Page 40 of The Sheriff's Baby

Joelle stayed quiet a moment. “Did Hamlin know about my father’s involvement in this?”

“Sure,” Erica was quick to say. “Your father spoke to both Al and me after the arrest. I’m not sure what he said to Al, but your dad was kind to me. He knew my folks had kicked me out, that I had no place to go and had been staying with friends just to have a roof over my head. He told me if I needed help with a legal adoption agency or if I decided to keep the baby, he could find me a place to go.”

That part didn’t surprise Duncan one bit. Sheriff McCullough had been a good man, and he would have done whatever possible to right a bad situation. If Erica was telling the truth, and Duncan believed she was, then her situation had definitely qualified as bad.

“I took the sheriff up on his offer,” Erica explained. “I got out of juvie three months before Al did, and the sheriff helped me get into a home that had other girls like me. I had the baby, legally put her up for adoption and then the sheriff arranged for me to get my GED and a job.”

Joelle and Duncan exchanged glances, and he could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “How did Hamlin take that?”

“Not well.” That answer was also quick. “He didn’t find me until after I’d had the baby, and he was furious. Not because he wanted the child. But because he still thought I should have gotten some money for the baby. Money that I should have shared with him.” Her bottom lip trembled a little. “I told Al to leave me alone or I’d ask Sheriff McCullough to help me file a restraining order against him.”

Duncan figured Hamlin wasn’t happy about that, either. In fact, it could have riled him to the core. Did it rile him enough, though, to carry on a vendetta to murder the sheriff and go after Joelle? Maybe. And maybe Molly played into the plan simply because she would soon give birth to a baby that Hamlin could sell.

Erica lifted her head and met Duncan’s gaze. “I think Al might have pressured his sister to sell her child. That might be why Isla disappeared.”

Duncan considered that for a moment and then tried to link that to what was happening now. If Hamlin had continued to dabble in selling babies, then it’s possible Isla would have run from him.

“Did Al ever mention Kate Moreland?” Duncan asked.

Erica opened her mouth to answer, but the sound of a man’s voice stopped her. Speaking of the devil, Hamlin came in, pushing his way past one of the deputies, and his attention must have landed on Erica.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Hamlin demanded.

Erica sprang to her feet, and Duncan thought the woman might cower in fear at the sight of her ex, but she turned and faced him head-on. “I came because I thought you might be involved in what happened to Deputy McCullough and the woman who was kidnapped.”

Hamlin cursed, and he opened his mouth as if about to unleash some rage and profanity, but he quickly bit that off. He turned around, pacing a few steps, and when he turned back toward Erica, he scrubbed his hand over his face.

“Don’t you see?” he asked her. “They’ll use anything you’ve told them to try and pin these crimes on me. I’m just trying to find my sister and make the people who took her pay.”

“I had to come,” Erica fired back. There was no real anger in her voice, just that shamed reaction again. “I don’t know for sure if you’ve had any part in what happened, but I wanted to tell the sheriff about our arrest. I didn’t think it would come up in a normal search since we were underage.”

“And it’s irrelevant,” Hamlin insisted. He snapped toward Duncan and repeated that. “Yes, I was convicted of doing something very stupid by trying to get money for our child. I was young and desperate, and I made a mistake. All of that has nothing to do with the attacks. I told you I was there on scene because I got a text from you. Or rather a text I thought was from you.”

“It wasn’t,” Duncan verified. And that’s why Duncan had had his phone records entered into the investigation log so it would be clear he hadn’t been the one who’d messaged Hamlin telling him to go to the McCullough ranch. According to the techs, the message had come from a burner, which meant Hamlin could have sent it to himself.

That was a reminder of why Duncan had wanted Hamlin to be interviewed, but he wasn’t sure if Erica had more to add to the investigation or not. “Thank you for coming in today,” Duncan told the woman. “Deputy Slater McCullough will take your statement because there are some things I have to ask Hamlin.”

And Duncan didn’t want to do that in front of Erica. He needed to keep this all by the book since he soon might be charging Hamlin with a boatload of felonies.

Duncan tipped his head to the interview room. “This way,” he told Hamlin, and Joelle followed in step behind them. On the short walk, Duncan repeated the Miranda warning.

Hamlin muttered throughout the warning, and he was still muttering when they were in the room and seated. “Erica shouldn’t have come and stirred up things like that,” he snapped. “I had nothing to do with what happened to Deputy McCullough and the dispatcher.”

“Nothing to do with Sheriff Cliff McCullough, either?” Duncan threw out there.

Hamlin flinched. Then, he huffed again. “Erica told you that the sheriff is the one who ratted us out. Yes, he did. He poked his nose into something that wasn’t his business, but I’m going to repeat myself again. I had nothing to do with what’s been going on.”

Duncan just stared at the man, and after a few seconds had crawled by, he said, “Willie Jay Prescott.” And he watched Hamlin’s reaction.

Joelle was no doubt watching, too, which meant she saw the flicker of recognition in Hamlin’s eyes. “Want to tell us about your relationship with Willie Jay?” she suggested, though it was more of an order.

Hamlin’s mouth tightened, and he belted out some more profanity. “What about him?”

Duncan huffed. “Stop playing games with us. Willie Jay is in a jail cell right here in this building, and he’s had plenty to say.”

Of course, that last part was a lie. Willie Jay hadn’t said a word, but it was obvious that the revelation of Willie Jay’s arrest put some serious concern on Hamlin’s face.

Hamlin stayed quiet a moment, his gaze flickering right and then left. “Mr. Prescott briefly worked for me when I first became a PI,” he finally said. “I employed him to help me track down leads on my cases. The employment didn’t last because Mr. Prescott turned out to be not very reliable at showing up for work or doing his assigned tasks. So, I fired him.”

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