Page 151 of Things Left Unsaid

I shrug. “What would I have said?”

“That you were being harassed?”

“And what would you have done?”

“Not a lot, but it’d be on the record.”

“Next time, I’ll know what to do.”

“She blackmailed you.”

“She needed the cash.”

“You paid the demand?”

“After she threatened my wife? Bet your ass I did.”

“You’re not joking, are you? Wait—I heard the McAllister girl was living with you, but you’re married?”

“It’s a recent thing,” I demur.

Terry gapes at me but he reverts to the topic at hand. “If we look into her financials, we’ll find a transaction from you.” He stops the recording. “What the hell were you thinking? It looks like you paid her off!”

I lean forward. “I have nothing to hide. No skeletons in my closet. My father, on the other hand, has plenty. His is the name she was repeating when she died. Look at him, not me.”

“This is probable cause!” Terry argues, spreading the letters over the table.

The words I didn’t need to hear.“Wasn’t it a car accident?”

“It could have been premeditated. If we throw in that little contretemps with Susanne too…”

“Lydia spit in her coffee!”

“Colton, people have been killed for less! You need to get yourself a lawyer.”

I study him. “Am I under arrest?”

“No. But only by the skin of your teeth and because I know you’re not a flight risk. What the hell were you thinking?” he repeats.

“I was thinking that she was threatening my wife.AndI was feeling bad.”

“About?”

“Getting her fired from The Coffee Shop,” I admit. “She was a bitch, but she didn’t deserve to be homeless.”

He sets the recording back on. “Where were you at twelve-thirty today?”

“Out on the range. East quadrant, by the Linnox place.”

“Would your new security system have picked up on your location?”

I’m going to have to discuss this with Callan. Damn. “Perhaps. I’ll check.”

“Can I come to the ranch and speak with your staff?”

“Of course.”

“Maybe someone saw you.”

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