Page 15 of The Sheriff's Baby

Interesting. Those weren’t the words of a woman jumping to defend her ex-husband. “But it’s possible he committed a crime,” Duncan pressed.

“Not that I know of,” she repeated, and this time there was an admonishment to her tone. “I can tell you that the relationship between Kate and Brad is strained right now, so if Kate sustained a head injury or something, that might have caused her to say what she did.”

Duncan disregarded the last part of that and went for the meat of the remark. “Strained how? Why?”

Shanda sighed again. “It’s because of me. Brad wants to get back together and Kate loathes me.”

When Shanda didn’t add more, Duncan went with a prompt. “Brad wants to get back together. How about you? How do you feel about that?”

“It’s complicated.” Shanda groaned. “I know that’s a cliché, but in our case, it’s true. Brad and I share a very painful past.”

Duncan could relate, what with Joelle and him blaming themselves for not stopping her father’s murder. So the cliché of complicated fit them, too.

“I’m not sure if Brad and I will be getting back together or not,” Shanda finally admitted. “It won’t happen unless he’s willing to get the counseling he needs. So far, Brad hasn’t shown up at any of the appointments I’ve scheduled for him.”

Maybe because the man didn’t want to forget the past but rather get revenge for it.

“Counseling has really helped me,” Shanda went on. “I had a difficult childhood, and according to my therapist, that created some anger issues. Issues, too, with using people. And, yes, I used Brad. Or rather I used his money. Don’t get me wrong. I loved him, and that’s why I married him, but I wasn’t careful with his money.”

Shanda sounded a lot different than she had from the night she’d been arrested. Maybe the counseling had worked. Or maybe this was all an act.

“Why does Kate loathe you?” Duncan asked, circling back to what Shanda had said earlier.

“This is all very personal,” Shanda muttered.

“You bet it is,” Duncan snarled. “Someone tried to kill one of my deputies and kidnapped a former deputy who’s now a dispatcher. For me, that’s as personal as it gets, and if you have any information that can help me find the person responsible, then spill it.”

“Yes,” the woman said, her voice heavy with emotion now. “Brad told me about that, and he thinks because of what Kate said, he’s now a suspect in those crimes.”

“He is a suspect,” Duncan verified. “And you’re a person of interest. In fact, I’ll need you to come into the Saddle Ridge Sheriff’s Office for an official interview. When we’re done talking, go ahead and arrange for that. Bring your lawyer if you want, but I expect you in this morning. The earlier, the better.”

“I see,” Shanda said in a whisper. “You believe the attack and the kidnapping are connected to what happened to me nearly two years ago.”

“Are they?” Duncan was quick to ask.

“No, I don’t think so.” She paused. “Look, I understand you have a job to do, but that incident was very painful for me. I had a miscarriage, and since I couldn’t deal with the grief of losing my child, I fell apart. It ruined my marriage.”

Duncan listened for any signs of bitterness and rage, but he didn’t pick up on anything. What was there was the pain and grief of trauma. Then again, maybe that’s what Shanda wanted him to hear.

“As I said, I’ve gone through counseling,” Shanda went on. “Lots and lots of it. It’s helped, but Brad seems stalled in that deep rut of loss over our baby. You see, I’d had a hard time getting pregnant and gone through many fertility treatments. The pregnancy was a miracle, and it was snatched away.”

Now there was some bitterness, but Duncan figured it was a drop in the bucket to what Brad had revealed.

“I understand Brad has filed a civil lawsuit over what happened,” Shanda went on. “I’m trying to talk him out of that because I don’t think that will help with his healing. He needs to heal,” she emphasized.

Duncan had to wonder just how “broken” Brad was. Maybe Kate was dead-on when she’d accused her son of going after Joelle.

“Any idea why Brad would wait two years to file the lawsuit?” he pressed.

Shanda sighed. “He’s talked about it for a while, months. And I know he interviewed several lawyers before he finally found one who actually encouraged him to go through with it.”

So, Brad had shopped around to find someone who had told him what he wanted to hear. And once Brad had that approval, maybe he did more than just start a legal battle. Maybe he decided to get full on revenge.

“Could Brad have been responsible for the attack and kidnapping?” Duncan came out and asked.

“I don’t want to believe he is,” Shanda admitted. Then, she stopped and muttered something Duncan didn’t catch. “I’ll contact my lawyer and see if he can meet me right away so we can go to the sheriff’s office together. As soon as I have a time for our arrival, I’ll let you know.”

“I want you in before ten o’clock,” Duncan insisted.

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