Delivering Justice (3 page)

“He’s hurting her.” Tyler clenched his fists.

“Which is a shame, but not against the law unless someone witnesses it or she steps forward on her own to press charges.”

“It should be.” Tyler knew this guy was up to no good.

“I’ll stay on him. If he so much as makes a wrong turn while he’s in town I’ll question him for it,” Tommy said.

“There has to be more you can do than that,” Tyler said.

“We can scare him,” Tommy said after thinking about it for a minute. “We better get back inside. I don’t want to leave him alone with her longer than we have to.”

“I have a few more questions for him,” Tyler said through clenched teeth.

Tommy paused before opening the door. “Go ahead and ask everything you want. See if you can get him to mess up and admit to something. Without her willing to go against him, we have nothing otherwise.”

Milton stood, rising to his full height when they reentered the room, which was still considerably less than both of the other men.

“Earlier, you said you lost your fiancée after a fight?” Tyler took up his position leaning against the wall near the doorjamb.

“She was tired and decided to turn back but I wasn’t ready to go, so I told her how to find her way to our original meet-up point.” Was Milton changing his story?

“I thought you said the two of you got into a fight,” Tyler said.

Milton glanced down and to the right, a sure sign he was about to lie.

“That’s what we fought about,” he said, quickly recovering, as pleased with himself as if he’d just won the big stuffed animal at the state fair.

Clearly the man had just made another mistake. First he said he lost her, then he said that she turned back on purpose—which was it?

“You can’t have it both ways, so pick one,” Tyler said point-blank.

“Well, originally she said she was going to turn back, but then I got a bad feeling about her being out there alone in a place she didn’t know and so I turned back to look for her, thus find her.” Another satisfied smirk crossed Milton’s features.

If that wasn’t a sack of dung bigger than a bull, Tyler didn’t know what was. Who did Milton think he was fooling?

Tyler’s right hand fisted. He flexed and then forced it to relax.

“Good that you had time to clean yourself up, you know, while you were so busy being worried about your fiancée here,” Tyler pressed.

Another frustrated pause.

“When I couldn’t find Jennifer I figured she got angry at me for leaving her, so I decided to be ready to smooth things over when she came back to the motel,” Milton said.

“Even though you couldn’t find her when you went looking for her? You still assumed she’d be able to find her way back?” Tyler asked, not letting up. “And where was this meet-up point you mentioned?”

Milton didn’t answer.

In all honesty, the man could walk out at any time. But then, that would leave Jennifer alone with Tyler and the sheriff. No way did James Milton want that.

“What are you doing in town, anyway?” Tyler continued.

“We came for the...nature. We wanted to get out of the city for a long weekend and decompress before kicking our wedding plans into high gear,” Milton said. “Life from here on out is going to be crazy, isn’t it, honey?” Milton shot another look at Red.

“What trail were you on? Do you remember anything about it that stuck out?” Tyler asked.

“Not really.” Milton shrugged.

“Was it rocky or were there trees?”

“Trees,” Milton said, trying a little too hard to sound convincing.

“Which direction did you come from?” Tyler asked.

“We came from the north,” Milton supplied.

Tyler didn’t immediately respond.

“You sure about that?” he finally asked.

“Yeah. North, right, honey?” Milton said, glancing down at Jennifer.

She managed a weak smile and a nod.

No one got to Diablo’s Rock from the north on an ATV. Tire tracks at the scene indicated the opposite. Tyler slanted a look at Tommy.

“That’s impossible,” Tyler said. “Tracks came from the south.”

Anyone could get confused in an area they aren’t familiar with, but this guy wouldn’t be confused about direction because he was wearing one of those expensive compass watches.

“Guess I didn’t notice.” Milton shrugged. “If I’m not under arrest, then can we be finished with this conversation?” His lips flattened, indicating his patience had run out.

Well, guess what, buddy? So had Tyler’s.

And they were far from done.

Chapter Three

“Where’s the doctor?” Milton asked, rotating toward Jennifer and effectively turning his back on Tyler and Tommy. “How much longer do you have to stay in here?”

“In a hurry to go somewhere, Mr. Milton?” Sheriff Tommy asked, blond eyebrow arched.

“I’d like to get her home where I can take better care of her,” Milton said. “It’s impossible to get any rest in one of these places.”

