Page 16 of Ranger Bravery

“That I was having an affair with her. I wasn’t.” Shawn blew out a breath. “At our last Christmas party, there was a photo booth. The old-fashioned kind that prints the pictures in a strip. Anyway, we all took turns having our photos taken. I was there with my paralegal, making silly faces. At some point, she got out and Elena got in. She kissed my cheek. It was inappropriate, which I told her immediately after the picture was taken. How it ended up in her locket, I can’t explain.” He shrugged. “Maybe she had a crush on me. She wouldn’t be the first woman.”

Piper hummed in disbelief. “You expect us to believe that Elena had a secret crush on you? What is this, middle school?”

Shawn glowered at her. “You can believe what you want. It’s the truth.” He rose and strolled to his office door, opening it. “My secretary will escort you back to the lobby. If you have additional questions for our employees, please call and make an appointment ahead of time.”

Piper left without a backward glance. Jackson moved more slowly. As he crossed the room, Shawn refused to meet his gaze, but the hand holding the door trembled slightly.

Jackson stopped in front of him. “Secrets have a way of getting out, Shawn. Elena is dead. There’s no way to stop this investigation. I will catch her killer. If you had an affair with her and need to keep it quiet, the best way to do that is to be straightforward with me. Either way, I’m going to get to the truth.”

Shawn met his gaze. The heat of his fury nearly stole Jackson’s breath. “Tread lightly.” He stepped forward, closing the distance between them until they were chest to chest. “My family is well respected, and townsfolk don’t take kindly to rumor and innuendo. I have no intention of trying to stop your investigation, but I won’t sit idly by and let you sully my good name.”

The battle lines had been drawn. There was nothing more for Jackson to say. He turned and followed Piper down the hall, but the weight of Shawn’s stare and the heat of his anger pursued them. It triggered every one of Jackson’s alarm bells. He’d hoped this meeting would clear his friend. Instead, it put him at the top of the suspect list.

And Shawn knew it.

Outside, Jackson adjusted his cowboy hat to shield his eyes from the sun. A glance around the parking lot ensured he and Piper were alone. “What do you think?”

“He’s a liar. Shawn and Elena were having an affair.” She slanted a glance. “You poked a bear. You do know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Jackson approached his SUV and opened the passenger side door for her. “Shawn doesn’t want news about his affair spreading, which I can understand, but his reaction makes me think he has a lot more to hide. Problem is, one photograph isn’t enough to prove a relationship.”

“No, but women talk, especially to their friends.”

He grinned. “They do?”

Piper laughed. She wasn’t telling him something he didn’t already know. “Shawn and Elena may have kept their relationship a secret, but I guarantee you someone in her inner circle knows. We just have to figure out who.”

“Yeah. It would be good if we could find out her passcode to her cloud storage too. I don’t think it was an accident the killer took her cell phone.” Jackson went to close the door, but Piper stopped him.

Concern creased her features. “Shawn didn’t want to admit he knew Marcus.”

“No, he didn’t. Honestly, it only makes me more suspicious that what happened this morning wasn’t random.”

She blew out a breath. “I’m not a fan of Shawn’s, but he’s not a fool. Hiring Marcus to shoot me is fraught with risk and complications.”

“So is killing his mistress.”

TEN

Jackson’s words haunted Piper for the rest of the day and into the evening.

She swiped the kitchen counter with a sponge before rinsing her hands in the sink. Dinner had been a simple affair of hamburgers and salad. Piano music filtered in from the living room. Finn was practicing a new song for Sunday church service. Based on his broken starts and stops, it wasn’t going well.

She sympathized. The investigation into Elena’s murder wasn’t going smoothly either. They’d interviewed most of Elena’s friends and a few members of her extended family. Unfortunately, none of them knew anything about her dating life and no one could provide the password to her cloud storage. Piper was extremely frustrated by the lack of progress.

So far, Shawn was their strongest suspect, but they couldn’t even prove he’d been having an affair with Elena.

Truth was, Piper couldn’t see the pristine lawyer luring his mistress to a field, beating her, and then shooting her to death. Shawn was arrogant and he had a temper, but he wasn’t the kind to get his hands dirty. Money had always been his solution to any problem. In school, he’d paid a fellow student to do his homework. Rumor had it, when he ran into legal trouble in his twenties after stealing a car from a dealership, he’d bought the vehicle at above asking price. He settled disputes with employees by increasing their severance package.

If Shawn wanted Elena’s silence, he’d buy it. Worst case scenario, he’d hire someone to murder her, not actually do the killing himself.

The hum of the washing machine meant the clothes weren’t ready for the dryer yet. Dishes done, and the kitchen clean, Piper had a few minutes. She settled at the table and opened her laptop. A few moments later, she accessed Elena’s social media.

The young woman hadn’t posted often. Maybe she’d been too busy with her college classes and work. Piper looked for pictures she was tagged in, making a list of additional friends to interview the next day. From the looks of things, Elena was well-liked, but there was seriousness to her that radiated from the images on the computer screen. It reminded Piper so much of herself…

Was that what was bothering her? The nightmare from the other night rushed back into her mind. The melding of Elena’s murder and Piper’s assault. Heart racing, she zoomed in on a photograph of Elena.

Curly blonde hair, blue eyes. Petite and slender. Their face shape was similar as was the curve of their lips. The resemblance was uncanny. They could be sisters. Additionally, they’d grown up in the same neighborhood. And Elena was nineteen, one year older than Piper had been at the time of her assault.

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