Page 38 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

He was right about the familiarity of the place. Even Jemma had been there a time or two. And Cordelia and Brooks certainly had because of the location of her country home.

“Did you ask Duane about those hikers?” Royce pressed. “I mean, those trails are practically on his doorstep.”

“Duane has been interviewed,” she settled for saying.

Royce made a snorting sound. “Bet he lied to save his sorry ass. What about Cordelia? Was sheinterviewed, too, about the hikers? And about the murders?”

There was venom in the man’s voice. Maybe a general kind of dislike for the woman who was married to a mobster. But Jemma thought she detected something else.

“Is there any reason why you’d think Cordelia or Duane had something to do with the murders?” Jemma came out and asked.

“You mean other than covering their asses?” Royce snapped, but then he throttled back a bit on the anger. “I have two theories. Cordelia’s psycho degenerate son killed those hikers, and she wants to cover his tracks by eliminating a police force who could ID him as the killer and her as his accomplice after the fact.” He paused again. “Or Duane could have killed for her.”

Jemma and Hayes exchanged a glance. A confused one. “Why would Duane kill for Cordelia?”

A slow smile spread over Royce’s mouth. “You mean, you don’t know?” He laughed. “Oh, that means the Rattler probably doesn’t know either.” His smile widened. “Cordelia and Duane are having an affair. It’s been going on for years.”

Jemma had to take a moment to consider that. And to shake off some of the shock. She hadn’t caught a whiff of Cordeliahaving an extramarital relationship with anyone, especially Duane.

“Do you have any proof about this affair?” she asked Royce.

Royce shrugged again. “A while back I was driving around, trying to settle my mind after a tough day at work. I saw her in her car coming out of the school gates at 0 dark thirty. I can’t think of any other reason for Cordelia to have been there at that hour.”

Neither could Jemma. But it was something she could question Cordelia about once the woman surfaced. And for now, she could ask her father. However, if the affair was true, then it could explain why Duane hated her so much. Not because she was a cop but because of her turbulent relationship with her stepmother.

“Could you excuse us a moment?” Jemma asked, standing. Hayes did the same.

“Can’t wait to hear what the Rattler has to say,” Royce muttered. He was sporting that smug grin again.

Jemma ignored the grin, and Hayes and she stepped out in the hall. Gathering her breath, she was about to tap on the interview room door where Owen and her father would be, but Hayes’ phone rang before she could do that.

“It’s Reed,” he relayed to her, and he moved away from the interview rooms and took the call on speaker.

“We have a problem,” Reed instantly said. “Someone just called in and reported a dead body with a possible gunshot wound to the head.” He paused. “It’s Brooks.”

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Chapter Twelve

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Brooks.

Hayes had been worried about someone else getting killed, but he sure as hell hadn’t expected it to be Jemma’s stepbrother. Apparently, neither had Jemma because she was sporting a semi-shellshocked expression as they drove to the new crime scene—at a side entrance to the park. In fact, it apparently wasn’t that far from where Hailey’s body had been excavated overnight.

Going with their usual travel routine, Aiden was following behind them, and all three of them already had on their Kevlar vests and would be donning helmets before they got out to examine the brand-new crime scene. That would leave Owen and Reed to finish up with the interviews.

“Since Cordelia and Duane didn’t have an alibi for the shooting at Royce’s cabin, they likely aren’t going to have an alibi for this,” Jemma muttered.

“True. And Royce probably won’t have one either,” Hayes pointed out. “In fact, he could have shot Brooks and driven straight to the inn to report the so-called attack at his cabin.”

She made a sound of agreement and then voiced the question that was weighing on Hayes’ mind. “But why would Royce kill Brooks?”

Hayes didn’t have a good answer. Only a couple of possibilities. “Brooks maybe discovered something he shouldn’t.” That was one theory. “Or Brooks was working with Royce to kill all the cops who could uncover the secrets about the bodies buried in the park.”

“Or Royce is a psychopath serial killer,” she tacked onto that and then huffed. “The same could be said for Duane.”

That was true, but there was a different angle with Royce. “If Royce is obsessed with you, he might have wanted to kill everyone who slighted you. The cops and Brooks. If so, Cordelia would be on his hit list, too.”

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