Page 16 of Lone Star Wanted
Jericho zoomed in.
The passenger’s face came into focus, clear enough to see under the glare of the streetlamp.
Cassidy’s breath caught.
Because the person in the passenger seat wasn’t a stranger.
It was Deputy Marlene Lang. And she wasn’t just riding along. She had a gun drawn, angled toward Travis.
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Chapter Five
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Kincade stared at the phone screen, his mind locking for a second as the image sharpened. The shadows faded just enough so he could confirm who it was.
Deputy Marlene Lang.
And she had a gun pointed at Travis.
Not drawn casually. Not defensive. She was angled toward him, tight-gripped, her face set like she wasn’t giving him a choice.
Beside him, Cassidy went still. Not a flinch or a word, just that kind of shock that settled in your chest and made it hard to breathe.
Kincade forced his eyes off the screen, his pulse spiking hard. He hadn’t known what they’d find…but this? A deputy. Someone Cassidy had worked alongside. Someone who had carried herself like any other cop trying to do the job.
Travis had warned them though. In that message, he’d said the person who had murdered Harlan wore a badge. Was it her? Because if Marlene had taken Travis at gunpoint, she wasn’t just involved.
She was a killer.
Maybe not just Harlan’s either, but possibly Travis as well. Hell, maybe even Alisha all those years ago.
Dr. Pat let out a low sigh and pressed one last butterfly bandage to the side of his head. “You really need a hospital,” she muttered.
Kincade slid off the too-small exam table. “Not yet.” Not until he’d talked to the cop who’d held his friend and partner at gunpoint.
Cassidy obviously felt that same urgency since she was already at the door.
Jericho, still holding his phone, was scrolling quickly as he moved. The three of them hurried out the door.
“Thanks for fixing him up,” Jericho called back to the doctor. Kincade added his thanks as well. “I owe you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she griped as if they were a major pain in her ass, and Kincade made a mental note to send her payment in case she wasn’t already on Ruby’s payroll.
“Deputy Marlene Lang lives in a town called Clear Rock, about fifteen miles east,” Jericho relayed to them, reading from his phone screen. “She should be off duty by now, if her shift ended when it’s supposed to.”
Kincade nodded. “Then we’re going to Clear Rock right now.”
“I’ll follow,” Jericho insisted. “Let’s see if Marlene wants to explain what the hell she was doing.”
Kincade didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. Because he already knew they weren’t going there to ask nicely. They were going to see what Marlene had to hide and just how far she’d go to keep it buried.
The late sun had dropped lower by the time they made it out of the building. The air was cooler now, the kind of dry Texas breeze that whispered over cracked pavement and carried dust off the hills.
Jericho went to his van and came back with a black tactical backpack by one strap. He tossed it to Kincade with an easy arc.
“Figured you might want to gear up,” Jericho said. “It’s the ready-for-anything op bag.”
