Page 20 of Deputies Under Fire
“And did Helen and you see each other?” Eden asked.
“No, we did not because I was with someone else at the time,” he insisted, and Frank looked Rory straight in the eyes. “I didn’t kill those women,” he repeated. “Ike did, and I hope you can do the right thing and arrest him. If not, there’ll likely be another murder soon.”
The man’s gaze slid to Eden, and he didn’t come out and say that he considered her a potential victim. While Frank’s gaze wasn’t accompanied with any intense emotion, it still felt like an unspoken threat.
“I’ll watch my back,” Frank added a moment later. “I hope everyone on Ike’s bad side will do the same. Are we done here?” he asked.
“For now,” Rory replied. “If I have any other questions, I’ll be in touch.”
Frank tipped his head in farewell, slipped on the white Stetson he’d been holding in front of him like a shield and walked out. Rory’s and Eden’s phones dinged with texts as they watched the man go, and Rory saw Grace’s group message to both Eden and him on the screen.
Tyler and Leslie arrived at the ranch, Grace had texted.All is well. We’ll keep them safe.
That helped ease some of the tension in his muscles, and he could see it had the same reaction for Eden. Tyler was their top priority, and with him safe, they could focus on their jobs.
Livvy got to her feet and began gathering her files. “Ready to start with Ike?”
Rory nodded, and he hoped the interview went a lot better than he was anticipating. It was possible as soon as those bugs were brought up that the lawyers would try to put a halt to the process by claiming it was something they needed to learn more about.
He and Eden followed Livvy down the hall, but then they peeled off, going into the observation area while Livvy continued into the interview room. Rory immediately spotted Ike seated at the metal table, and he had two lawyers on each side of him.
Yeah, lawyered up to his eyeballs was right.
Livvy turned on the recording, adding the pertinent details of the date, time and the names of those present. She was in the process of repeating Ike’s Miranda rights when Rory’s phone rang.
“It’s Detective Vernon from SAPD,” he said to Eden.
No need for him to clarify who that was. He was the cop assigned to supervise the search of Brenda’s house and office in San Antonio.
“Deputy McClennan,” Rory said when he answered, “and you’re on speaker with Deputy Eden Gallagher.”
“Good. Because you’ll both want to hear what turned up in Brenda’s bedroom.”
Rory silently groaned at the detective’s tone, and he steeled himself for what he was certain was going to be bad news.
“The CSIs found a burner phone in a plastic bag,” Vernon explained. “It was tucked away at the back of the top shelf. So, hidden from sight.”
Rory’s mind began to whirl with possibilities. And they weren’t good possibilities, either. Some people did keep burners around for emergencies, but they didn’t usually bother to hide them.
“The burner wasn’t locked,” the detective continued, “and there were some texts on it.” He paused. “They match the replies on the messages on Brenda’s other phone.”
Hell in a handbasket.
“You understand what I’m saying, right?” Vernon asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Rory understood all right. If the burner belonged to Brenda, then she had likely sent those texts to herself, and there was only one reason she would have done that.
To set Ike up.
“Are there any other messages on the burner, or was it used to make calls?” Rory queried.
“No. That was it, just those replies.”
So the odds were Brenda had indeed planned on using those texts to try to frame Ike. Had the woman also murdered Mellie?
Maybe.
It was definitely something that needed to be investigated. In fact, it changed everything about how they needed to approach this case. And it left Rory with a huge question.
