Page 37 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

Jemma held up her hand in a wait a second gesture, and she turned on the recorder that was already on the table. She stated the time, date, and the names of those present before sherepeated the Miranda to Royce. Something that he clearly didn’t appreciate, but if Royce said something to incriminate himself or someone else during the interview, Jemma wanted to make sure it’d be admissible.

“Tell us about the shots someone fired at you,” Jemma was finally able to start.

Royce didn’t look ready to get past his anger over Duane not being arrested, but then he took a steadying breath. “It happened at six this morning.” He checked his watch. “About an hour ago. I was staying the night at my fishing cabin, so I’d be close to Outlaw Ridge if Owen or you needed me for some police work. Anyway, I was still in bed when someone started shooting through my bedroom window.”

Jemma considered that a moment. “Do you often stay at the cabin? And who knew you’d be there?”

“Well, I didn’t keep it a secret that I’d be there,” Royce insisted. “I told Molly and several of the other new deputies where I’d be. Like I said, I wanted to be close to town.”

Yes, she hadn’t missed that last part, but it had sort of given her the creeps. Mainly because Royce was still giving her those looks. The ones to indicate he was interested in pursuing her as a lover. Jemma ignored the looks and continued.

“Before the shots started, had you seen or heard anything suspicious around the cabin?” she asked.

Royce shook his head, sighed. “Nothing. I worked for the cops long enough to know how to be vigilant, and there were no red flags.”

“None other than you were a former dispatcher at a police station where most of the cops and the current dispatcher was murdered,” Hayes pointed out.

That put a scowl on Royce’s face. “Yes, other than that,” he grumbled.

“What about security?” Hayes pressed. “Any camera feed?”

Another shake of his head. “I do have a security system in the cabin but no cameras. That’s not exactly a high crime area.” Then, he must have recalled the events of the past two days. “I mean, it wasn’t until recently. I’ll be having cameras and more security installed later today.”

That seemed wise if he was going to continue to stay there. Of course, if he was the killer, then all of this was simply for show.

“Tell us what happened during the actual shooting?” Jemma continued. “Did you manage to see your attacker?”

“No to that last part,” Royce was quick to say. Then, he paused and shuddered as if recalling all of this was causing some horrific flashbacks. And it likely was if he wasn’t the perpetrator. “I was still asleep when the sound of the gunfire woke me. Three shots came through the large window in my bedroom that overlooks the creek. I had the curtains open. I like to wake up to that view,” he tacked onto that. “And the glass shattered, bits flying all over the room.”

“Were you cut?” Hayes asked.

Royce held up his left arm, and the sleeve of his shirt was rolled back enough for them to see the large bandage there. “There’s another on my back. The EMTs treated it when they arrived.”

Good. There’d be a record of that, and it meant Jemma could maybe see if the injuries were consistent with what Royce had just described.

“After those three shots were fired,” Royce went on, “I scrambled off the bed, grabbed my gun from the nightstand and ducked down on the side of my dresser.” He stopped, closed his eyes for a moment. “More shots came. Five, I think. I stayed down until they stopped, and I got up to try to return fire, but I couldn’t see anyone outside. The person must have run off.”

“Maybe he or she left footprints,” Hayes suggested. “I’m sure the CSIs will look for that and spent shell casings. Also, if the bullets slammed into your cabin or the walls, they should be able to get the angle of the shooter.”

“I hope so,” Royce insisted. “I want this sonofabitch caught.” He leaned closer, his expression intense. “It has to be the same person who shot Owen. The same one who tried to kill the two of you and escaped. What about the dead gunman? Does he connect back to Duane?”

“We’re still looking into that,” Jemma assured him.

No way would she mention that Grady Thorton had no known links to Duane but rather to Brooks.

And that brought her back to their suspects.

None of them had alibis for this latest shooting. Even if they had though, that didn’t rule out one of them using hired help to continue this reign of terror.

“Talk to us about Hailey Trainor,” Jemma continued, going with a change of subject.

Royce gave her a blank look at first. “Oh, the missing hiker. I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about her. I didn’t get the call that the county says I did, so I had no idea she was missing.” He paused. “Still, it doesn’t surprise me that people go missing in those woods. It was stupid for her to hike alone. And some of those trails are death traps. A couple of them are right by the bluffs.”

They were indeed, and some of the bluffs were high enough to kill a hiker if they fell from them. Still, that probably wasn’t the cause of Hailey’s death since she’d been found buried. Unfortunately, Jemma couldn’t get into any of that with Royce until the next of kin was notified.

“You’re familiar with those hiking trails?” Hayes asked.

Royce leaned back in his chair and gave a nonchalant shrug. “As familiar as most locals are. My folks used to take me to that park when I was a kid.”

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