Lies That Bind (20 page)

“I don’t suppose this belongs to you.” Coop tossed the bag containing the watch onto the coffee table.

“Never seen it,” Hannah replied. “I don’t wear watches. They get in the way of work.”

“What was in the cabin you didn’t want anyone to find?” she asked. “Were you there to finish destroying—”

“Don’t you dare go presuming.” Hannah glared at her. “You know better than to think Ed and I were like those people back then.”

So, they knew. Good. This would be easy. “We know about the history of the place. We know about Derek’s DNA collection efforts and the reports in the safe-deposit box.”

Hannah and Ed exchanged a long look. A silent communication. Tessa hoped one day she’d be able to do that with Rex and Tyler. It would save a lot of misunderstanding.

A car pulled to a stop in front of the house, drawing attention that way. No one budged, but it was clear they all monitored the car doors shutting, the footsteps coming up the stairs, across the porch.

Tyler opened the front door before their visitor could knock. “Well, that was a quick trip.”

The screen door opened. “Robert sent us on before he made the call. He thought it’d be safer that way.” Kevin stepped inside. A large gash marred his forehead. Paper stitches held it closed. His gaze fell to the couple on the love seat. Hannah gasped and lurched to her feet.

“What happened?” She met him in the doorway, her fingers fluttering up to touch the injury.

Kevin batted her hands away, then caught her fingers, and kissed her cheek. “I’m okay, Mom.”

“Holy shit,” Tyler muttered. “I’m guessing you’re Justin Clark?”

“I am,” a deep voice replied. Then a younger, leaner version of Tito Llano stepped across the threshold.

Chapter Fifteen

“We had to get him out of the hospital before Tito saw him.” Kevin slipped his arm around Hannah’s shoulders and led her back to the love seat. “A lot of people knew I was going to Austin. Someone was lying in wait for us when we returned. This wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate. Considering how quickly gossip spreads around town, Robert wanted it more or less clear we were still at the hospital, even though we weren’t. Robert called and made sure he was overheard. It gave us a little time to get here safely.”

Rex folded his hands behind his head and stretched back. “Boy, I can’t wait to hear this explanation.”

Tessa glanced from Hannah and Ed to Kevin. There was the familiarity she’d been trying to pinpoint. They were Kevin’s parents. “Let’s start with you.” She wiggled her finger between the three of them.

Tyler retrieved chairs from the kitchen as Hannah pulled in a hard breath and squared her shoulders. This was the Hannah Tessa knew well. The one who didn’t back down from anything.

“I caught Derek hoarding trash shortly after you took off,” Hannah began with a cut that tossed guilt Tessa’s way. That was fine. She could take it.

“He’d been looking poorly, and I was worried he was going off the deep end.”

“That’s when he told us everything,” Ed said. “We decided to help him. But we also knew he needed more than we could provide. So we contacted our son. He’s got experience in these types of issues.”

“How?” Tyler shoved some chairs behind Kevin and Justin.

“Before I was a lawyer I was a detective with the Austin Police Department.” Kevin eased into the chair nearest his mother.

“So you
are
Derek’s attorney?” Tyler perched on the edge of the sofa, forearms on knees.

“I am,” Kevin replied.

“Then who are you?” Tyler cocked his head toward Justin.

Kevin’s hand on Justin’s arm kept him from replying. “He’s my client too, for lack of a better explanation. It was my job to help Derek find individuals born to this mess. Derek didn’t want to involve Robert in this, so he lied about who Justin was. Robert was worried enough about Derek’s health. He kept you three in the dark as well, knowing you’d be more concerned about him than what he was trying to do. Derek was very concerned that no one take the legacy of the ranch away from Tessa.”

Because if it was Tessa’s, it would be Rex and Tyler’s too. She’d make sure of that, whether they were together or not.

“I don’t understand why Justin’s here. Why pursue more DNA analysis when it’s fairly obvious he’s not Mike’s son and that so far, Mike fathered no other children but me?” she asked.

This time Justin put his hand on Kevin. “My little girl has leukemia. I’m desperate to find a bone marrow donor.”

That took the air out of the room. Tessa’s heart went out to the man. “Ethel—”

“No match,” Kevin replied. “Justin was hoping he could appeal to Tito for help.”

“Then why did you call her
Mother
Ethel?” Tessa asked.

He shrugged. “It was a bit of a joke, because she’s always fussing around everyone like a mother hen. She didn’t take kindly to it at all.”

