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Egan was beginning to believe that. “Could something have happened between you two to make him want you dead?”
“No.” But then she huffed. “We worked together when I was still on the force. Now I do death penalty case reviews for a watchdog group called The Right Verdict. They want to make sure people haven’t been wrongly convicted, and Christian is still my main contact at SAPD. He and I have had a disagreement or two about whether or not someone incarcerated actually got a fair shake at justice. But other than that, nothing.”
That didn’t seem like much of a red flag to turn a cop into a killer. Still, it was worth checking out. Egan pushed a notepad and pen across the desk toward her. “Give me the names of the cases where you disagreed.”
The surprise flashed through her eyes. “You don’t really believe Christian could have done this?”
“I won’t know until I’ve checked him out.” He tipped his head to the notepad. “Names, dates, anything else you have.”
Jordan hesitated a moment and then wrote down a website address and password. “That will get you into my online storage account. The first file will be everything about the organ recipients. The next two will be the case files I’m working on for my job, the ones where Christian and I didn’t see eye to eye.”
Good. He put the note with the info in his pocket so he could go through that while he was setting up a safe house for Jordan. He was about to broach that subject with her, but Jordan spoke before he could say anything.
“One of the calls you made while I was being stitched up was to Alma Lawton. She’s the woman who’d had an affair with your father, Warren.”
Obviously, Jordan had been keeping tabs on him. Of course, that wouldn’t have been hard to do since his father’s affair had made the newspapers. It had come to light after Warren had been shot and nearly killed. His father had led a double life for over thirty years, and his lover, Alma, had been a suspect. Initially so had her and Warren’s son, Raleigh. Egan’s half brother. But both had since been cleared.
“Alma has an alibi for tonight,” Egan explained. “And the rangers are monitoring her bank accounts. If she’d withdrawn any money for a hired gun, we would have known about it.”
“But if you called her, you must have thought she could possibly be involved in this,” Jordan pointed out.
Egan shrugged. “Just ruling her out. That’s why I’ll check into Christian, the living recipients and the cases you’re reviewing for your job.”
She looked up and their eyes connected. For just a moment he saw the fear and pain—something she quickly tried to rein in. He saw something else, too. Jordan, the woman. She was attractive. Always had been. And she’d always had a thing for him since way back in high school.
That “thing” she had for him was apparently still there.
Egan figured that was because Jordan and he had been each other’s first lovers. That sort of thing created weird bonds between people. But the bond hadn’t kept Jordan in McCall Canyon. She’d always wanted to be a big-city cop and had left Egan behind. It had hurt at the time, but they’d both moved on. And Egan had eventually met Shanna and fallen in love with her.
During the time he’d been with Shanna, Egan hadn’t felt the old attraction for Jordan. But he darn sure felt it now. Felt it and shoved it aside as fast as he could. It wasn’t hard to do because of the voice he heard in the squad room. Apparently, it was a voice Jordan recognized, too, because she pulled back her shoulders and slowly got to her feet.
Their visitor was Leeroy Sullivan, Shanna’s father.
As Egan usually did when it came to Leeroy, he gathered his breath and got ready for battle. Leeroy would never just pay him a casual visit, and since it was well past normal duty hours, something must be wrong. Of course, often the only thing that was wrong was that Leeroy was drunk and wanted to vent. However, Egan didn’t see any signs of drunkenness tonight.
Simply put, Leeroy had not aged well. He was in his early fifties, but looked ten years older than that. And he’d let himself go, too. Once he’d been a big college football star and careful about keeping in shape. All of that had gone by the wayside, though, when he’d lost his only child. Shanna had been the center of his life.
“Egan,” Leeroy greeted. It wasn’t friendly. Never was when it came to Leeroy. He blamed Egan for Shanna’s dying. But judging from the glare he shot Jordan, she had top dibs in the blame department.
“I heard you were here,” Leeroy said to her. He spared a glance at the bruise on her head.
