Page 78 of River Justice

“You have the property. How soon can my associates start bringing in product?”

“The sheriff is suspicious that I might have already been in business with you in the past. He’s threatened a couple of times to get a warrant and come search the premises.”

CJ laughed. “Can’t get a warrant without some kind of proof. Your job is to make sure he doesn’t get it.”

“I already know my job. I’m the one sticking my neck out. It’s my property. The new split is eighty-twenty.”

His former partner swore. “I’m the one who introduced you to the business, remember? You begged to be let in. Now you think you’re running the show? Have you met me?”

Treyton fell silent for a moment, warning himself about the man he was dealing with. “Seventy-thirty or I sell the land. It’s worth more now than I paid for it. I’ve been thinking about going to Texas. Buy me a place on the beach.”

“Bullpuck!” CJ laughed. “Sand between your toes? You’re too much of a wuss. Sixty-forty, but only because I need money for a decent lawyer. When I get out of here, we’ll renegotiate.”

He just bet they would.

“You’ll be hearing from my friends.”

The call ended. Treyton swore. If CJ ever got out, he’d take over and have him killed. The best Treyton could hope for was that it would be quick, and they’d at least bury him six feet deep on his own property.

It would be just like CJ to hire an attorney who found a way to get him out scot-free. If that happened, Treyton wanted to be ready, which meant socking away as much money as he could.

If CJ Stafford was ever free, Treyton promised himself he’d head to some tropical island and see how he felt about sand between his toes.

“TWOWOMENHAVEconfessed to the murder?” the prosecutor demanded.

“I have both of their confessions,” Stuart told him. “As for the original confrontation, it appears to be self-defense.”

“Then they decided to get rid of the body,” the prosecutor said.

“They both told the same story. I believe them. A jury would believe them. So, what are we looking at here as far as charges?”

After he disconnected, he called down to have both women brought up from their cells. Their lawyers were cooling their heels outside his office.

After he had Elaine’s confession down and signed, he had Charlotte brought up to his office. “Ladies, would one of you like to explain how you both killed Dixon Malone?”

Charlotte shot Elaine an impatient look. “I have this taken care of.”

“She’s covering for me,” Elaine said. “I killed Dixon. You have my confession.”

“I have two confessions,” he snapped. “Both basically the same story. What I want is the truth. How about one of you tell me what I want to hear?”

The two women exchanged a look that made him swear. “Did you check for a pulse?” he asked.

Elaine started to speak, but Charlotte cut her off. “I checked when I got there. He was clearly dead.”

“So you didn’t check for a pulse before you called Charlotte,” he said to Elaine.

“I panicked and called Charlotte and begged her to help me.”

Her friend groaned. “Why didn’t you just leave it alone?”

“Because I’m not letting you take the fall for something I did,” Elaine said.

“You made the call from outside and went down the road to meet Charlotte,” the sheriff said. “You didn’t go back inside to check to make sure he was actually dead.”

“He was dead,” Elaine said. “There was blood on the floor under his head. He wasn’t moving. He looked...dead.”

The sheriff nodded. “So, which one of you had the gun?”

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