“I don’t want another lawyer,” Dent howled. “Good grief, the police are trying to pin my wife’s murder on me. I need you to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “But I simply can’t represent you.” She turned to go back into Grayson’s office, but Dent stepped in front of her.
“You can’t do this,” Dent insisted. “I won’t let you do it.” He flung his hand toward Nate. “Is it because of him? Because he’s turned you against me? Well, you’re stupid to believe Nate Ryland. He’s had it in for me since the moment Sandra drew her last breath.”
Enough was enough. Nate stepped between Darcy and the man. “Dent, my advice is to make some calls. Find another attorney. Because you’re probably going to want one with you when Sheriff Ryland questions you.”
“Sheriff Ryland?” he said like profanity. “If any of you badge-wearing cowboys want to question me, then you get a warrant for my arrest because I’m done playing games.” He aimed a glare at Darcy. “I’ll settle things with you later.”
Nate latched on to Dent’s shirt and snapped the man toward him. “Is that a threat?”
Dent opened his mouth as if he might verify that, but he must have decided it would be a bad idea. He tore away from Nate’s grip, cursed and turned, heading for the door.
Nate followed him, to make sure he did leave. Grayson would indeed want to question him, but that probably wasn’t a good idea with Edwin, Adam and Darcy there. Besides, Dent needed a new attorney. Later, Nate would talk to Darcy about that, to make sure she was doing this for all the right reasons—whatever those reasons were.
For now, he watched.
Dent was moving at lightning speed. Until he reached the dispatcher’s desk. And then he stopped and stared at the person on the other side of Tina.
That got Nate moving. Darcy, too. Nate wasn’t sure who had captured Dent’s attention, and he was more than a little surprised that it was Marlene. She had a bandage on her cheek, another on her arm, but she looked as if she’d physically weathered the kidnapping ordeal. Not mentally, though. The woman was practically cowering.
“Grayson said I needed to sign some papers,” Marlene said, her head lowered, her bottom lip trembling.
“Papers?” Dent challenged, and his booming voice caused Marlene to look even more rattled. “Please don’t tell me this woman had something to do with the kidnapping.”
Nate put his hands on his hips and tried to figure out what the heck was going on.
“The gunmen took me hostage,” Marlene explained. “I work at the Silver Creek Preschool and Day Care.”
Dent stared at her. And then he laughed. “Oh, this is
good
.”
That got Marlene’s gaze off the floor. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she insisted. And then she turned the pleading gaze on Nate and Darcy. “I swear.”
“What do you mean?” Nate demanded. When Marlene didn’t answer, Nate looked at Dent.
But the man just smiled and headed for the door. “Why don’t you ask her? Or better yet, ask Edwin. I’m sure he’d like to tell you all about it.”
Chapter Ten
Darcy kept watch out the SUV window while Nate drove back to the ranch.
Even though she didn’t think anyone was following them, she wanted to make sure. With the eerie turn in the investigation, Darcy didn’t want to take any chances with their safety. Or the babies’. She certainly didn’t want a second wave of kidnappers trying to follow them to the ranch.
Nate was keeping watch, too, but he also had his cell phone clipped to the dash. Ready. And waiting for a call from Grayson that would hopefully explain why her former client had suggested Marlene was associated with Edwin. Grayson hadn’t quite dismissed the semi-accusation, but he’d insisted that Nate and she head back to the ranch and leave him to handle the questions, not just for Edwin but for Marlene.
That was probably a good idea because the anger was already starting to roar through Darcy. Not just for Marlene’s possible involvement but because she’d seen firsthand the venom inside Dent. She’d thought he was innocent, but she wasn’t so sure of that now. Plus, there was the money taken from Sandra’s safe. Dent could have stolen it and used it to fund the kidnapping.
Of course, the same could be said for Edwin or Adam.
“In all the interviews I did regarding Sandra Dent, Marlene’s name never came up,” Nate commented.
“Same here.” But what had come up was the tyrannical way that Sandra had treated others—especially her husband, her ex and her son. It was that behavior, and her net worth, that had provided the possible motive for her murder.
Nate took the final turn to the ranch, and finally his cell rang. And Darcy saw that it was Grayson’s name on the caller ID. Nate jabbed the button to answer and pressed the speaker function.
“Well?” Nate immediately asked.
Grayson huffed. “Edwin and Marlene know each other.”
That kicked Darcy’s pulse up a notch. “How?” Nate and she asked in unison.
“In the worst way possible for our investigation.” Grayson sounded tired, frustrated and riled. “They had an affair.”
“An affair?” Darcy challenged. “Those two don’t exactly run in the same social circles.”
“No,” Grayson agreed. “But they apparently met at a bar in San Antonio. He bought her a drink, and things went from there.”
Nate cursed, and it mirrored exactly how Darcy felt. “Any idea if Marlene had something to do with the kidnapping?” Nate pressed.
“She says no. So does Edwin. He puts the blame directly on Dent.”
Of course, he would. Dent was putting the blame on Edwin and Adam, and the finger-pointing was just going in circles.
“Edwin says the affair was short, just a few weeks, and that it ended months ago,” Grayson continued. “Marlene echoed the same, but I got to tell you, I’m not sure I believe her. After all, she had an entire day to give me a heads-up about her relationship with Edwin, and she didn’t even mention it. I have to ask myself why.”
Darcy’s pulse went up more than a notch. “Are you holding her?”
“No. I told her not to leave town, that I would have more questions for her once I did some checking. I’ll get her phone records and go from there. Edwin’s, too. If they put this kidnapping together, I’ll find a way to prove it.”
“Thanks,” Nate told him.
