Page 97 of The Killing Plains

Russ said nothing. The color drained from his face, but he nodded for her to continue. In a low voice, she recited the details of her conversation with Lowell that morning and with Jace Hoyer the day before. Russ listened quietly, staring off into the hazy distance.

After a few minutes, Colly paused. “None of this is news to you, is it?”

She waited, but Russ didn’t answer.

“Well?”

His eyes darted quickly to hers. “What do you want me to say?”

Colly’s earlier ambivalence vanished in a flash of anger. “Were you involved in this mess?”

Russ sighed. Taking off his Stetson, he set it on the ground and rubbed his eyes. “Not on purpose.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I was an accessory after the fact, I guess you’d say.” He tilted his head back against the stone wall. “I should’ve seen it coming. I knew Lowell gambled. Then his drinking got worse, and he was pissed off all the time—but I figured it was the divorce. I should’ve guessed.”

“When did you learn the truth?”

Russ exhaled slowly. It was last April, he said, a month after Jace Hoyer’s dismissal. Lowell had called and asked to talk. They met on the porch of Willis’s cabin one evening while Willis was up at the house with Iris. Lowell blurted out the whole ugly story. He’d just found out that Denny Knox was seeing Brenda for therapy. What ifDenny knew something? If Brenda found out about the embezzlement, she’d destroy him—he’d lose his kids, maybe go to prison.

“How’d you react?”

“I cussed him out, said something like, ‘Do you realize the bind you’re putting me in? If I don’t arrest you, I’m an accessory. I’ve got to send you to prison or break the law myself.’”

“And you chose option two.”

Russ paused. “A lot was at stake, Col. Momma’d been so depressed since Randy and Victoria died, but she was finally coming out of it—going to dance classes, dating Talford. The scandal would’ve destroyed her and the company both. I was thinking about the kids, too. All the kids, including Satchel. Their futures would’ve been gone, just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “I did my best. I insisted on a generous settlement for the dead lady’s family, more than they asked for. And I told Lowell that if Brenda, or Jace, or anyone else blew the whistle, my hands would be tied—I’d have to turn the matter over to the county sheriff.”

“That’s awfully noble. How’d Lowell respond?”

“All he cared about was stopping Denny from blabbing anything to Brenda. The judge in Denny’s arson case is a friend of the family. Dad helped him out of a financial jam once. Lowell wanted me to trump up some parole violation against Denny, then get the judge to incarcerate him.”

“You’re joking.”

“I said if I found out he so much as nodded hello to Judge Appleton, I’d tell Brenda the whole story myself.”

Colly sighed. Her initial anger was draining away, leaving a cold, sick feeling in its place. “Tell me the truth, do you know who killed Denny?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Could it have been Lowell?”

“I don’t see how.”

Colly chewed her lip. “Then explain why Felix called you instead of 911 when he found Denny’s body. You said it was because his English is bad. But that doesn’t pass the smell test, to me.”

Russ winced. “You caught me off guard with that question the other day.”

“Tell me now.”

Russ picked up a pebble and rolled it between his fingers. The situation had turned out to be more complicated than he knew, he said. When he and Lowell met that night on the cabin porch, they’d had no idea that Felix was inside, cleaning Delilah’s pen. The windows were open, and he’d overheard them talking. Considering it none of his business, he’d kept the knowledge to himself. But months later, when he found Denny’s body by the stock pond and recognized him, Felix immediately understood the implications. A second murder at the ranch would bring a lot of scrutiny, particularly to Willis. But the fact that the victim was Jace Hoyer’s stepson would put the company—and Lowell—under the microscope, as well.

“Felix has worked for us since before I was born,” Russ said. “He’s loyal as hell, especially to Momma. I think he’s always been half in love with her. He didn’t want her getting hurt.”

It had been early morning when Felix called Russ, who raced to the ranch to examine the scene. “At first, I didn’t notice the rabbit mask. I was afraid Lowell might’ve snapped and done it. I called him out to the pond. I wanted to look him in the eye when I asked him.”

“And?”

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