Page 53 of Deputies Under Fire
Rory considered that. The items themselves wouldn’t be that hard to get, but it would have taken time to plant all of that. And the rigging wouldn’t have necessarily happened this morning. No. The killer could have set all of that up earlier before he or she had brought Carter there.
“It was all a huge risk,” Rory muttered.
“Yes,” she agreed. “But it wouldn’t have taken much strength,” Eden added. “Which means it doesn’t rule out Diedre or Helen.”
No, it did not, and Rory could see how this might have played out. “All three of the victims could have been lured to the places where they were killed. No lifting or dragging required for the killer. Just get them there and murder them. In Mellie’s and Brenda’s cases, the killer could have even been reasonably sure they wouldn’t be interrupted by someone just passing by.”
“Not the case with Carter, though,” Eden murmured.
“True, but since it was dark, the killer might have parked off the road and dropped down into the ditch if they saw headlights. That was still a risk, but if someone had stopped, then that person might have been killed, too.”
It twisted at his gut to think of that possibility, but this killer hadn’t had an issue with collateral damage. One CSI was alreadydead, and a deputy was clinging to life. So, yes, killing any potential witnesses could have happened.
Eden stayed quiet a moment. “Any of our suspects could have done this,” she said on a groan.
Again, she was right. Because none of them, including Ike, had an actual alibi for the time of Carter’s death.
When Eden groaned again, he turned to her, and Rory automatically pulled her into his arms. Just touching her helped with this tangle of nerves and spent adrenaline, and she dropped her head on his shoulder.
Her breath was slow and rhythmic, hitting against his neck. Almost like a kiss. His body thought so, anyway, but his body didn’t get a chance to fuel that fantasy, or actually kiss her, because Eden’s phone buzzed with a call.
“It’s Aileen,” she said, glancing at the screen, answering the call. “You’re on speaker and Rory is here with me,” she told Aileen.
“I figured he would be. I just spoke with Grace, and she filled me on what’s been going on. I hope I’m not calling too late.”
“No,” Eden assured her, though it was past nine, not a common time for a phone call in a town where people often went to bed early and got up early, but then there wasn’t anything common about this situation. “Did Grace tell you we wanted to ask you about the shooting incident at the barn back when Mellie and Frank were teenagers?”
“She did,” Aileen confirmed. “And even though it wasn’t my case, I remember that Mellie was the one who reported it. She called it into the station, and she was upset and crying. Cliff Marquez responded and came back a couple of hours later, and he went over the details. Mellie and Frank were basically making out in one of the stalls, and someone fired a shot into the barn.”
“Did they see who?” Rory asked.
“No, but Mellie thought it was Helen,” Aileen said.
Everything inside Rory went still. “That wasn’t in the report.”
“It wasn’t.” Aileen huffed. “Because as you’re aware, Helen’s family had money and influence. Her father claimed she wasn’t anywhere near the barn, and since there was no evidence to prove otherwise, Cliff had to let her go. And while I don’t know this for sure, I believe Cliff caved to pressure from Helen’s folks to keep her name out of it.”
“But you believe Helen might have done it,” Eden concluded.
“Believed it but couldn’t prove it,” Aileen said quickly. “Mellie said she’d seen Helen about a half hour earlier, and she was glaring at Frank and her as they were making their way to the barn. I suspect there was some kind of jealousy or love triangle going on, and Helen was a hothead back then. Still is,” she added.
Rory had to agree with that. Both Ike and Helen were cut from the same cloth when it came to temperament. And holding grudges.
“Did Frank believe Helen had fired the shot?” Rory queried.
“If he did, he didn’t voice it to Cliff or anyone else that I know of. Back then, though, Frank wasn’t what I would call a wave maker. He was a star wrestler. A jock. Very popular in high school, and he loved the girls. Not for long, though, since he seemed to leave a trail of broken hearts. Until he met his wife, that is.”
“Was Helen one of his broken-heart relationships?” Eden asked.
“I think so,” Aileen said after a short hesitation. “Helen moved away when Frank got married, and she rarely came back to town. Then, after Miranda died, Helen started showing up again. I’m not sure she was actually in love with Frank. More like he was that guy Helen just couldn’t get out of her system.”
Rory made the mistake of glancing at Eden just as she was glancing at him. And he saw it in her eyes. They hadn’t been able to get each other out of their systems, either, so he knew how Helen felt.
Man, he knew.
The heat was always there. Always. If it’d been just the attraction, he might have been able to put that on the back burner. But there were these deep feelings he’d had for her since, well, for as long as he’d known her. Some might say she was his soul mate, but Rory knew that Eden would always be the love of his life.
“Both Helen and Frank have had relationships over the years,” Aileen went on, snapping Rory’s attention back to her, “but they always seemed to find their way back to each other.” She stopped again. “And that has to have you wondering if Helen’s obsession with Frank is playing into the murders.”