“How’d you hear that?” Egan asked.
“My wife was in the ER with a stomach bug, and I heard the nurses talking about Doc Madison having to come over here and stitch up Jordan. The gossip is that someone attacked her.” Leeroy didn’t sound choked up about that.
“Someone did,” Jordan said, but she had to clear her throat and repeat it to give it some sound. Obviously, she didn’t like dealing with Shanna’s father any more than Egan did. “The person shot at Egan, too.”
Definitely not choked up about that, either. Leeroy’s scowl stayed in place.
Since Egan wasn’t in the mood for getting into a scowling match with Leeroy, Egan just laid it all out there. “If you were hoping Jordan and I would be killed, you didn’t get your wish.”
Leeroy didn’t jump to deny that was indeed his wish. And it might be.
“I came to tell Jordan that I don’t want any more visits from her cop friend,” Leeroy finally said. “In fact, I don’t want anything to do with her or anyone else who considers her a friend.”
Leeroy let his scowl linger a bit on Egan, probably because he likely thought that friendship label applied to him simply because he was standing next to Jordan.
Jordan shook her head. “What cop visited you?” she asked Leeroy.
“Christian Abrams.”
Egan looked at her to see if she’d known about that, but she obviously hadn’t. He definitely didn’t like the way the cop’s name had come up twice now.
“What did Christian want?” she pressed.
“To tell me some cockamamie story about the folks that got Shanna’s organs, that somebody was killing them off. He didn’t believe it. Neither do I. But he said he was worried about you going off the deep end over it. I told him I didn’t give a rat whether you went crazy or not.”
Later Egan would find out why Christian would make a visit like that to Shanna’s father, but for now, he wanted to address the pure venom he’d just heard in Leeroy’s voice.
“You hate Jordan that much,” Egan commented.
“I hate you just as much.” Leeroy’s face was tight with anger, but he seemed to be blinking back tears, too. “If it hadn’t been for you two, my baby would be alive. You two let her get killed.” His attention slashed back to Jordan. “Shanna took a shot that was meant for you. That bullet should have gone into you.”
“A bullet did go into Jordan,” Egan reminded the man. Even though it did feel strange defending Jordan. Still, she wasn’t defending herself. “It damaged both of her kidneys, remember?”
“I remember,” Leeroy spat out. “But Jordan got the easy bullet. My baby took the one that should have killed Jordan instead. And she died. My baby died. Jordan lived because she got a part of Shanna. So did those other people, and it’s not right.”
Egan latched right on to that. “Are you saying the recipients should have died, too?”
He didn’t say it with actual words, but his expression confirmed it. Leeroy’s feelings weren’t much of a surprise to Egan. That didn’t mean hearing it didn’t sting, though. It did. Because Leeroy was right. Still, that much hurt and anger was a red flag to a lawman.
“I gotta ask,” Egan said to him. “Where were you tonight?”
The jolt of surprise seemed to make Leeroy’s muscles even tighter. “Oh, no. You’re not going to try to pin this on me.”
“It was a simple question,” Egan pointed out. “Usually it’s simple to answer for someone who isn’t hiding anything.”
If looks could have killed, Leeroy would have ended Egan’s life right there. “Like I said, I was at the ER with my wife. If you don’t believe me, just ask the nurses.”
Oh, he would. But Egan wouldn’t like doing it. Plain and simple, he felt guilty when it came to Leeroy. He hadn’t protected Shanna, and part of Egan would always believe that he deserved every bit of hatred and venom that Leeroy sent his way.
“Tell that cop friend to stay away from me,” Leeroy growled to Jordan before he turned and stormed out.
“I’ll call Christian,” she said, taking out her phone.
She wasn’t scowling exactly, but Egan knew from her tone that this wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation. However, it was one he wanted to hear. He didn’t get to do that because his own phone rang, and Egan knew he had to take the call when he saw Court’s name on the screen.
