Page 4 of Lone Star Wanted
Kincade didn’t respond, but the tension in his jaw told her he remembered. Everyone in the small ranching town of Blanco Pass remembered. The case. The outrage. And later, the silence when it was ‘solved.’
“That was what, ten years ago?” he asked.
“Eleven,” Cassidy said, and she added a few more details. Personal ones. Ones that still ate away at her like acid. “She came to live with us after her mom died. Slept in my room. Wore my clothes. Travis picked her up from school, taught her how to throw a punch and use jumper cables. She was…ours.And when she was murdered, something in Travis broke.”
She swallowed hard, her throat thick. Something had broken inside her, too.
“He wouldn’t let it go,” she went on. “Started digging into the case. Said the timeline didn’t make sense. That theconfession didn’t hold water. He requested the transcripts, tracked down witnesses that no one had talked to in years. And when he became a cop, he got even deeper access.”
Kincade’s voice was low. “The county prosecutor, Daniel Harlan, shut him down. And now Harlan’s dead.”
She nodded. “Two nights ago, Travis called me and told me he had something real. Proof that Aaron Clegg was innocent. That Alisha’s killer was still out there. He wouldn’t say what kind of evidence, just that it would blow the whole case wide open. He said once I saw it, I’d understand why they killed her.”
“They?” Kincade echoed.
“That’s exactly what he said,” she verified. “That Daniel Harlan wasn’t the only one. That it was bigger than we knew.”
They drove in silence for a beat. “Now Harlan’s dead,” she said flatly. “And Travis is missing and being charged with his murder.”
Kincade turned in the seat to face her. “Is your boss, Sheriff Moran, helping find Travis?”
“Not sure help is the right word.” Cassidy stared straight ahead. “In light of what Travis said, I’m not completely sure I can trust him not to bury Travis along with the truth.” She paused, muttered more profanity under her breath. “But I did contact Travis and your boss.”
“Ruby,” he immediately said, and he shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Yeah, you can trust Ruby Maverick.”
“I do,” Cassidy let him know. “She said Travis reached out to her, too, nearly a week ago. Asked her to dig into something off the books. She’s been pulling strings, quietly using Maverick Ops resources to trace his movements. She’s the one who gave me the location of the safe house.” Her voice dropped. “The last one on my list.”
Kincade leaned back, head against the seat, jaw clenched. She could see it hit him—that Travis had gone to Ruby first. Hadtrusted her before his own partner. That he’d known whatever he was chasing was dangerous.
“My brother didn’t kill Daniel Harlan,” she stated flatly.
“I know that,” Kincade replied without hesitation. No doubt. No hesitation. Just solid conviction that hit her straight in the heart.
She let out a slow breath. “Then we need to figure out who’s trying to make it look like he did.”
Kincade leaned back against the seat, his posture stiff with pain and frustration. “What evidence do they have?”
She shook her head, her gaze locked on the winding road ahead. “Not enough. Not if you ask me. But it was enough to get a judge to sign off on the APB.”
Kincade didn’t speak, but she could feel his stare, heavy with questions. So she gave him the rest.
“Daniel Harlan was found shot in the head in his lake house two nights ago. No forced entry. No signs of a struggle. Whoever did it walked right in, pulled the trigger, and walked out.”
Kincade’s voice was low. “And Travis’s name came up… how?”
“Anonymous tip,” she said bitterly. “Claimed Travis had a grudge. That he’d threatened Harlan more than once over Alisha’s murder. Which is true. Travisdidpush. Hard. But he’d never cross the line and murder Harlan.”
Kincade made a quick sound of agreement. “Everyone in Blanco Pass knows that Travis and Harlan locked horns on this.”
“They do,” she admitted. “Alisha’s case was Harlan’s big win. He built the whole thing on circumstantial evidence and a shaky confession. And when Travis started digging into the old files last year, he found enough inconsistencies to make the conviction look suspicious. But Harlan buried it.”
“Of course he did,” Kincade muttered.
Cassidy swallowed hard and kept going. “Alisha was like a sister to us. Shewasfamily. And the man who went to prison, Aaron Clegg, had always claimed he was innocent. Said the confession was coerced. Said he was set up.”
“He wasn’t exactly credible,” Kincade said.
“No,” she agreed, and she took the final turn into town. “And Travis couldn’t let it go. He spent years off and on, trying to connect the dots, get someone to listen. But no one wanted to reopen the case. And then… suddenly, two days ago, he told me he had proof. Real, hard evidence.”
