Page 41 of Forbidden Secrets
Owen snorted into his glass.“Bet middle school was a bitch.”
Sawyer shrugged.“Would explain the attitude.Anyway, they’ve got records, petty stuff going back to their teens.DUI, shoplifting, simple assault.They shared a jail cell in Sacramento County and have paired up since then.”
“Motivation?”Walker sipped his drink.
“They’re claiming they were looking to score easy-to-fence goods,” Sawyer said.
“I’m not buying it,” Gage’s voice was low, rough.“Boner surveilled Melanie’s house.If they were after loot, they’d wait until she was gone.But they came when she was home.
And that text I intercepted?Their job was to scare her.”
“I’m with you,” Sawyer agreed.“We don’t have a warrant for their phones yet but they’re burners.If they’re working for someone, my bet is the phones won’t contain anything that could link them to whoever payrolled them.”
“Or,” Walker added, “this could be a stalker situation.One of them’s obsessed and pulls in the other to help.”
“Maybe.Mel could’ve been followed from Stockton,” Gage said.
“But you don’t think so.”
Gage shook his head.“It’s possible, but unlikely.She spotted Boner watching her from his truck.If she’d had issues in Stockton, she would’ve said something.I checked with Stockton PD.She’s never filed a stalking complaint.Her only contact with them was nearly four years ago when she was in a fender bender with an uninsured motorist.No restraining orders, no complaints, no red flags.”
“So no history to suggest she was followed from Stockton,” Walker said.
“Which leaves us with the more likely theory,” Owen said, leaning in.“She comes back to town and someone wants her gone.”
Gage met Owen’s gaze and nodded.“That’s what I’m thinking.Her being here makes someone nervous.”
Walker straightened.“You think the guy watching her is connected to her assailant.”It wasn’t a question.
Gage nodded.“Yeah.Melanie wants the case reopened.She’s on a mission, and I don’t blame her.She made a spreadsheet listing every person she remembers from that party you yokels call a bootlegger.She’s planning to talk to each one of them, hoping to shake something loose.”
“Solid start,” Sawyer muttered, “but fuck.”
“Fuck is right,” Owen agreed, voice grim.“It’s no secret she moved back.If the guy who attacked her has been keeping tabs, he knows she’s asking questions.I respect her for going after the truth, but she’s painting a target on her back.You’re the law school grad.”He pointed at Gage.“What’s the law say?If she IDs him, can the fucker still be charged?”
“She was seventeen,” Gage replied.“The law on the books at that time gives minor victims until age forty.She’s got time.She could also file a civil suit.”
“So if he’s still around and she’s asking questions, he’s got incentive to make her stop,” Owen said.
Gage nodded once.That’s the part that killed him.He admired her strength.He respected her refusal to back down.But now there were break-ins, threats of arson.And Addy was in the crosshairs too.Justice mattered, but not at the expense of their safety.
He raked a hand through his hair, then looked around the table.“She shouldn’t do this alone.That’s why I need your help.”
“You’ve got it,” Sawyer said without hesitation.“What’s she learned so far?”
“She’s just getting started, so not a lot yet.Melanie remembers seeing Rhonda Lockwood from the bank hanging out with Chase Bradford and a guy named Greg Delano.Says Rhonda and Greg were all over each other that night.But when she asked Rhonda, she denied being with them.”
Walker frowned.“I was there but don’t remember anything about Rhonda.Delaney might.”
“The question is why lie?The reason could have nothing to do with the attack on Melanie, so who knows.”Gage moved his plate to the side.“The same day at the bank, Bradford cornered her and asked her out.She agreed to meet, said it felt like a chance to dig into what he knew about that night.He thought it was a date.She didn’t.”
“Our boy didn’t like that,” Owen said with a grin, wiping his fingers on a napkin.“Gage had his eye on her all evening, then stepped up when Bradford stormed out without walking her to her car.”
“Damn right I did,” Gage said.“And Bradford left because Melanie asked about the night she was assaulted.That rattled him.Another thing, he’s got a record of violence.Shane and I stepped in once when he hit his wife.I doubt it was the first time.”
Sawyer nodded grimly.“Sheriff’s department was called to their place a few times.She wouldn’t press charges.Then he hit her in public and you two intervened.That was apparently the last straw.Still no charges, but she divorced him and has full custody of the kids.Tells you something.”
Gage drained the last of his cider.“His record with women, plus how upset he got when she asked about the party.That’s why he’s top of my list.”Chase being named in the confidential FBI target letter was another strike against him.