“And where is home?” Tommy asked.

“Louisiana, like on my license. You saw that earlier,” Milton said. “You’d like to come home with me, wouldn’t you, darling?”

There he went with that
darling
business again. Tyler wanted to vomit. Again, Milton was pouring it on a little thick.

While Tommy was finishing his interview, Tyler excused himself in order to talk to Jennifer’s doctor, Dr. McConnell.

McConnell was a no-nonsense middle-aged woman who’d been working at the hospital since graduating medical school. A local, she wore jeans and boots under her white coat and she’d been a close family friend since longer than Tyler could remember.

“Is there any chance she’s being abused?” he asked McConnell when he was sure they were out of earshot.

“I’m bound by oath not to respond to that question,” Dr. McConnell said. “However, since you found her, I don’t mind telling you that she has quite a few bruises on both of her arms.”

“I’m guessing that’s a yes,” he said.

“She’s been through a lot.” McConnell frowned. “I’m not saying she’s been abused, but even if she has there’s no way to prove anything. And, of course, nothing can be done unless a victim is willing to talk about it or press charges.”

“In theory, would you have offered that kind of help by now?” he asked.

“I would’ve. We’re not talking about a child here, where I’d be forced to report suspected abuse and Tommy could step in,” Dr. McConnell said. “I can only help patients who want it.”

Tyler didn’t like what he heard.

“When I see a patient with bruising like we’ve discussed, I’m always sure to have another conversation with her. I can promise that she’ll know that there are folks who can help. I’ll offer assistance, but it’ll be up to her to accept,” Dr. McConnell said, placing her hand on Tyler’s shoulder. She had to reach up, considering she wasn’t more than five foot three.

“Much obliged to you, doc,” Tyler said.

“Before you go, any word on the investigation? It’s been two weeks since I submitted the results from the third-party analysis of the toxicology report,” she said, and he knew that she was talking about his parents. She’d been one of his mother’s closest friends and he could see how much the doctor missed her in the dark circles under her eyes. The recent news that his parents had been murdered hit their friends hard, their children harder.

“Nothing so far, except that Tommy is reviewing the case file personally,” he said. Tyler and his brothers benefitted the most from their parents’ deaths so they’d be at the top of anyone’s suspect list. There were no other leads at the time.

Dr. McConnell gave that a minute.

“Give your brothers a hug for me,” she finally said.

“I will.”

Walking toward Jennifer’s room, Tyler’s footsteps fell heavy. Even though he wanted to take James Milton out back and teach him a thing or two about why real men didn’t hurt women, the reality was that there wasn’t much else he could do at the hospital.

Tommy seemed to be wrapping things up by the time Tyler returned to the room. As much as it soured him to do so, Tyler shook James Milton’s hand. Milton’s wasn’t moist or hot, indicating that he was fairly relaxed about the situation.

But should he be?

A man who hit a woman might be a practiced liar. Tyler didn’t care much for people who couldn’t be bothered to tell the truth. And this jerk was poised to walk right out the door and go scot-free. He hadn’t violated any laws that Tommy could arrest him for. Tyler could see Tommy’s frustration written all over his face.

“One last thing,” Tommy said to Milton. “Did you have permission to ride on the O’Brien ranch?”

“Permission?” Milton echoed. His eyes widened when he heard the name O’Brien. Most people knew it and had a similar reaction.

“The land that you and your fiancée were riding ATVs on is owned by the O’Brien family,” Tommy continued. “It’s protected by a fence and No Trespassing signs are posted everywhere. I’ve been out hunting on that property myself. So, my question to you is, were you aware that you were breaking the law when you took your recreational vehicles on the land?”

“Well, no, we hadn’t planned on being on his property. We got lost. Is that a crime?” For the first time in the interview, Milton looked like he might break a sweat.

“Being lost? No. Trespassing on someone else’s land and destroying their property? Yes.” Tommy turned to Tyler. “Will you be pressing charges today, Mr. O’Brien?”

Tyler might not be able to stop Jennifer from walking out of the hospital with this jerk but he could slow them down.

“As a matter of fact, I will,” Tyler said, shifting his gaze to Milton. “You say that you innocently got lost, but how do I know that you weren’t out on my property, illegally hunting?”

“I don’t own a gun, for one,” Milton shot back.

