Page 50 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
He turned the phone toward her. “During the deep dive Jesse’s been doing on Margo… he found something. Margo has a son.”
Lily blinked. “A son?”
“Yeah.” Griff’s voice dropped. “He’s fourteen. Born seven and a half months after Hannah was murdered.”
The weight of that settled fast and hard, but before Lily could speak, Griff swiped the screen and pulled up the image Jesse had attached. The photo was a school headshot—clean backdrop, cropped close.
And Lily felt the air leave her lungs.
The boy had shaggy dark hair, wide-set eyes, and a jawline that wastoo familiar.She didn’t even need to say it. Griff did it for her.
“He looks just like Bobby Ray.”
The boy certainly did. Lily couldn’t stop staring at the photo, her brain locking up for a beat as it tried to rewire everything they thought they knew. She dragged in a breath, her fingers tightening around Griff’s wrist, where he still held the phone.
“Why didn’t this come up in the background check we ran on Margo?” she asked, her voice low, tight.
Griff blew out a long breath. “Because she doesn’t have custody of him. He was adopted.”
Lily’s head snapped toward him. “Adopted?”
“Yeah. Jesse found the paperwork. The boy’s name is Caleb Davidson, and he lives in San Antonio. Margo is listed as the birth mother on the adoption paperwork. Father’s name is listed as unknown.”
Lily felt the shift in her chest, that sharp snap of realization that cut through exhaustion.
“What if she found out she was pregnant, told Bobby Ray and he rejected her?” she threw out there.
Griff nodded slowly, catching the rhythm of her thoughts. “What if Margo saw him with Hannah? That kiss? Maybe itwasn’tstaged to manipulate Everett. Maybe it was real. At least onBobby Ray’spart.”
Lily felt the chill move through her.
“Margo could’ve snapped,” she whispered. “Jealous. Hurt. Angry. What if she killed Hannah, then used everything she had—those photos, her knowledge of Bobby Ray’s feelings—to frame him?”
It fit.
The bitterness in Margo’s voice whenever she talked about her sister. The strange mix of grief and contempt. Her evasiveness. The years of silence. The secret child.
“She had the motive,” Lily said. “And the opportunity.”
Lily paced a slow line across the living room, her arms folded tight over her chest. Her mind was moving too fast to shut down now, even though her body ached for sleep.
Griff leaned against the door, watching her the way he always did—quietly, carefully, taking in more than he ever said out loud.
“What if Catherine found out Margo killed Hannah?” he finally asked.
That got her attention. Lily stopped pacing and turned to him.
“Maybe instead of Catherine turning her in, they formed some kind of alliance,” he went on. “Catherine wanted Hannah out of Everett’s life. If she learned Margo did the job for her… maybe she kept her close. Maybe even paid her.”
Lily rubbed at the back of her neck. “That’s possible. Especially if Catherine saw it as solving her problem. She could’ve rationalized keeping it quiet. And if she was willing to pay off Rhett to frame Bobby Ray, what’s one more secret?”
Griff nodded. “But maybe it didn’t last. Maybe something changed between them. A falling-out.”
Lily picked up the thread. “And Margo killed Catherine to shut her up. Or maybe Catherine threatened to expose her if she was losing control of everything else.”
It fit. But it also left them with too many variables.
“One of them could’ve slashed my tires,” she said, her voice lower now, more focused. “Any of them could’ve started the fire. That doesn’t take much.” “But the shooting,” she added, “that’s different. That takes skill. Access. Nerves.”
