Tied With a Bow and No Place to Go (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy Book 3) (25 page)

Even though he stood at least three inches taller than
Doyle, Ridge put on his hat to add more. The trick was part of psychological
manipulation training. Anytime a lawman towered over a suspect, it reinforced
the perception of superiority. “No, I’ll come get him.”

He followed Rita into the front office and found Doyle
reading the newspaper.

“Mr. Patton. Come on back,” Ridge said making sure the
lawyer had to step around him. Once he did, Ridge followed Doyle into the
interview room. “I thought you were done with me. Did you get my test results?”

Ridge removed his hat and placed it in the chair next to him.
“Yes, and I’m curious as to why you thought it necessary?”

“I figured you were going to ask me, so I thought I’d save
you the time and trouble.”

Ridge nodded. “But those tests aren’t admissible in court,
so they’re useless.”

“Admissible or not, they help weed out suspects. Why waste
time on me when the result allows you to pursue other persons of interest.”

Ridge pulled the test from his folder and pretended to be
engrossed. Man, it was assholes like Doyle that made Ridge want to break a few
rules. Tell him his wife’s number went into the hundreds. Offer to have her
compare the two, a chicken rancher versus a lawyer. Which was better in bed?
Given the fact Lounell continued to go back to Jay Roy, Ridge put his money on
the farmer. “There’s just one problem with the test.”

Doyle’s right eye twitched. “Can’t be. The best technician
in the county handled it so there wouldn’t be any chance of error.”

“You passed it. But you lied.”

Doyle sat up straight and rested his arms on the table. “I
didn’t lie. It says right there I was truthful.”

“I don’t care what it says. There’s a witness who claims you
knew about the gas company’s interest in Jay Roy’s land. Which gave you plenty
of motive.”

“Sonovabitch! Did Lounell tell you that?”

“Doesn’t matter. You lied to an officer of the law and can
be charged with obstruction of justice. Not a good thing for an attorney.”

“Okay, what if I did? The company’s plan to test proves
nothing. There’s no guarantee they’d find anything, so for me to hang my hat on
the mere possibility of discovery is not worth killing somebody.”

“Maybe not, but the land is still worth more than the loan,
so you come out on top either way.”

“Wipe that smug grin off your face, because the loan is a
moot point. Old man Hobbs called yesterday and said he’d be around to pay the
note on Monday.”

Ridge fought the urge to grab Doyle by his red power tie and
choke him until his face matched the same shade. He wasn’t going to let him
have the final say. “Payment doesn’t make it a moot point. Not in my book. The chances
of you getting the property or the company finding natural gas shale are enough
motives for you to commit the crime. You took a gamble. But with Jay Roy out of
the picture, your odds went way up. And remember, I still have the obstruction
of justice.”

“You and I both know that’s a lame charge rarely used.”

“Well, I’m the kind of SOB who will use it, so don’t push
me.”

Doyle stood. “If you’re not arresting me, this interview is
over.” He spun on his heels.

Ridge shook his head. He’d had enough. “In that case, you’re
under arrest.”

“You’re kidding me.”

Ridge removed his hand cuffs and laid them on the table. “Do
I look like I’m kidding? You have the right to remain silent.”

“There’s no need for cuffs,” Doyle said.

Bubba stepped in and his eyes went wide. “Holy shit! Did
Doyle do it?”

“Hell no!” Doyle flamed. “Ranger Rick here is being an
asshole.” Doyle faced the ranger. “I’ll be out in an hour.”

“We’ll see about that.” Ridge finished the Miranda warning
and instructed Doyle to empty his pockets, and then spoke to Bubba. “I’ll be
right back.”

At Rita’s desk, he secured a bag and went back to his
suspect. Grabbing Doyle’s elbow, Ridge ushered him to the holding cell, then
went to the bird cage and uncovered Willie. “There, he can keep you company.”

“I want my phone to call my lawyer,” Doyle said.

“You know how this works, counselor. You can’t bond out
until you’re booked in and I have a feeling that’s going to take a while. Your
lawyer may not want to wait hours and hours, but I’ll take you to county and get
the paperwork started right away.”

Bubba carried the bag of contents from Doyle’s pockets and
followed Ridge back to the front desk. Placing them on the counter, he looked
at Ridge. “You want me to take him his cell phone?”

