Page 17 of Deputies Under Fire
Eden muttered an agreement. “Ike would have hidden the bodies better. He probably would have made the deaths seem like a botched robbery or suicide. Right now, everything points to him, and if he’d planned the murders, he should have had the evidence leading us to someone else.”
“Yes, all of that makes sense. But I’ll play devil’s advocate. What if Ike intentionally made it seem as if he’d been set up? After all, even with a botched robbery and a suicide, he would have come under suspicion because of his bad blood with the victims. Ike could be playing a cat-and-mouse game with the belief that if he is charged with anything, his lawyers can get him off.”
Rory couldn’t dispute a single word of that. Which was why Ike was still their top suspect.
“Even if Ike isn’t the killer, the threat to Tyler is still there,” Rory continued. “Because the person who responded toBrenda’s text could be the killer. Along with setting up Ike, this person might indeed come after Eden and me.”
“Yes,” Grace confirmed. “And that’s why the two of you will take precautions. FYI, Dutton heard what you said, and he’s already heading to Eden’s with the ranch hands. When Tyler and Leslie are safely here, I’ll text and let you know. I’ll also be watching Ike’s interview through a live feed.”
Good. The more eyes and ears on that interview, the better. If Ike was indeed trying to outsmart them with this sick plan, then he might give away a clue or two in something he said.
“Who else was named in those texts?” Grace asked.
“Frank Mott,” Rory said. “And, of course, the person replying to Brenda’s texts. No ID yet on who that is.”
Grace stayed quiet a moment. “You want me to contact Frank and give him a heads-up?”
“I’ll do that,” Eden offered, probably to limit Grace’s duties since she was on maternity leave. “And I’ll ask him to come in for an interview.”
“Good.” Grace ended the call with a final “Be careful,” and Rory stared at his phone a moment, hoping he’d done enough to protect Tyler.
Beside him, Eden located Frank’s number, but the call went straight to voice mail. She left a message for the man to contact her ASAP.
As Eden put her phone away, Rory looked at her, ready to try to reassure her that their son would be all right, that he would be safe with Dutton and Grace. Before he could say anything, though, Eden reached out and pulled him into her arms.
“God, Rory. We can’t let the killer get to Tyler,” she muttered.
“We won’t,” he promised.
It was probably a mistake, but he slid his arms around her as well and eased her even closer to him. Touching Eden was always risky. Because of the blasted heat between them. Becausethat heat could muddle his thoughts and cause him to lose focus. But in this case, it only helped him focus even more.
They had so much at risk.
But they were a united force in protecting their child. Even with the heat, they wouldn’t lose sight of that.
Rory stepped away from her when Beatrice came back in the room. The nurse gave them a long glance and seemed to be on the verge of asking them if she was interrupting. Rory nipped that in the bud. He definitely didn’t want to discuss anything going on between them.
“You have the paperwork for us to sign?” he asked.
Beatrice nodded, produced some forms and two pens. Eden and he glanced over them, signed and headed out. Because of that threat looming over them, they kept watch as they went to the cruiser, got inside and pulled out.
Rory hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot, though, when his phone rang, and he saw the unfamiliar number on the screen. Still, with all the moving parts of the investigation, he figured he’d be getting lots of calls from people not in his contacts.
“Deputy McClennan,” the person said when Rory answered. “I’m Rachel Sanchez from Caldwell County CSI. I’m heading up the team that’s been searching the residence of Ike McClennan.”
Rory felt his chest tighten. “Did you find something?”
“We did. Three listening devices.”
So it was true. “Where?” Rory queried.
“Two in his office and another in his bedroom. Do you know if Mr. McClennan planted the bugs himself?” Sanchez asked.
“No idea. Were they well hidden?” Rory continued.
“Two were. One was on a bookshelf. It was attached to the spine of a book. Once we found that one, we looked for others and did a thorough sweep of the house. We’ll send them to thelab so they can be checked for prints or trace. They might be able to tell who was receiving the info from them.”
That would be very useful information. Ditto for the prints, especially if they belonged to Ike.
