Page 32 of Lone Star Witness

“I want to talk to Annalisa,” the colonel whispered.

Slade sighed. “Spock, silence the audio from the gate,” he instructed and then turned to Rosa. “Unless Annalisa has proof, Stephanie won’t be arrested. It sounds as if she’s here for a fishing expedition.”

The colonel nodded. “Something I understand. We both need to know who killed her husband. If I talk to her, it might trigger more memories of that night.”

Slade didn’t dispute that, but it still took him a couple of long moments before he spoke again. “Spock, resume audio of the gate camera and let our visitor in. Mrs. Hutton,” he went on once audio had been restored. “Drive through the gates when they open. Do you know which house is mine?”

She nodded and rattled off the address. “I heard you talking to Officer Lopez at the hospital, and you said you were going home. I own a real estate company, and I looked up your residences.”

“And you followed Colonel Rosa here,” Slade provided.

“I did,” she readily admitted just as the gate opened. She raised her window and drove through.

The view on the monitor shifted to the camera view of Slade’s front porch, and it didn’t take long for the Audi to pull to a stop in front of his house.

“Spock, monitor the vehicle and make sure no one other than Mrs. Hutton gets out,” Slade said.

When Slade stood, so did the colonel, and the two men faced each other. “Here’s my concern. Annalisa doesn’t know who killed her husband, and she could have had a conversation with you over the phone. Now maybe it’s because she’s grief-stricken and not thinking straight, but it doesn’t set well with me that she followed you here and is now insisting on seeing you.”

Rosa gave a slow nod. “You think we should turn her away?”

“Yes,” Slade said and then huffed. “But I also understand the need for some answers. If you believe Annalisa was there at your house the night Hutton went missing and was killed, then she might know a lot more than what she just said at the gate.”

Rosa glanced at the monitor that showed Annalisa stepping out of her car and making her way up the steps. The woman was visibly shaken. And clearly worried as well. She was glancing around as if she expected someone to jump out and attack her. That was probably a normal reaction, considering she’d recently learned that her husband had been murdered.

“There’s no reason to let Annalisa in,” the colonel finally said. “I can talk to her at the door.”

Slade still didn’t look convinced that was the right thing to do, but they went to the door together. Marise stayed back, figuring Annalisa might be more likely to spill something important if it was just Rosa and her. Slade must have had the same idea because once he disengaged the security and opened the door, he stepped back.

Annalisa stopped on the porch, staring at the colonel.

And then she let out a fierce wail.

In a blink, the woman whipped out a huge knife from her purse and charged at Rosa.

“You killed him, you sonofabitch,” Annalisa yelled. “You were jealous of him and killed him.”

Marise ran toward the woman, but Slade moved a whole lot faster. That, and he was a lot closer to Annalisa. Just as Annalisa plunged the knife forward, aiming directly at Rosa’s chest, Slade caught onto her arm, stopping the motion.

With the rage now tightening her face, Annalisa turned, twisting her arm, trying to stab Slade. “You probably helped him. Brothers in arms,” she spat like profanity.

Slade didn’t respond, not verbally. He wrenched the woman’s arm, pushing her back away from Rosa.

Annalisa resisted.

And the adrenaline was fueling the fight and giving her a lot more strength than she should have had. She lashed out with her free hand, slamming a huge purse into Slade’s ribs.

Marise cursed when she saw him wince and grit his teeth from the pain, and she charged forward. She practically shoved Rosa out of the way, and she swept out her foot, connecting with Annalisa’s legs. That off-balanced the woman enough for her to quit hitting Slade.

It was also enough for Annalisa to try to turn the blade on Marise.

Even with Slade’s grip on her, Annalisa twisted the knife and came within an inch of slicing Marise’s face.

“Enough of this shit,” Slade snarled, and he took hold of the back on Annalisa neck and threw her to the entry floor. In the same motion, he kicked the knife away from her and put his foot on her back.

“Stay down,” Slade growled, and he made a quick glance at Marise and Rosa. The sleeve of Rosa’s shirt was cut, but Marise didn’t see any bleeding.

The same, however, couldn’t be said for Slade.

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