“Sure. Let him make a call. I’ll run him up to Athens,”
Ridge said.

“You can’t go,” Rita said. “Paula Kay will be here before
you can get back.”

“I’ll take him,” Bubba said.

“Thanks,” Ridge said. “Before you go, you want to check out
the truck with me?”

“You bet. I’ll take the phone to Doyle and be right back.”

Rita pulled a drawer open and removed two pairs of rubber
gloves and several evidence bags and passed them to Ridge. “Here, have a good
time. I’ll notify the jailer Doyle’s headed his way.”

Ridge waited for Bubba to secure the prisoner, then passed
him a pair of gloves and headed to the vehicle. Ridge took the driver’s side
and Bubba slid into the passenger seat.

“Nothing behind the seat,” Bubba said, and shined his
flashlight beneath it. “On this side, I’ve got candy wrappers, an old road map,
jumper cables, and rope. What’s the deal with Doyle?”

“Not much here either,” Ridge said. “A tow chain,
flashlight, couple of oily rags, and more trash. Doyle shouldn’t have gotten in
a pissing contest with me. According to his secretary, he knew the gas testing
was happening before he made the loan to Jay Roy. That makes him an asshole and
a liar and I don’t much like either one.”

Bubba opened the glove box. “Here’s something. There’re
several paycheck stubs.” He passed them to Ridge.

“Hmm, Cornerstone Construction and Strawbridge Builders both
dated last year. But this one, Heavenly Hills Cemetery,” he said holding it in
mid-air, “is recent. It’s dated last month.” Ridge removed a plastic bag from
his back pocket and sealed the receipts inside, and pulled out his phone. “I’ll
get a forensic guy out here to dust for prints. If we find Jay Roy’s, that will
make a connection to the kid. Once I’m done with my last interview, I’ll check
with these businesses. Maybe Pruett is still doing day labor for one of them.
If I don’t have any luck there, tomorrow I’ll stake out the day workers on
Gentry, where the boys hang out to pick up odd jobs.”

Bubba snorted a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m remembering the last time you did surveillance.”

Ridge smiled, thinking back to that night when Tizzy showed
up wearing a blonde wig and no panties. Freezing weather caused him to run the
heater in the old car, while they had sex in the backseat. The Chevy overheated
and caught fire. “Yeah, that was a night to remember for sure.”

Forty-five minutes later, Ridge sat across from Paula Kay
Burgess, a woman worth a blue ribbon. He kept his face neutral. At fifty-four,
she didn’t look a day past forty, with an athletic body only possible through
discipline, and a porcelain face clearly the result of a surgeon’s touch.
Tinted dark auburn hair framed soft features. Tall and full-breasted, he
understood Jay Roy’s attraction. “Thank you for coming in today, Ms. Burgess.”

“Happy to help.” The voice that drawled from her pouty red
lips caught Ridge off guard. She ran a slender finger along the lapel of her
purple silk blouse, and back to her throat where she rubbed the diamond cross
pendant resting on her windpipe.

“Ms. Burgess, you understand why you’re here, so let’s get
to the point. Did you and Jay Roy ever date?”

“No.”

“I’ve heard from your other classmates he had a thing for
you in high school.”

Her china face barely moved. “That’s true, but I wasn’t
interested. Don’t misunderstand. He was a nice enough guy. I just set my sights
higher. My momma always said, ‘You can get married anytime, all you have to do
is lower your standards.’ I didn’t want to get involved with anyone I wouldn’t
consider husband material. That pretty much ruled out every boy in town.”

He studied her for a moment and tried to picture her
younger. Men most likely stood in line for her. “When was the last time you saw
Jay Roy?”

“Close to a year ago.” She fixed her hazel eyes on the
ranger’s face. “I came to my cousin’s wedding and he was there. He’d not
changed a bit. Still the same old Jay Roy—chicken rancher extra-ordinaire. The
only thing he wanted was to live on his family’s home place and farm. On the
other hand, I couldn’t wait to get out of here.” She tilted her head to the
left and smiled. “My momma always said, ‘Have small town charm, but big city
dreams.’”

“Uh-huh. But North Richland Hills isn’t that far from
Brownsboro.”

