Ridge. Whatever it is you think about him, you’re wrong. Emerson’s a good man.”

  “Is he?” Laney challenged.

  Nettie made a sound of outrage and turned to Kellan this time. “Can’t you see that I’m being set up?” She flung a perfectly manicured finger at Laney. “And that she’s the one who’s trying to make me look guilty of something I didn’t do.”

  Kellan dragged in his own long breath. “The eavesdropping device was linked to a computer registered to you. Before Owen and Laney came in, I told you that I needed to have the CSIs do a search of your house to find that computer—”

  “No.” Nettie practically shouted that and then, on a groan, sank down into the chair next to Kellan’s desk. “If you do that, then Emerson will know about these ridiculous allegations.”

  Owen and Laney exchanged glances. “Emerson doesn’t know?” Owen asked, looking first at Nettie and then Kellan.

  Kellan shook his head. “Nettie asked me to hold off telling him until she had a chance to clear this up.”

  “I don’t want Emerson bothered by this nonsense,” Nettie piped in.

  “There’s no way around that,” Kellan assured her. “I have probable cause to get a search warrant, and I’ll get it. The lab will go through all the computers in your home and, from the preliminary info gathered, there’ll be a program to link to the eavesdropping device found in the guesthouse where Laney lives.”

  Laney braced herself for another onslaught of Nettie’s temper, but the woman stayed quiet for a moment. “Someone must have broken into my house and added the program,” Nettie finally said and then her gaze slashed back to Laney. “You did it. You broke in when I wasn’t there so you could set me up.”

  Laney sighed and was about to repeat that she had no motive, but Owen spoke first. “Just let the CSIs look at the computers and we’ll go from there. The techs will be able to tell when the program was installed, and if someone did that while you weren’t there, then you might have an alibi.”

  Nettie didn’t jump to agree to that and nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds. “Would Emerson have to know?”

  Kellan groaned, scrubbed his hand over his face. “Yes. He’s the DA, and even if he wasn’t, this sort of thing would still get around.”

  Yes, it would get around, and then Emerson would likely hit the roof when he found out that CSIs were in his house looking for evidence against his wife. Laney was betting he’d accuse her just as Nettie had done.

  “You’re right,” Nettie said several long moments later. Instead of nibbling on her bottom lip, it trembled. “Someone will tell him, but he’ll know I don’t have any reason to plant a bug. Emerson will be on my side. He won’t believe I could do anything like this because I just wouldn’t.”

  Laney didn’t know Nettie that well, but it seemed as if the woman was trying to convince herself of Emerson’s blind support. She decided to press that to see if it led to anything.

  “Emerson’s never mentioned me to you?” Laney asked.

  Nettie’s head whipped up. “What do you mean?” The anger had returned and had multiplied.

  Laney decided to just stare at the woman and wait for her to answer. Kellan and Owen obviously decided to do the same, and their reaction brought Nettie back to her feet. However, the fiery eyes stayed firmly planted on Laney.

  “I know you’ve told lies about my husband,” Nettie said, her tone sharp, edgy. “I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard talk. It’s lies. All lies.”

  So, Emerson hadn’t told his wife about his affair with Hadley. Of course, that probably wasn’t something he’d wanted to discuss with her, especially since Emerson was claiming he was innocent.

  Nettie hiked up her chin. “I suppose you want some kind of statement from me about that bug?” she asked Kellan.

  He nodded. “And permission to search your house for the computers. If I don’t get permission, then I’ll have no choice but to get the warrant. Then plenty of people will know about this.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, her mouth tightening as she took out her phone. “Let me call Emerson first.” Nettie didn’t wait for permission to do that. She walked out of the office, through the squad room and to the reception desk before she made her call.

  Laney turned to Owen to get his take, but before she could say anything, she spotted Terrance again. He was outside the door of the interview room—where he could have heard the conversation they’d just had with Nettie.

  “I don’t owe you any favors,” Terrance said to Laney, “but I’m going to do one for you anyway.”

  “What favor?” Laney didn’t bother to tone down her very skeptical attitude.

  Terrance gave her another of those slick smiles. “A couple of months before my trial, my legal team started gathering information that they thought would help with my defense. They hired PIs to follow you and people connected to you.”

  Laney’s heart sped up. Hadley had been murdered just a month before Terrance’s trial. Terrance had an airtight alibi for the murder—he’d been at a party and there were dozens of witnesses. But his PIs could have seen something.

  “Did you know you were being followed?” Owen asked her.

  Laney shook her head, her attention still fixed on Terrance. “You know who killed my sister?” She heard the quiver in her voice, felt the shudder slide through her body.

  “No. But my lawyers were having Hadley followed. Not full-time but on and off to see if there was something they could use to prove my innocence.”

