Lies That Bind (18 page)

Robert glanced up, revealing a skinned cheek, then dropped his head on a slow shake. “This is so fucked-up. Just let me explain.”

“Uncuff him.” Tessa pushed her way forward and dropped to her knees before Robert.

“He could be dangerous, Tessa.”

Coop reached for her arm, then thought better of it when she glared up at him. So, they knew each other. How and why came to Rex’s mind. Did it really matter, considering how they faced-off?

“This man saved Nate’s life yesterday,” she said through clenched teeth.

“I understand.” The man cupped her elbow in one hand and braced the other against her back. “But things seem to be twisted in and around each other. Facts, fiction, who knows what’s going on. I’ll uncuff him, but I’d feel better if you were a safer distance away.”

Yeah, the how and the why mattered a hell of a lot. Nate arriving with Tessa roused uncontrolled jealousy in Rex, but watching Coop take control and lead her to the sofa, watching Tessa let him without an argument, the way her cheeks flushed… Not only did Rex feel threatened, he felt like he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell if Coop decided he wanted her. Rex would give Coop this one. But if the man pulled a stunt like that again, he’d find out real quick no one comes between a cowboy and his woman.

Coop leaned down to uncuff Robert. “One wrong move, slick, and I’ll snap your neck like a toothpick.”

Tyler sank into the cushion beside Tessa, laying claim. Sounded like a damn fine plan to Rex, even if his only option was to sit on the armrest.

Robert jerked away when Coop grabbed his arm to help him up. Anger blazed from his eyes. Rex tensed, anticipating an altercation. Fortunately, both men were wise enough to step apart.

Robert sank into the recliner, then braced his forearms on his thighs and leaned his head in his hands. “This is such a fucked-up mess. I did
not
kill Derek, even though he begged me a thousand times to put him out of his misery when the time came. That’s why I had the gun. I’d like to say it was the only way to shut him up. But the truth is, I did get to the point where I didn’t think I could bear to see him suffer. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I’d hoped to put the gun away while you were gone, before you got into the basement.”

Too late for that.

Nate tossed a ring of keys to the coffee table. They skidded to a stop in front of Robert. The Galveston logo was a match to Derek’s. “How the hell did you get here?”

Robert pulled in a breath and leaned back. “I parked on the road leading to the line shack, waited until I figured you’d left and the guests were out doing their thing, then picked my way over.”

“On foot?” Tyler asked. “With pigs roaming the area?”

Not to mention a killer.

“Well, I had a gun and ammo.” Robert looked at him like he was crazy.

“Well, you wouldn’t going back.” Sarcasm dripped like acid from Tyler’s voice. “You couldn’t have come to us directly?”

Robert spread his arms. “And risk someone seeing me drive up? No one knew we were together. We had to work in this area. Do you realize—”

“Enough.” Tessa snapped to her feet. “It was an arrow that killed Derek, not a gun.”

Tension leached from Nate’s and Coop’s shoulders. Rex wished he could say the same for the room.

She loomed over Robert, coffee table be damned. “And the phone works damn well. You could have told us.”

“I don’t know you.” A flimsy excuse.

“Bullshit,” she shot back. “If you were that intimate with Derek, you knew all about us. Maybe even more than we knew about each other.”

Robert broke eye contact, pretty much verifying what Tessa said.

Rex slipped onto the cushion Tessa had vacated. “No more backdoor shit. You come through the front like everyone else or not at all. You’ve got nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. Someone gives you shit… Trust me, people in this town have no reason to throw stones.”

Robert let out a breath and nodded. “I’d appreciate a ride back to my truck. You’re also going to want to take a look at the line shack. Looks like someone broke in and tore the place apart. I didn’t go any farther than looking in the window when I saw it was shattered.”

“Derek provided for you, Robert.”

Tessa managed to wiggle into the minuscule space left between Rex and Tyler. Rex had to admit, he liked the feel. She ducked her head until Robert made eye contact with her.

“He loved you very much. He said Kevin Drummond is discreet and would make this transition seamless without exposing you.”

He squinted, looking confused. “What’s Kevin got to do with any of this?”

For an attorney, Kevin sure kept a low profile. “He’s Derek’s attorney,” Rex said.

Furrows ridged Robert’s forehead. “No, he’s not. Justin Clark is Derek’s attorney. He met him in Galveston.”