“No ID yet on the Jane Doe,” Court volunteered the moment Egan answered. “But when the ME and his crew were moving the body, something fell out of the blanket. I bagged it, but I thought you might want to see it before I send it to the crime lab.”
“Why? What is it?”
Egan thought he heard his brother mumble some curse words. “It’s a note,” Court finally said. “It’s not good, Egan. And it’s addressed to Jordan and you.”
Chapter Four (#u63aa0199-9f5c-5468-9d6c-cd9434fbfaf7)
Jordan had no trouble hearing what Court had just said to Egan, and it caused everything inside her to go still. For a couple of seconds anyway. Then the new wave of panic came. And pain. But the pain was because she’d bunched up her forehead, the motion pulling at the stitches.
It was a reminder she didn’t need of just how close she’d come to dying tonight. The note was perhaps going to be another of those unnecessary prompts.
Since the note was addressed to Egan and her, that meant the attack and the woman’s death weren’t just some fluke, that they did indeed have something to do with them. Of course, she hadn’t actually believed that it was a sick coincidence, but she’d held on to the hope like a lifeline.
Well, that lifeline was gone now.
And Jordan just sat there, trying to gather what little of her composure she had left so she could listen to the rest of what Court had to say. Judging from Egan’s grimace and his muttered profanity, he was trying to do the same thing.
“The note’s handwritten,” Court went on. “It’s scrawled as if the person wrote it in a hurry. It says, ‘Want to put an end to the killings? Meet me. I’ll be calling you soon.’ And there’s no signature.”
That last part definitely wasn’t a surprise. No way would the person who’d written that note want them to know who he or she was. Because if they did know, Egan could make an arrest for attempted murder. Maybe even murder. But the jury was still out on who’d killed that woman who’d been dumped from the truck.
“I’ll be calling you soon,” Court repeated. “You think this could be a situation where this clown is going to demand payment so the killings will stop?”
“Maybe.” Though Egan didn’t sound especially hopeful about that.
Neither was Jordan, but it was sadly the best-case scenario here. If the person could be paid off, then the motive was simply money. Not that she had money, but Egan did, and plenty of people knew that. Still, this didn’t feel like something that simple. It would be a lot harder for them to stop this guy if the motive was revenge because their attacker might not be satisfied until Egan and she were dead.
She stood and started walking, just to give herself something to do with the slam of fresh adrenaline she got. Egan’s office wasn’t that big so she soon ended up in front of the bookcase and filing cabinet, where there were framed pictures of his family.
And Shanna, of course.
Every detail of Shanna’s features was etched in Jordan’s memory, but it was even more painful seeing that face. That smile. Jordan went back to the chair so the photos would be out of sight and hopefully out of mind. For a couple of seconds anyway. She needed to regain her footing, and she didn’t stand a chance of doing that if she was looking at Shanna’s face.
“Are you okay?” Court pressed when neither of them said anything.
“Fine,” Egan snapped, but all three of them knew that wasn’t the truth. “Have the handwriting on the note analyzed. Also check the paper for prints or trace.”
“I will,” Court assured him. “But I think this makes it pretty clear that Jordan and you are the targets. Please tell me you won’t go to a meeting with this snake if he or she actually calls.”
A muscle flickered in Egan’s jaw. “If there is a call, I’ll see what he wants and take things from there.”
Judging from Court’s huff, he didn’t like that answer, but Jordan felt the same way as Egan. If a meeting truly would put a stop to the killings, then she would go for it. Well, if she could figure out a way for Egan and her to come out of it alive.
“It’s late, and I’m sure you’re both exhausted. Are you taking Jordan to the ranch?” Court asked a moment later.
There was more of that muscle flickering from Egan. “Maybe. But if that’s where we go, it would be just for tonight.”
Jordan was shaking her head before he even finished, and she got to her feet. “I don’t want to go there,” she protested.
Egan didn’t even acknowledge that. He just kept talking to his brother. “Call me the minute you get anything back from the ME, CSIs or the lab. Are there any safety measures you want me to take for Rayna?”
