Page 123 of Cowboy's Last Stand
Wade and his deputy exchanged a glance.They couldn’t dispute this fact.
“You said there was an accident,” Jason said.
Instead of explaining, Wade led Jason toward the squad car and gestured for him to get into the back seat.Jason could hardly refuse.He was in handcuffs, at their mercy.Maybe if he cooperated, they would tell him what the hell was going on.
They didn’t tell him anything.The clear plastic divider between the backseat and front prevented any conversation.The ride to town seemed endless, though it was probably less than ten miles.Jason wondered what kind of accident could have befallen Natalie and also resulted in him becoming a suspect.
Had Billy attacked her in her home?
By the time they arrived at the station, Jason was desperate for answers.Natalie’s car was parked by the curb, and it appeared untouched.
“Is Natalie OK?”he asked again.His voice was hoarse with panic.
“Natalie’s fine,” Wade said.“I just wanted to get you here.”
Jason felt the blood drain from his face.He’d never hated another human being more than he hated Wade Hendricks in that moment.He also hated the unnamed deputy, who snuck in another cheap shot on the way in.Natalie was sitting at one of the desks, looking as shell-shocked as he felt.He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he said nothing.They took him to an interrogation room and left him there.His mind was spinning.
Natalie was unharmed, he repeated to himself.That was the important thing.
He endured the bite of the handcuffs, which were cruelly tight, and focused on steady breathing.They’d made a mistake.He hadn’t done anything illegal.He would cooperate with their questions and be released.
Wade reappeared with a man who introduced himself as Detective Schmidt from a neighboring police department.Jason wasn’t mollified by the presence of an outsider.Nor was he relieved when Wade removed his cuffs.The release of tension sent tingling pains up and down Jason’s arms.Jason flexed his hands until the discomfort faded.
Wade, who seemed accustomed to this reaction, waited for it to pass.Then he offered Jason a bottle of water.Jason drank several gulps to wash the taste of blood out of his mouth as the men sat down on the other side of a narrow table.
Detective Schmidt gave Jason a wan smile.He was a small man with a bald head.“What were you up to last night?”
“I was with Natalie.”
“Doing what?”Wade asked.
“Talking,” he replied shortly.“Am I being charged with something?”
“Billy was shot in his trailer.He’s dead.”
Jason stared at Wade in disbelief.A moment later, it dawned on him that Wade wasn’t kidding.No wonder they’d been so aggressive in detaining him.A serious crime had occurred.The sheriff’s son was dead.
“You think I did it?”Jason asked.
“A .38 revolver was found this morning in Natalie’s garage, inside the truck you’ve been working on.”
“It’s not mine,” Jason said.
“I know.It’s Billy’s.”
Jason’s tension spiked.He took another swallow of water, wondering who had planted a gun in the truck.All of the deputies in this town answered to Sheriff Hendricks.He reassessed his chances of being charged, perhaps even convicted, of murder.
“You’ve been involved in an altercation with Billy before,” Wade pointed out.
“One that he instigated.”
Detective Schmidt referred to a list on the table.“Deputies found another weapon in your backpack.”
Jason drew a blank.“What weapon?”
“Brass knuckles,” Schmidt said.“Which are illegal to possess in the state of Texas.There’s an amendment on the books to legalize them, but it hasn’t passed yet.”
Jason considered the irony of his predicament.He’d taken the brass knuckles away from Billy in self-defense.He’d intended to throw them into the nearest river.Now, he was a murder suspect, not a victim, and they could arrest him for possession of an illegal weapon.It didn’t matter that Wade knew the item had belonged to Billy.