“Then who the hell is Kevin Drummond, and why did he have Derek’s will?” Tessa shrieked.

Rex brushed his hand over her shoulders to keep her calm. She clutched her fingers over his. “Calm down. We’ll figure this out. Kevin
is
an attorney. He moved to the area about a year ago and set up practice. Maybe Derek hired him initially, then changed his mind and didn’t tell Kevin or thought he did and forgot. With brain tumors, there’s no telling where his mind was. And besides, Derek was very firm about not hiring anyone local.”

“About not hiring anyone who’d lived here for a long time,” Tyler clarified. “There’s a big difference. Kevin’s a newcomer.”

Robert shrugged. “Considering his local connection—”

“What local connection?” Tessa’s grip on Rex’s hand tightened.

“He’s somehow related to Ethel. A nephew, I think. I heard him call her Mother Ethel once, and she sure wasn’t very happy about it.”

Tessa stared into space. “We’re missing a DNA report.”

They sure as hell were. Either Derek hadn’t been able to get one yet, or someone had stolen it before Derek could get it to the bank. The bank where Ethel worked.

Chapter Fourteen

“Well, I have to say, that’s one hell of a story,” Nate said.

They’d all kicked back to tell what they knew over sandwiches and iced tea around the worn kitchen table. The busywork had kept Tessa occupied, gave her time to piece together scenarios and possibilities while she listened to the facts as they were laid out.

“See?” Nate nudged Coop. “I told you no one was after me.”

“And they would be…why?” Tyler asked.

She held her breath, waiting for an answer she’d never dared to ask.

“I was undercover a while back, trying to bring down a drug lord,” Nate replied. “Been lying low since then, but even more so with the trial coming up. When I was shot…”

A logical conclusion to presume it was someone after Nate. “Now the question is… Why were you shot?” she asked.

“I can think of a number of reasons.” Coop leaned his forearms on the table, long fingers curled around his glass of tea.

Cooper Hawkins aka Hawk. The man unnerved her. Made her think of things… God, she’d never get that night out of her mind. It ranked up there as number one on her
what were you thinking
list. Under the table, she placed her hands on Rex’s and Tyler’s thighs. Both reached down and gave her fingers a squeeze.

“So can I,” Rex countered. “Wrong place, wrong time doesn’t wash. Whoever shot Nate was likely the one who killed Derek. This is a person who cleans up after himself.”

“Or herself,” Tyler added.

Rex gave a nod and mirrored Coop’s pose. Tessa got the feeling of competition and rather liked it. Coop might be able to handle whips and floggers like nobody’s business, but Rex could top him in all other things. Heat crept over her body at the terminology.

“Nate either saw something he wasn’t supposed to see and didn’t realize it yet, or he was close to doing so. Also, his presence made it pretty clear there was a
new sheriff in town
, so to speak. A law enforcement officer who knew his shit. He’d be a threat the killer didn’t count on.”

“And if that’s the case, that limits our suspect pool to the four people who knew Nate was a cop. Kevin Drummond, Carmen and Heath Ford, and Tito Llano.” Tyler ticked off each name on his fingers. “Of those, Carmen and Heath did have motive to want Derek dead. Kevin
might
have motive.”

Coop leaned back, crossing his arms. “What can I do? Where do you want to start?” He pointed at Nate without looking at him. “
You
aren’t going anywhere.”

“He can stay here and protect me.” Tessa gave Nate a wink and received his smile back.

Coop smirked. “Sweetheart, you’ve proven time and again you’re pretty good at protecting yourself.”

“Uh-uh.” Rex stabbed his finger into the table so hard the glasses rattled. “You don’t
sweetheart
another man’s woman. Got it?”

Coop’s grin widened. “Got it. Nice to know she’s in the right hands.” His smile faded. “So, where do you want to start?”

Rex settled back. Tyler didn’t. “Considering how diligent this person is,” Tyler mused, “it’d be futile to recheck the two scenes.”

“That leaves out Carmen and Heath as suspects,” Rex mumbled. “Nothing diligent about those two.”

“True enough,” Tyler agreed. “Let’s head over to the line shack so Robert can get his car. From the look of things, Derek was either headed to or returning from there when he was killed. Now it’s been trashed, so someone doesn’t want something found.”