  “Cut to the chase,” Owen demanded. “What the hell do you know about Laney’s sister?”

  Terrance smiled again when he tipped his head to Nettie. “Why don’t you ask her?” He continued before any of them could attempt to answer, “The DA’s wife was with Hadley the night she was murdered.”

  Chapter Six

  Owen stared at Terrance, trying to figure out the angle as to why the man had just tossed them that lie. But there was nothing in Terrance’s expression or body language to indicate that he was telling them anything
but the truth.

  Hell.

  Was it actually true? Had Nettie not only known Hadley but also met with her?

  Owen shifted his attention to Laney and noted that hers was a different kind of body language. A highly skeptical one. She huffed, folded her arms over her chest and stared at Terrance.

  “Why would you volunteer that information to me?” Laney demanded.

  It was a good starting point as questions went, but Owen had plenty of others for the man. And then he would need to confront Nettie if he felt there was any shred of truth to what Terrance had just said.

  Terrance flashed the same smile he’d been doling out since Laney and Owen had first laid eyes on the man in the sheriff’s office. He was a slick snake, the type of man who assaulted a woman, and Owen had to rein in his temper because he wanted to punch that self-righteous smile off Terrance’s smug face. That wasn’t going to solve anything, though, and would make things a whole lot worse.

  “I volunteered the info because I’m doing my civic duty,” Terrance answered, and there was nothing sincere in his tone. “As Deputy Slater pointed out, I’m on probation. Withholding potential evidence could be interpreted as obstruction of justice. I wouldn’t want that, because it could violate the terms of my parole.”

  Owen stepped closer and met Terrance eye to eye. “Yet if this so-called evidence is true, you withheld it for months.”

  Terrance lifted his hands palms up. “I’ve been in jail and I’ve been focusing my time and energy on...rehabilitation.”

  “My client didn’t know the information was important,” the lawyer added. When he took a step closer, as if he might come into Kellan’s office, both Kellan and Owen gave him a warning glance that worked because he stayed put.

  “It’s true,” Terrance agreed. “Until I overheard the conversation just a few minutes ago, I didn’t make the connection between the DA’s wife and Laney’s dead sister.” He turned to Laney then. “Here all this time, you thought your sister’s killer was Emerson, and now I’ve put a cog in your wheel by handing you another suspect.”

  Laney continued to stare at him. “Two other suspects,” she corrected. “You’re high on my list of people who could have murdered Hadley.”

  She’d sounded strong when she said that, but Owen knew that, beneath the surface, this was eating away at her. After all, she was facing down the man who’d assaulted her and put her in the hospital.

  “Do you have any proof whatsoever of what you’re saying?” Owen demanded.

  Terrance lifted his shoulder. “Reports from my PIs. It’s possible they took photos, but if so, I don’t remember seeing them.”

  Reports could be doctored. Photos could be, too. Still, Owen would need to treat this as any other potential evidence that fell into his lap. Because if Nettie was indeed connected to Hadley’s murder, then she could have had something to do with the attack at his ranch.

  That put a hard knot in his gut.

  “I’ll want everything from your PIs ASAP,” Owen insisted.

  Terrance nodded. “I’ll get right on that. Wouldn’t want it said that I didn’t cooperate with the law.” He glanced at Nettie, whose back was to them. She was pacing across the reception area while still on her phone. “And what about her? You think she’ll cooperate?”

  “She’s not your concern,” Kellan assured him, sounding very much like a sheriff who’d just given an order. “Come with me.” He led Terrance and the lawyer into the interview room and shut the door before he came back to them.

  “I didn’t know Terrance was having me followed,” Laney immediately volunteered. “I’m a PI, and I should have noticed something like that.”

  No way was Owen going to let her take the blame for this. “If Terrance didn’t lie about the timing of this alleged meeting, you would have been in the hospital and then recovering from the injuries he gave you. A broken arm, three broken ribs and a concussion. That’s a lot to distract you.”

  Laney quickly dodged his gaze while the muscles in her jaw tensed. Maybe she hadn’t wanted him to dig into her medical records, but Owen considered it connected to the investigation of last night’s attack. At least, that was what he’d told himself. After reading the police report of Terrance’s assault, Owen now had to admit that it had become personal for him.

  And that was definitely something he didn’t want.

  “I have no idea if Terrance is telling the truth about Hadley and Nettie,” Laney went on a moment later. “Hadley never mentioned meeting Emerson’s wife.”

  Owen had to consider that was because Hadley had never gotten a chance to tell Laney. After all, Terrance had claimed his PIs saw the two women the same night Hadley had been murdered. That still didn’t mean Nettie had killed her. Didn’t mean that anything Terrance had told them was the truth.