“There’s more,” Grayson said before Nate could hang up. “The two deputy marshals are here to extradite Ramirez.”
“Already?” Nate cursed. And Darcy didn’t blame him. They’d hoped to have more time to get Ramirez to talk.
“Yeah. And the marshals want to leave immediately. I can’t stop them from taking him,” Grayson explained. “But I’ll try.”
Nate thanked his brother again, hit the end-call button and stopped the SUV in front of the ranch house. But he didn’t get out. Neither did Darcy. They sat there trying to absorb what they’d just learned. A woman they had thought they could trust, a woman they had believed had helped them by writing those initials, could be the very person who had helped put their children in grave danger.
Darcy stared up at the iron-gray sky for a moment. Everything suddenly felt heavy. Dreary, even. Probably because a storm was moving in. Literally. But that storm was inside her, too.
They got out of the SUV, and Darcy glanced around at the lack of other vehicles in the driveway. Good. Fewer brothers to face. When they went inside, she could smell Bessie’s lunch preparations, but none of the others were around. However, there were several notes on the table, which Nate stopped to read.
“Where is everyone?” she asked, automatically making her way to Nate’s wing of the house. Maybe it was the news about Marlene, but she had to see her son and make sure everything was okay, and she headed in that direction.
Nate was right behind her. “According to the notes, Mason is in his office in the ranch hands’ quarters. Kayla and Grayson’s wife, Eve, are in San Antonio. Eve had a doctor’s appointment.”
Alarmed, Darcy stopped and whirled around to face him. “Is that safe? I mean, the person behind the kidnapping might go after members of your family.”
He shook his head and ran his hand down her arm. “It’s okay. Kade’s with them. Grayson considered having Eve reschedule the appointment, but because of her age, her doctor here wanted her to see a specialist in the city. It’s just a routine checkup.”
“Routine,” Darcy repeated under her breath. An impending birth that the family should be celebrating, but instead they were under this cloud of fear. Well, she was, anyway. Darcy didn’t think she could forgive herself if something happened to another member of Nate’s family.
“Come on.” His gentle touch morphed into a grip and he led her in the direction of Kimmie’s nursery.
There were no sounds. That was a cause for more alarm until Darcy realized both children were in the nursery. Sharing Kimmie’s crib. And they were both asleep. Grace, the nanny, was seated in a rocking chair, a paperback in her hand, and she put her finger to her lips in a
shhh
gesture and joined them in the hall.
“They were both tuckered out,” Grace whispered. “Fell asleep after their snacks so I decided to let them have a little nap.”
Noah didn’t normally take a morning nap, but Darcy figured he’d earned one because of the ordeal and the disruption in his routine.
“We’ll be in my office,” Nate whispered to the nanny. “Buzz me when they wake up.”
Nate took Darcy toward the end of the wing until they reached his office. Like the rest of the rooms, it was large. There was a sitting area with a massive stone fireplace, several windows, but the remaining walls were filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
“I like to read,” he commented when she stood in the doorway with her gaze shifting from one section of the shelves to the other.
Judging from the sheer number of books, that was an understatement, and it made her wonder when he found time to do that. Or exercise. But his toned body certainly indicated that he worked out, and the treadmill in the corner looked well used. It was the same for the desk, which was topped with all kinds of office equipment.
Including a red phone.
“Are you a secret agent or something?” she joked.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “It’s a secure line. I need it sometimes if I’m here in Silver Creek and some sensitive SAPD business pops up.”
She figured that was often. Nate was a lieutenant, an important man in SAPD. “It must be hard to live this far away from your headquarters.”
“Sometimes. But it’d be harder if I didn’t have my family around to help.” Nate took two bottles of water from the fridge behind his desk and handed her one. His fingers brushed hers.
A totally innocent touch.
But like all of Nate’s touches, it had a scalding effect on her.
And Nate noticed. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
She tried to shrug it off and get her mind onto other subjects. It wasn’t easy, but thankfully there were many things in the room—not just Nate—to distract her.
There were the monitors, for instance. A trio of flat screens had been built into the wall. They were all on, and she recognized the playroom and the nursery where the babies were sleeping. The third, however, was an exterior shot of a lush green pasture dotted with horses.
“A way for me to keep watch on the ranch,” he explained.
Nate typed something on his computer keyboard, and the pasture scene switched to one of the outbuildings. She saw Mason talking with one of the ranch hands.
“We all pitch in to do what we can to run the ranch, but Mason has the bulk of the workload on his shoulders.” There was regret in his voice. And fatigue.
Darcy strolled to the fireplace to study the photos on the mantel. As in the playroom, there was a picture of his murdered grandfather.
Nate’s old baggage.
Funny that his old baggage was intertwined with some of her unfinished business. She took a sip of water, turned to him. “As the executor of Charles Brennan’s estate, I can give you keys and access codes for all of his properties, including his safety-deposit boxes. If my assistant doesn’t come up with anything, you might be able to find something that connects him to your late grandfather.”
Nate blinked. “You’d do that?”
“Of course,” Darcy said without hesitation.
But she was aware that just two days ago she would have done more than hesitate. She would have refused, citing her client’s right to privacy, but her views weren’t so black-and-white now. Being around Nate and having her life turned upside down had given her some shades of gray to consider. And since Charles Brennan had been a cold-blooded killer, she felt no obligation to hide his sins from the world.
Or from Nate and his family.
“Thank you,” Nate said, his voice just above a whisper.
She shrugged and stared at the family pictures. “I know something about family love. And pain,” she added. “About how complex relationships can be.”
He studied her. “Are you talking about yourself now?”
Darcy smiled before she could stop herself. “Maybe. A little.” But the smiled faded. “I’m responsible for my father’s murder.”