Tyler figured that Tommy could check the gun registration database all day long and not find a gun registered to James Milton. That didn’t mean he wasn’t carrying one anyway. There was no shortage of illegal guns on the black market and in the hands of people who had no business with them.

“I can’t know that for sure. Besides, you might’ve ditched it when you realized you were close to getting caught. In fact, I have another scenario worth the sheriff’s consideration,” Tyler said.

“Care to enlighten me?” But Milton’s gaze said the opposite.

“How about this? You take your fiancée here on a hunting trip on my land. We offer excursions but you don’t want to pay the price. You decide to do things on your own. But then you hear someone and you know you’re about to get caught. Rather than risk it, you take off, leaving your fiancée to fend for herself. You go hide in your motel room waiting for her to come back. You clean up because you don’t want to risk anyone realizing you might’ve been outside. But here comes the problem. Your fiancée gets herself in trouble and ends up in the hospital, so you make up this wild story about the two of you fighting to cover for the fact that you were illegally hunting on my property,” Tyler said, his gaze zeroed in on Milton.

“You can’t be serious.” Milton’s gaze darted from Tyler to Tommy as he took a step back. A few more and he’d be in the corner.

“Sure I can,” Tyler shot back, watching Milton’s reaction.

“Can I see your hunting license, Mr. Milton?” Tommy asked.

Milton balked. “I don’t have one. I’ve already told you that I don’t even own a gun.”

“Did you realize that you’d need one?” Tommy continued.

“I didn’t come here to hunt. I wasn’t out looking for game on his land.” Milton shot daggers toward Tyler before narrowing his gaze when he looked at Tommy again. “I’ll ask again. Am I under arrest?”

“If you were, we’d be having a different conversation right now, Mr. Milton. One that would include reading your Miranda rights to you. Since I haven’t done that yet, you’re free to go.” Tommy turned toward the door. “But I have every intention of investigating Mr. O’Brien’s complaint. In which case, I’m advising you not to leave town until this dispute has been resolved.”

It was weak. Tyler knew enough about the law to know that, but Tommy was betting that Milton didn’t realize it.

“I have no plans to go anywhere until my Jennifer is better. And then I have every intention of driving out of this town and back to Louisiana,” Milton said.

“Mind if I speak to you privately, Mr. Milton?” Tommy shot a wink toward Tyler so subtle he barely caught it.

Tyler immediately caught on. He grabbed the pen and paper off the wheeled tray table and jotted down his cell number. Then, he moved to the bed next to Jennifer.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

She nodded, looking resolved. If she was engaged to Milton, then wouldn’t she seem more comforted by his presence? Tyler figured he could rack his brain trying to solve that and other mysteries for the rest of his life and still come up short. There wasn’t much else he could do or say if he stuck around. Red...Jennifer, he corrected himself, seemed intent on staying with this jerk. Just in case she changed her mind and wanted a friend, he folded up the piece of paper into a tiny square.

“You change your mind or need anything, call me.” He managed to slip it under her pillow before Milton returned.

Tyler figured it might help him sleep at night, knowing he’d done everything he could.

Heck, who was he kidding? Those sea-green eyes were going to haunt him.

* * *

T
YLER
’
S
CELL
BUZZED
. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was hours until the sun would rise. The noise should’ve jolted him awake but his eyes had barely closed all night thinking about Red.

He threw off the covers and walked over to the dresser where his phone sat on its charger, thinking what he really needed to clear his head was a night on the town and a stiff drink.

The number didn’t look familiar but he answered anyway.

“I don’t have anyone else to call. Please help me.” The frail voice on the other end of the line belonged to Red.

Was she ready to talk? To get out of the relationship with Milton? To get help?

“Are you there?” she asked. Panic raised her voice a couple of octaves.

“Yes,” he said. “As long as you’re ready to tell me what’s really going on.”

“I’m sorry about before. It’s just...” She paused, sounding almost too tired or scared to finish what she started to say. “If he finds out I’m talking to you, to anyone, then I’m dead.”

“Seems to me that he’s going to hurt you either way, Jennifer,” Tyler said.

“My name isn’t Jennifer. It’s Jessica,” she confided.

“I saw your driver’s license,” he said, chalking up the mistake to her head injury.

“Please, give me a chance to explain,” she begged. “I’m not who I said I was. I know who I am and my name is Jessica.”