“You’re right. But it’s a whole different world with bright
lights, country clubs, exclusive shops, gala events, and a social community.
Everything I wanted to be a part of.” She picked a speck of lint from her
pants, straightened in her seat and continued. “It’s the life I wanted. I don’t
deny going to college to find a husband—and the richer the better. If that made
me a gold digger, so be it. My momma always said, ‘You can love a rich man the
same as a poor man.’”

Ridge made notes and thought how lucky he was to have a wife
who valued love over money. “Sounds as if your momma was full of advice.”

Paula leaned forward, rested her hands on the table with
fingers laced together. Her voice changed and expressed a tone of sadness. “We
were dirt poor. My mother had me when she was eighteen and by the time I
started school she was a widow with no education. She took in ironing and
cleaned houses. Most of our food and clothing came from local churches. Getting
Momma and me out of that situation was more important than anything else.” Her
jaw clenched in determination. She relaxed back in her chair, and fingered her
necklace again. “Were you ever poor, Ranger Cooper?”

“No ma’am. We weren’t rich, but I never went without.”

“Mm-mm.” Her perfect pillow lips spread into an insincere
smile. “But you’re married to the McAlister girl, so you understand what it is
to have money. She owns half the bank, right?”

Ridge stiffened. His salary paid the bills. Granted, he
didn’t have a house payment or credit card debt, due to Tizzy’s inheritance
from Boone, but he couldn’t help but wonder if others, like Paula, thought he
lived off his wife’s bank account. When someone mentioned it, he wanted to make
public the pre-nup he’d insisted on signing. He decided to ignore the question.
“You left town after graduation and never regretted it. Is that right?”

“I made good grades and managed to get a partial scholarship
to SMU. Good old Single Millionaire’s University.” Paula chuckled. “Anyway, I
got a job at one of the country clubs part-time, where I knew I could find
rich, eligible men. By Christmas, I had a ring, and by the end of summer, married
to a doctor. I was willing to marry for money, but lucky for me, I fell in love
with him. He’s fifteen years older, but as active as a much younger man.”

Probably takes Viagra by the pound.
Ridge managed to
keep a straight face at the thought. “Other than the wedding you attended, you
haven’t had any contact with Jay Roy in the last year? No letters, phone
calls?”

“Correct.”

“Former classmates. Stay in touch with any of them?”

“No, not in years.” Paula blinked and stared into space.
“Well, I did speak to three of them in the past few months. Lounell called and
asked if I’d email her any old high school pictures I might have to display at
the reunion. Molly Hix phoned because she’d not received my RSVP. I had
returned the card, but it must have gotten lost in the mail. And Janie Sue
Clifton spoke to me concerning a donation for her ministry. That’s it.”

“When did you arrive in town?”

“Yesterday. We’d planned to come later, but since the
funeral is tomorrow, I wanted to be here for the service.”

“If you’ve talked to any of the other girls, I’m sure you
know about the assignment of ribbons. Did Jay Roy ever mention to you the color
he’d give you, had you hooked up with him?”

A slow smile spread across Paula’s face. “As a matter of
fact, he did. He used to say he considered me royalty and if I gave into his
advances, I’d be his True Blue Baby. Crude, yes, but at the time, I admit it
was kinda sexy. I suppose he ended up giving that color to one of his wives.”

Ridge looked at Paula with satisfaction. Pattiecake was
right. The blue ribbon belonged to Paula Kay. Now, all he had to do was figure
out why Jay Roy thought she was meeting him—or, if the chicken farmer gave up
and allotted the color to someone else. Ridge stood.

Paula did the same.

“I appreciate you coming today. If I have any more
questions, I’ll contact you.” He stepped aside for Paula to pass and watched
her sashay down the short hallway. She slipped the strap of her handbag over
one shoulder, put her other hand in the pocket of her tailored black linen
slacks, and moved with the grace of a runway model, in four-inch red stilettos.

The remark about Tizzy’s money stuck in Ridge’s head like a
snappy song lyric. Without question, his wife’s wealth provided him with peace
of mind. If anything ever happened to him, she and Gracie, and any other
children they might have wouldn’t have to struggle. In addition, the security
of it gave Tizzy the choice of never needing to marry again, unless she wanted.
He discarded the notion and walked back to the front to speak to Rita.

“That Paula Kay is still a looker, isn’t she?” Rita said,
staring after her.

“It’s amazing what money can do.”