“Our other two children aren’t compatible matches.” Justin wrung his hands. “We’ve been trying to have another child, but it’s just not happening.” He closed his eyes, then opened them again. “Since he’s my biological father, he might be a match, or he could tell me who my mother is so I can ask her, or have other children, or…something. How can anyone refuse to help a little girl?”

Sadly, it happened all the time. Tessa had had one former friend say she’d never do it because she didn’t like needles. She’d refused to even take the test.

“We’ve rerun other tests but aren’t coming up with anything,” Hannah said. “We knew it had to be someone in this town, or that someone knew something.”

“Someone who discovered what you’re doing,” Rex said.

“Someone with something to lose,” Tyler added.

Number one on that list was Tito Llano. Everyone involved with the ranch in its heyday knew he was an active participant. But here was proof in the form of Justin Clark. That would kill any chance of Tito being reelected.

“Is that why you and Hannah were in the line shack?” Nate asked. “Looking for more items to extract DNA?”

“We thought we’d continue on. We were dropping off the last bunch of items we’d collected and coded. At this point, we were going beyond the list of usual suspects, hunting for anyone who could help Justin’s daughter. Dog Days got us a lot of people we didn’t have. That turned into a bigger job than we anticipated. We were running ourselves ragged, trying to get cups from people before we lost track of which cup belonged to who.” Ed shook his head.

“Nothing unethical there,” Nate sarcastically replied.

Tessa stopped short of telling them how much they’d put the ranch at risk. “DNA collection stops now. We’ll do a drive or something to help this little girl. I know people with the power to help.”

Resigned nods followed.

“And did any of you consider that your efforts at Dog Days is what got Derek killed in the first place?” she added for good measure. “Someone figured out what you were doing, and it shook them up bad. You’re lucky they didn’t come after you next.”

“Well, if they ran Kevin and Justin off the road, I’d say they did,” Hannah snapped back.

“Enough.” Rex clapped his thighs and stood. “It’s time we go pay our illustrious sheriff a visit. We’ll bring this out in the open where it belongs. See who else we can shake up.”

“As long as it doesn’t get Justin killed,” Kevin said.

Justin pushed to his feet. “If it saves my daughter, I don’t care.”

“Once everyone sees him, he should be safe,” Coop said.

Tessa bit back the urge to remind them all of lynch-mob mentality. Justin’s presence exposed the town’s dirty little secret.
And yours doesn’t?
She shrugged off the thought. No one was gunning for her. “And while you’re gone, the rest of us are going to clean out the line shack and destroy the DNA that was more than questionably obtained.”

“Coop and Nate can take care of that.” Tyler dropped his hand to her knee. “You get to the bank and remove those DNA reports from the safe-deposit boxes. The only ones that matter are yours, Derek’s, and Heath’s. All the rest have to be destroyed.” He then pointed to Hannah and Ed. “You two need to wipe all computers, including Derek’s laptop, of any and all information regarding this issue. And I hope to hell you didn’t put it on any of our business computers.”

Hannah and Ed gave quick shakes of their heads.

“And one more thing.” Tyler stood, staring down first at Hannah and Ed, then at Kevin. “Did any of you remove the arrow from my quiver?”

More head shakes.

“No, that would be too easy.” Rex extended his hand to Tessa. “I wish one of you had been upfront with us. I have the sick feeling that our fun picnic skylined your little project and is what got Derek killed in the first place.”

Horror filled Ed’s face while tears puddled in Hannah’s eyes.

Tessa accepted Rex’s hand up. “Let’s get this done with before we find ourselves in jail rather than the killer.”

They swarmed to their individual tasks without further discussion.

* * * *

Twenty minutes later, Tyler and the rest of the guys walked into the sheriff’s office like they owned the place. He waved at Tessa as she drove on toward the bank. Words couldn’t express his glee at watching people’s eyes bug out when they saw Justin.

“Tito around?” Rex asked.

Someone zipped off to get him. Then Tito lumbered to the front. His gaze skittered over them, landing on Justin. Shock was an understatement. Tyler expected rage, denial, accusations. Instead, tears filled the big guy’s eyes, and his chin trembled. Shaky steps brought him stumbling their way.

“Oh my God,” he gasped. “I thought you were dead. They told me you were dead.” He hesitantly reached for Justin, held back, then clutched tight when Justin wrapped his arms around him.