That left Kevin as a suspect. She couldn’t sit here with her thumb up her ass and wait for news. Other than confronting Kevin, which would place her in the too-stupid-to-live category, she couldn’t think of what else to do.

“I’m coming right back here.” Robert pushed away from the table and started to clear it. “I intend to help you as much as I can, work at the hospital permitting.”

“Good. You can start by seeing what you can turn up about
Mother
Ethel,” Rex said. He, Tyler, and Cooper stood as one. In less time than it took to think about it, the four men were out the door, leaving Tessa alone with Nate. She glanced up as she stood to see him smirking at her.

“What?” she snapped.

He grinned. “Ever going to tell your men about—”

“Not if I can help it.” She hurried to finish clearing the table.

Nate chuckled. “Yeah…I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

* * * *

Robert wasn’t kidding when he said someone had torn the line shack apart. It looked like someone had trotted javelina through the place. Tyler wouldn’t have discounted that possibility. Not only was the window broken, so was the only door to the place. It opened and closed as the wind decreed. Otherwise, the shack looked like it had been fairly secure before that. Immaculate too, despite the bottles, cans, paper cups, and cigarette butts now littering the floor. Each was in its own plastic baggie. All baggies had code numbers on them. That was when Tyler realized…

“This is where he was hiding his DNA collection samples.” Probably in the cabinets lining the walls. Cabinets that were now wide open with their shelves falling down.

Rex squatted and sifted through the debris with his pocket knife. “There’s a code on these paper cups.”

It’d be Derek’s system of finding out what belonged to whom. The key to deciphering it was probably on his laptop or in the storage locker in Austin.

“Since he was either heading to or coming back from here, maybe he was retrieving data for another test,” Coop said as he picked his way through the mess.

Tyler watched as he jotted down information on a small notepad he’d pulled from his shirt pocket. He looked and dressed no differently than the rest of them, but something about him…

“You want to tell us what the deal is between you and Tessa?” Because Tyler wouldn’t rest until he had an answer.

Coop glanced up briefly before returning his attention to his notes. “Honestly, nothing. And that’s the truth. But it’s fun to tease her and watch her go all flustered and pink. And to see you two go all macho when I do. Gives me hope there really is love and commitment in the world. Maybe one day, I’ll be brave enough to grab some for myself.”

“And that’s it?” Rex shoved through another pile.

“That’s it. Though I suspect Tessa’s got a different tale to tell about it all.” He grinned. “But if you want to have some fun cornering her on it, I’m on board for fun and games.”

“Our relationship isn’t a game,” Tyler said. “We’re damn serious about her.”

“And that’s what I envy about you.” Coop cleared his throat. “How do you two feel about having a close and personal conversation with this Kevin Drummond?”

Rex stretched to his feet. “I’d love to, but he’s in Austin until tonight.”

Which is where Tyler wished they could go next to check out the storage locker. “Maybe we’ll find out more in the meantime.”

“Anyone working on the ranch who was here during its heyday?” Coop continued scribbling down codes.

“All new hires.” They’d started from scratch. In hindsight, it scared Tyler to think of the risk they’d taken. “Someone took that arrow out of my quiver. Someone shot Derek at close range. Deliberate acts. Going after Nate makes no sense.”

“Doesn’t explain the horse either.” Coop tapped his pen on the edge of his notepad.

“No, it doesn’t.” Rex closed his knife as he stood. “Rosie could have fallen and given someone an opportunity. Or someone could have taken her out first, then Derek.”

Tyler nodded. “And the shot fired from Derek’s weapon…”

“Was at the person trying to kill him,” they finished together.

Coop snapped the notepad closed and stuffed it into his pocket. “I don’t think this is about inheriting the ranch. If that were true, Tessa would have been the target. It was no secret Mike left the ranch to her and why. Something else is going on here.”

Tyler had a feeling it had something to do with the debris lying at their feet. “Someone found out about Derek’s project.”

Rex scuffed his foot through the mess. “Someone with something to gain or something to lose.”

And in a town where a good percentage of the high and mighty had secrets, that could be anybody.

“Whoa, what’s this?” Rex retrieved his knife and squatted down. He lifted a woman’s wristwatch. Not bagged or tagged. Tiny diamonds winked against the light coming in through the window.