“Rayna and I have already worked that out.” And Court proceeded to tell Egan about some hands standing guard and an armed security system.
Jordan knew that Rayna was a local horse trainer who was also engaged to Court. That likely meant the woman had already moved to the ranch, and Jordan figured she could use that to win the argument she was about to have with Egan. An argument that started the moment he finished the call with Court.
“I don’t want to go to the McCall Ranch,” she repeated. “Your family will be there. Your father, your sister and apparently Rayna, too. My being there could put them in danger. Not to mention that none of them will want me there after what happened to Shanna.”
“No, my family won’t be there. Court and Rayna have their own place on the back of the property. My sister, Rachel, lives with her soon-to-be husband in a house near town. And my dad has been staying at his fishing cabin down by the river.”
Even though she wasn’t ready to give up her argument, that did give her a new reason for alarm. That was because the fishing cabin was a good mile from the main ranch house.
“Is it safe for your father to be there?” she asked. “I mean since someone tried to kill him just two months ago.”
Egan lifted his shoulder. “Some people ignore the danger and hope that it doesn’t come back to bite them.”
“You mean me.”
“Yeah,” he readily admitted. “Just because you didn’t die with Shanna doesn’t mean you have to choose to die now.”
Surprised, Jordan pulled back her shoulders. Egan didn’t usually bring up Shanna’s name around her. Nor did he usually show any kind of concern for her. Of course, maybe the concern was because of the danger she might have brought to his doorstep.
“You blame me for what happened tonight?” she came out and asked.
“No,” he snapped, but it certainly sounded as if he meant yes. “It was beyond risky, though, for you to investigate those other deaths on your own. You should have turned all of this over to the cops before things got this far.”
She heard the words and was certain that they were true, but there was another angle to this. “You didn’t believe me when I told you about the other deaths. You thought I’d gone off the deep end.”
And maybe he still did think that, but Egan managed to give her a flat stare. “You really want whoever’s behind this to get his hands on you?”
“No. Of course not.” It put an icy chill through her just thinking about it. This person had likely killed three people, and she didn’t want her or anyone else to be his next victim. “The same goes for you, though. We need a safe house, not your family’s ranch.”
“That’s probably true, but it’s nearly midnight and too late to come up with an alternative.”
She tipped her head toward the back of the building. “How about the break room? There used to be a shower and a sofa back there.”
The last time she’d seen it, it had definitely qualified as bare-bones. Nothing more than a flop room for cops pulling double shifts. Still, it beat going back outside. She didn’t want to run from a killer, but Jordan wasn’t sure she could face him head-on right now.
Egan stared at her, and she saw the fatigue and weariness in not only his eyes but in every part of his body. He probably needed to crash for at least a nap anyway. Still, she doubted either of them would get much sleep no matter where they were.
He took out his phone again, and he fired off a text. “I’ll have one of the hands bring us a change of clothes and some toiletries. Some dinner, too.” He motioned for her to follow him.
And that was when Jordan realized she had actually won the argument with Egan. Too bad it didn’t exactly feel like a win. Every part of her was on edge, and apparently it was the same for Egan because when the front door opened, he reached for his gun. So did Ian Meade, the deputy who was at his desk in the squad room. But their visitor wasn’t the killer. Or if it was, he was wearing a white lab coat.
Jordan didn’t recognize him, but Egan and Ian must have because they both huffed and reholstered their weapons.
“It’s okay,” Egan said to her, and he blew out a quick breath. “That’s Billy Watson. He works at the pharmacy.”
Billy nodded and volleyed uneasy glances at all three of them. “Uh, Dr. Madison asked me to bring over these meds.” Billy handed Egan the small white bag, and he in turn gave it to Jordan.
Jordan thanked him, but Billy didn’t hang around. He got out of there, fast, probably because he’d figured there must be some potential trouble for Egan and Ian to have drawn so fast.