Kevin braced his arm around Tito’s back. “Perhaps we can take this reunion into your office?”

Nodding, Tito drew back and led the way. Tyler took the flank, continuing to monitor reactions. He had no doubt the news would be all over town in minutes.

In the privacy of Tito’s office, words spilled out. Mostly Justin’s. All Tito could say was that he thought his son was dead. Tyler’s heart went out to the man as he watched emotions sweep over his face in an ever-changing cycle. Shock, wonder, joy, then sadness when he heard Justin’s daughter—Tito’s granddaughter—had leukemia.

“Of course, I’ll help.” Tito clutched Justin’s hand in his. “My whole family will help. My mother will be all over herself with joy when she hears she has great-grandchildren. I can’t wait to meet them. I have a small place, but you’re welcome to stay with me.”

Rex leaned in. “They can stay at the inn, Tito. Our treat.”

Tito shot a tear-filled gaze filled with gratitude Rex’s way. “Thank you.” Then he squeezed Justin’s hands once more. “We’ll start a drive. I’ll call the hospital, and see what we can do. Contact the bone marrow registry people.”

Tyler smiled. “I know a local doctor who might be able to help.” He squatted down to Tito’s and Justin’s level. “Aren’t you concerned about feedback?”

He frowned. “From who?” Realization dawned. “Oh…that…” He pulled in a breath. “I don’t care. This is family. Family is all that matters. The rest is just stuff.” Another thought darkened his face.

“Talk to us, Tito,” Kevin pressed. “Knowing Justin’s biological mother would be a good start.”

Another sigh. “Margaret Simpkiss.”

Holy shit!

“God, I loved that woman. I still do. I’m such a fool. Her parents wouldn’t hear of us dating, much less marrying. We took advantage of the activities out at the ranch. Two stupid kids. She got pregnant and hid it from me, from them, until it was too late. Margaret told me later she knew if she waited long enough, her parents couldn’t make her have an abortion. She thought it would force them to let us marry. Last time I ever spoke to her was when she told me our baby boy had died in childbirth. She said she could never speak to me again. And she never has.”

“Do you know who the midwife was?” Rex asked.

“No.” Tito shook his head, then lifted his chin, more determined than Tyler had ever seen him. “But I know who does, and I want some answers.” He snapped to his feet. “Come on, son. It’s time you met your mother. You up for a walk? It’s about six blocks down and two blocks over. Nothing I’d like more than to march with you right down the—” A scowl replaced his joy. “You’re looking a little beat-up. What happened?”

Kevin stood then, looking ready for a face-off. “That accident just outside of town?”

Tito gave a nod.

“That was us.”

Tyler kept his smile inside. Now this was rage. He wasn’t above adding a little fuel to the fire, but to tell Tito that the accident, Derek’s death, and the attempt on Nate’s life were connected would shine a huge spotlight on them. There was only so much they could risk. He mentally crossed his fingers and asked for Derek’s forgiveness.

“How ’bout we meet you there, Tito?” Rex suggested.

Tito agreed, but it was clear he’d rather do this on his terms. It truly was the first time the man had ever shown some balls.

* * * *

Tessa hit town minutes behind the men. She waved at Rex and Tyler as they went inside when she passed the sheriff’s station. Already heads were turning at the sight of Justin. That chased away a little of her anxiety. But it returned when she pulled Rex’s car into the bank parking lot. She grabbed her white clutch and tried to appear casual as she walked inside, when what she really wanted to do was grab what she needed and get the hell out of there. Ethel hurried her way when Tessa approached the counter.

“Back again so soon?”

Wasn’t it obvious? She prayed it didn’t look suspicious. “Sure enough.” Tessa filled out the index card and slid it her way, forcing a smile she didn’t feel. “We need Derek’s life insurance policies.” A flimsy excuse. Now she’d have to grab those too in order to cover the lie.

“You didn’t get those earlier?” Ethel unsecured the door for Tessa’s access.

“Too many things on our minds.” Way too many things.

“I hear you. So much paperwork involved. You’ve got a rough couple of months ahead of you. Come on, sweetie. You barely caught us before quittin’ time.”

“I’m glad I made it, then.” Not that it wasn’t something she couldn’t have handled in the morning. The documents were safe in the bank. But she’d get a better night’s sleep knowing they were destroyed. An investigation might turn up what had happened. The lab Derek used would still have the information. But if she had to do so, Tessa would blame it all on him. Call it diminished capacity because of the brain cancer.