Page 21 of The Sheriff's Baby

Duncan shook his head. “It’s Shanda Cantrell. She’s been murdered.”

Chapter Six

Duncan drank more coffee and paced with his phone anchored between his shoulder and ear while he waited for Joelle’s brother, Detective Ruston McCullough, to take him off hold and give him the update on Shanda’s murder.

It’d been over an hour since Ruston’s initial call to deliver the shocking news that Shanda had been found dead just outside her house in San Antonio, and Ruston had only been able to provide the basics. Apparently, Shanda’s lawyer had found her dead when he’d gone to her place. Cause of death had likely been a gunshot wound to the chest.

“Sorry about the wait,” Ruston said when he came back on the line. “I just got another call from the CSIs out at Shanda’s house, and I wanted to hear what they had to say so I could pass it along to you. And Joelle. She’s there, right?”

“I am,” Joelle verified. She looked too exhausted to pace, the way Duncan was in an effort to burn up some of this adrenaline and nerves. She was on the sofa, watching and waiting.

“How are you holding up?” Ruston asked, and Duncan knew that question was for Joelle.

“We need answers,” she replied, clearly dodging her brother’s question.

Ruston sighed because that dodge had given him the answer. His sister was exhausted and worried about everything that had gone on not just since the attack but the events of the last five months. All of this could be linked, and that was a connection that wasn’t going to allow Joelle, or the rest of them, to get much rest anytime soon.

“All right,” Ruston continued, “here’s what I have. At approximately 6:45 this morning, Shanda’s lawyer, Frank Salvetti, arrived at her residence in San Antonio. She had called him about a half hour before that and instructed him that she needed him to accompany her to Saddle Ridge right away.”

Hell. A lot had gone on in these hours following Joelle’s attack. It was barely six in the morning, but it felt as if they’d been at this for days.

“That’s a fast, and very early, response for a lawyer,” Duncan pointed out.

“Yeah,” Ruston agreed. “I’m guessing it’s because Shanda either pays him well or else they have a personal relationship that made him react so fast. Not lovers. I’ve found no proof of that but maybe just friends. Anyway, he found her lying partway inside her door and on her porch, and he called 911. The ME just confirmed that cause of death was the gunshot wound to the chest. No surprise there. I was one of the first on scene, and it was obvious that she’d been shot and bled out.”

“Any witnesses?” Joelle asked.

“None, and there were no security cameras. But it’s definitely not suicide. No other weapons around, and even though I don’t have the report back on it yet, it’ll turn out that she was shot at point-blank range. What it looked like to me was that she opened her door to someone, maybe thinking it was her lawyer or possibly because she knew the person, and then she was shot.”

Duncan groaned. Ruston was a good cop so his account was almost certainly what had happened. But with no witnesses and Shanda dead, they didn’t have an ID on the shooter.

“Shanda called me about an hour before she was killed,” Duncan explained. “I was going to question her about the attack on Joelle and Molly’s kidnapping.”

Ruston made a sound of acknowledgment. “Joelle had messaged me about that.” He paused. “Shanda’s arrest could be linked to Dad’s murder. Who else knew that?”

“My three suspects,” Duncan was quick to say. Technically, he should be using the “persons of interest” label, but in his mind, they were solid suspects. “Shanda’s former mother-in-law, Kate Moreland, who’s still hospitalized. Shanda’s ex-husband, Brad. A hothead who blames your dad, Joelle and a few others for Shanda’s miscarriage following her arrest. The third suspect is Al Hamlin, a PI who showed up out of the blue to point the finger at Kate.”

Duncan paused to give Ruston some time to consider all of that.

“Who’s your top suspect?” Ruston asked several moments later.

“Well, it would have been Shanda before she was murdered,” Duncan admitted. “After all, she’s the one who lost the baby, and she’s got the funds to hire a gunman and a kidnapper.” He stopped again, cursed. “And she could have done just that. Hell, maybe one of her hired thugs wasn’t pleased with her and killed her. Molly’s kidnapper said what he’d done was a mistake so maybe this is the way he dealt with it.”

“You have a name for the kidnapper?” Ruston wanted to know.

“Working on it. We collected some of his blood from Molly’s house, and it’s being processed now.”

If the kidnapper had a record, then they might get a quick match. Rarely did he hope someone was a criminal, but in this case, it would make getting the ID much easier.

“Kate Moreland is in the hospital with a deputy guard on her door,” Duncan added to Ruston. “I’ve been trying to call Brad, but he’s not answering.”

“He’s not answering my calls, either,” Ruston supplied. “I’ve sent two uniforms out to his place to check on him. Brad didn’t answer the door and didn’t appear to be home. Of course, he could be on his way to see his mother before he’s due to come in for his interview.”

True, and he might not answer his phone if he was on the road. But it occurred to Duncan that Brad could be dead as well, and if so, he wasn’t sure how that would have played out. Maybe Kate had gotten fed up with both Shanda and Brad and hired someone to kill them? Or maybe Brad was very much alive and just dodging cops. If so, that moved him to the top spot of suspects.

Duncan heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and he expected to see either Luca or Carmen step into the doorway. But it was Joelle’s other brother, Slater, who was the senior deputy in the sheriff’s office. He was definitely a welcome sight since there was plenty to do.

Like Ruston, Slater was the spitting image of a younger version of their late father. Tall and lanky with black hair and green eyes. Joelle had gotten the black hair, but she had her mother’s misty gray eyes.

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