Page 14 of The Sheriff's Baby

“I didn’t know about the lawsuit before I called you. Now, explain why your mother would accuse you of plotting to kill a cop.” Duncan made sure that wasn’t a suggestion but rather an order from a sheriff.

“I have no idea.” Now there was plenty of defensiveness in Brad’s voice. “You said she was in a car accident so maybe she got a head injury and was confused.”

Duncan hadn’t missed the fact that Brad hadn’t asked about his mother’s injuries right from the start. Most people did once they understood their loved one was alive. Brad had demanded to see her, but he hadn’t pressed about her condition.

“Is my mother in the hospital there in Saddle Ridge?” Brad finally said after a long silence. “If so, I can be there in under an hour.”

“She can’t have visitors. Doctor’s orders. But even if she could, I won’t let you in to see her unless I’m convinced your mother was wrong about you wanting to kill one of my deputies.”

“Deputy Joelle McCullough.” Brad said her name like profanity. “She was one of the cops who arrested my wife. Oh, her dad was the head honcho in that, but he’s dead so the lawsuit will be aimed mainly at his daughter and the other cops involved. Molly Radel and Ronnie Bishop.”

Everything inside Duncan went on alert, and he mouthed for Joelle to send Ronnie a heads-up about being a possible target.

“It’s interesting that out of the three people you just named,” Duncan continued with Brad, “one was kidnapped and the other attacked. According to your mom, she specifically came to Saddle Ridge to warn Deputy McCullough.”

Brad’s next round of profanity was quick and raw. “Like I said, my mother was mistaken. Sure, I’ve talked about Deputy McCullough and Deputy Radel but I’ll go after them in the courts for what they did. I’m not on some vendetta.”

“So, you have an alibi for the past five hours?” Duncan fired back.

“I was in bed at my house. Alone,” Brad tacked onto that in a mutter. “That doesn’t mean I did those things.”

Maybe. But it didn’t look good, not with his mother accusing him and with no alibi. “I want you here at the Saddle Ridge Sheriff’s Office in three hours. That’ll give you time to arrange for your lawyer to come with you.”

“You better believe I’ll have a lawyer. And I’ll expect to see my mother when I’m there.”

“You can expect it, but you might not get it,” Duncan snarled right back. “Be here in three hours,” he repeated, and he ended the call.

Duncan immediately fixed his gaze on Joelle, prompting her to give her take on the phone call.

“Brad’s angry enough to come after Molly and me. And he has plenty of money to hire someone to orchestrate the attacks,” she amended and then paused. “But if he hired that gunman and the kidnapper, then why didn’t he establish an alibi for himself?”

Yeah, that was the thing that stood out for Duncan, too. “Maybe Brad didn’t know his mom was going to rat him out. He also might not have thought we’d connect the kidnapping and attack to what happened to his ex-wife nearly two years ago.”

Still, a guilty person should have thought of those angles and covered his butt. Brad hadn’t. Was that cockiness, sloppy work or was he actually innocent?

Joelle’s phone dinged with a text, and she sighed when she read it. “While you were talking to Brad, I texted the tech guys with the kidnapper’s phone number. They obviously took me at my word when I said it was high priority because they checked it right away. It’s a burner, and it’s no longer in service.”

Duncan went with a sigh of his own, even though it was expected news.

“Of course, the tech guys will keep searching to see if they can link it back to anyone,” she added.

That was standard operating procedure, but it was a rarity when they found those links. Still, it was all they had at the moment.

“I’m hoping the kidnapper will arrange for us to pick up Molly before Brad comes in for his interview,” Duncan said, and he checked the time. “Why don’t you try to get some rest—” He stopped when his phone rang. Unknown caller. And his heart raced at the possibility of this being the kidnapper who was using a different phone.

“Sheriff Holder,” Duncan answered. He hit record and put the call on speaker. But it wasn’t a man’s voice who greeted him.

“Sheriff,” a woman said. It definitely wasn’t Molly, either. “I’m Shanda Cantrell. I just got off the phone with Brad, and he was very upset.”

Duncan would have preferred for this call to be about Molly and her release, but he’d intended to call Shanda so this saved him the step of having to get her number.

“A lot of people are upset right now,” Duncan verified. “And by the way, I have you on speaker, and one of my deputies is listening. I’m also recording this conversation.”

That brought on a couple of moments of silence. “All right,” Shanda finally said. “I’m calling because Brad told me his mother was delusional and talking out of her head,” Shanda went on. “Kate accused Brad of intending to commit a crime.”

“Did he?” Duncan asked, figuring that was the fastest way to cut to the heart of this conversation.

Shanda didn’t gasp or make a sharp sound of surprise. Instead, she sighed. “No. Not that I know of,” she tacked onto that.

---