  Before Owen could talk to Kellan about how they should handle this, Nettie finished her call and came back toward them. “Emerson just left for a business meeting in Austin and will be gone most of the day,” she said and then paused. “I didn’t tell him about the eavesdropping device.”

  Owen only lifted an eyebrow, causing Nettie to huff, “You should have told him.”

  Nettie shook her head. “I know it’s all some misunderstanding, that I had nothing to do with the eavesdropping device, so there’s no reason to worry him.” She turned to Kellan. “Go ahead and get someone in the house to take whatever you need. Just try to be finished with the search before Emerson comes home. Test the computers and have them in place so that he doesn’t know.”

  No raised eyebrow for Kellan. Instead he gave Nettie a flat look. “I can’t guarantee that. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’ll take a couple of days to go through the computers once I get everything to the lab. You’ll need to tell Emerson,” he quickly added. “He’ll hear it sooner or later, and I’ll give you the chance to have him learn about it from you.”

  Nettie volleyed some glances between Kellan and him as if she expected them to budge on their insistence that she tell her husband what was going on. They wouldn’t. And Owen made certain that his expression let her know it. It didn’t matter if this was all some kind of “misunderstanding.” It still had to be investigated.

  As did Terrance’s accusations.

  “If you want to interview Terrance, I can get a statement from Nettie,” Owen offered his brother.

  Nettie blinked, pulled back her shoulders. “A statement?” Her voice was sharp and stinging. “I’ve already told you I had nothing to do with that stupid bug.”

  “Why don’t we take this to the second interview room?” Owen suggested, hoping this wouldn’t escalate.

  But it did.

  Nettie didn’t budge when Owen put his hand on her arm to get her moving. “A statement?” she repeated. Not a shout but close. She slung off Owen’s grip and snapped at Laney. “You’re responsible for this. You’ve somehow convinced them that I’m a criminal. I’m not. You’re a liar, and now you’re dragging me into those lies.”

  “Nettie,” Kellan said, “you need to calm down and listen.”

  The woman ignored him and charged toward Laney. Nettie had already raised her hand as if to slap Laney, but both Laney and Owen snagged the woman by the wrist. The rage was all over Nettie’s face now and she bucked against the restraint.

  “I don’t only need a statement about the bug,” Owen snapped. “But also about your meeting with Hadley Odom.”

  Nettie’s rage vanished. In its place came the shock. Only for a second, though. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Because Owen was watching her so carefully, he saw something he didn’t want to see. Nettie touched her hand to her mouth, then trailed it down to her throat. She did that while staring at him, her eyes hardly blinking. All signs that she was lying.

  “You’ve never met Hadley Odom?” he pressed.

  Her han
d fluttered to the side of her face and she shook her head. “No. Why would I have met her? I don’t even know who she is.”

  Kellan and Owen exchanged glances as Kellan stepped in front of Nettie. “What if I told you there could be proof that you not only knew this woman but that you met with her?”

  Nettie huffed, “Then I’d say someone lied. Or that you’re mistaken. I have to go,” she added, tucking her purse beneath her arm. “Make those arrangements for the computers to be picked up. I need to go to Austin and talk to my husband.”

  Owen didn’t stop Nettie when she walked out. She wasn’t exactly a flight risk and, once they had more info on the computers—or from Terrance—they could bring her back in for questioning. It’d be necessary because Owen was certain that Nettie knew a lot more about this than she was saying.

  Nettie paused when she reached the door and glanced at them from over her shoulder. “Emerson’s going to ruin both of you when he finds out how you’ve treated me,” she declared just seconds before she made her exit.

  Owen kept his eyes on Nettie until she was out of sight, then turned to get Kellan’s take on what had just happened. But he noticed Laney first. She was pale and looking a little shaky.

  “Nettie could have killed my sister,” Laney said, sinking down into the nearest chair.

  Owen wanted to curse. He’d been all cop when he’d been listening to Nettie and hadn’t remembered that this was more than a murder investigation to Laney. She’d lost a member of her family, and he knew what that was like. Knew that it could cut to the core. It would continue to cut until Laney learned the truth and found justice for her.

  He knew plenty about that, as well.

  “I’ll take the interview with Terrance,” Kellan advised.

  Still looking shaky, Laney got up. “I want to listen to what he has to say.”

  Judging from the way Kellan’s forehead bunched up, he was likely debating if that was a good idea. But he finally nodded. “Take her to the observation room,” he told Owen.

  Owen did, but that was only because he knew he wouldn’t be able to talk Laney out of it. Besides, she knew Terrance, and she might have some insight into whatever he said. Owen was betting, though, that Terrance wouldn’t reveal anything incriminating. No way would he risk going back to jail, unless he was stupid.