Page 18 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

“I drove straight here when I heard the godawful news about the murders,” Royce said, his forehead bunching up. “Jemma, what the hell’s going on?”

“We’re in the process of sorting things out. The investigation is ongoing,” Jemma replied.

Royce shook his head. “I want to help. How can I help?” he amended.

“Right now, there’s nothing you can do,” Jemma said. “Owen Striker and Ruby Maverick have been generous with their manpower and equipment, so we have everything we need.”

That wasn’t close to the truth about them having what they needed, but Hayes was still glad she’d turned this man down. He had a bad feeling about him, though he had to admit that feeling was all because of Jemma’s reaction.

Royce pulled back his shoulders ever so slightly. “I could man the desk here,” he offered. “Screen visitors. Take calls, that sort of thing.”

Jemma gave him a thin smile that was in no way genuine. “Thanks, but we’ve got that part under control.”

“Even with Owen being shot?” Royce pressed.

“Yes, even with that.” It had adon’t call us, we’ll call youkind of vibe to it, but it seemed to take Royce a couple of seconds to pick up on it.

Royce’s mouth tightened, and he nodded. “All right. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do. The offer still stands.” He tipped his head in farewell to the three of them and then headed out.

“What the hell was that about?” Hayes asked her, watching the man leave.

She opened her mouth but then shook her head. “Later,” Jemma muttered, turning to Molly. “Any updates?” she asked the tech.

“Duane’s on his way in,” Molly relayed to them. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with Brooks.”

Jemma nodded, muttered a thanks, as she took out the phones that she’d collected at her family’s estate. “I’m hoping you can get these to a lab,” Jemma explained. “One belongs to my father, Stefano Salvetti, and the other to his wife, Cordelia. I’m looking for…” She stopped. “…well, anything that could be related to the murders.”

“Of course,” Molly said, using the form at the desk to log in the evidence. “I’ll have a courier pick them up right away. And we’re getting extra help any minute now, and Jesse and Ryker are on their way here,” she said referring to fellow operatives, Jesse McCain and Ryker Caldwell. She paused, her gaze shifting to Hayes, and there was worry in her eyes. “Have you heard anything about how Owen’s doing?”

“My guess is that he’ll be fine,” Hayes let her know, hoping that was the truth. “In fact, I suspect he’ll be back in soon unless Ruby can convince him to stay put at the hospital.”

That lessened some of the worry in Molly’s eyes, and with the phones now in her possession, Hayes needed to get moving on some other things.

“I want to call Brooks,” he reminded Jemma.

She nodded and took out her own phone. “I’ll do that,” she said as they made their way back into the temporary office.

With Owen gone and no visitors, that left the place empty except for Reed, who was still at one of the desks, having a phone conversation. From what Hayes could hear, it was with someone setting up security.

Jemma pressed in Brooks’ number, but the call went straight to voicemail. She left a terse message for him to come into the inn right away.

Hayes decided to add a little incentive for Brooks to respond. He texted a friend in San Antonio PD and requestedthat uniformed officers go to Brooks’ place of business and residence to deliver a message in person that he was needed for questioning about the murders in Outlaw Ridge.

With that task done, Hayes was ready to start chasing down reports on…hell, all their damn crime scenes. There were plenty of them, and maybe one would reveal something they could use to catch this SOB killer.

“About Royce,” Jemma muttered, following him to one of the desks. That got his attention, and while he booted up a laptop, he stared at her, waiting. “Shortly after I became a deputy, he asked me out a couple of times. I turned him down, but he kept pushing. I finally had to threaten to report him to the sheriff.”

Hayes cursed. Yeah, he’d been right about something being off about that asshole. “Did Royce back off?”

She nodded. “But by then, Sheriff Bonetti had gotten wind of what was happening, and he told Royce to leave me alone. It was awkward between Royce and me until he left about four months ago to become a PI.”

Four months. Plenty of time to set up the murders and the attacks. But being rejected didn’t seem like a big enough motive to kill this many people. Still, he’d give Royce a harder look, and Hayes started that process by putting the man’s name in the database that Owen’s tech team had set up for the operatives to do deep dives on anyone connected to a mission. However, he didn’t get far in the search because he heard Aiden through the earpiece.

“Duane’s here,” Aiden announced. “I’m frisking him now. And surprise, surprise, he’s armed. I’ll hold onto these two Sigs and the Bowie knife while he’s in the inn.” There was some grumbling and cursing in the background. No doubt from Duane. “Yeah, just consider me a human metal detector and security checkpoint.”

It was no great shock that Duane would object to being disarmed, but Hayes didn’t care a rat’s ass about the man’s displeasure. Having an unarmed suspect was the easiest way to keep Jemma safe.

With Jemma right on his heels, Hayes went back into reception so that he couldgreetDuane. He’d never met the man, but he realized he’d seen him around Outlaw Ridge. Duane was in his early forties and clearly worked out a lot since his biceps were straining against his olive green tee.

---