Page 82 of A Mile of Ocean

“No, she wasn’t. However, those two videos you gave to Brent will sway any judge regarding her guilt in the matter. That being said, retrieving the funds she transferred from the business accounts back to the ranch will still take some time. I won’t lie; it could take months for this to reach a court date.”

“What if we had the information to retrieve the money ourselves from the overseas accounts?” Trent proposed.

“I’m sorry,” Kinsey began, “but I didn’t hear the question.”

Trent repeated it.

“No, I mean you never brought that up to me during this meeting,” Kinsey stated emphatically. “I cannot advise you on that particular matter. But if somehow you gained access to the money, so much the better. You’d have operating capital. If thatdoesn’t happen, you could go to Nick at the bank for a bridge loan for operating expenses. I would be more than happy to write up a legal opinion for Nick to put in the file justifying the loan.”

Trent and Tate exchanged knowing smiles.

“So we’ll be okay, one way or another? Is there anything else we should expect in the coming months?” Tate asked.

“Keep your calendar free. Avoid taking any long vacations. Because this could either move like a glacier or like a flash flood, depending on which judge we get.”

After the meetingwith Kinsey, they decided to head to the police station and talk to Brent. They found him in his office going through a stack of paperwork.

“What can I do for you?” Brent asked.

“We hear that Chester is cooperating,” Tate started. “We wanted to know if he said anything that might help us in court with the judge to get some of our money back belonging to the ranch.”

Brent let out a sigh. “Chester has said a lot of things about a lot of topics. I think you have a solid case to get your money back. If the ranch can hold out until we get his sworn statements to a judge, I think you and the ranch will be fine.”

“Is he putting everything in a sworn statement?”

“Let’s put it this way, he’s keeping all of us busy. And his boot impressions match what we found at the ranch. He admits to making the pipe bombs using what he found online.”

“Okay, then, I guess we should share that with Kinsey,” Trent extolled.

“She’ll want to get it before the judge as soon as we get her a notarized copy of his statement. But we aren’t rushing him as long as he continues to talk. He continues to offer valuableinsight into your grandmother’s past, specifically two murders that occurred when she was much younger back in Green River that are of interest to the local authorities.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Tate agreed. “I’ve always heard the old saying that justice moves slowly.”

“I hope you’re that understanding when it comes to the murder of your parents. I’m not sure how to approach this with you. Eastlyn and I talked it over. She was all about leveling with you. Keep in mind that there’s nothing concrete to back this up. Yet.”

Trent exchanged looks with Tate. “What is it?”

“Colt and Theo have been delving into the police report about the accident your parents had twenty-two years ago. All they have to go on is what’s written in the case file.”

“And?”

“You understand that your mother was driving. A rifle shot hit their right front tire on the truck, causing Linley Callum to lose control and veer off the bridge into the lagoon. From the start, the investigators knew it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill accident.”

Brent leaned forward to continue. “Two weeks after the incident, the sheriff’s investigator wrote up a theory because he’d had an accident investigation team recreate what happened. From his report, the bullet entered the outside sidewall and exited through to the inside, taking a large chunk of the tire with it. The tire disintegrated, causing the tire to deflate in seventeen seconds or less, which in turn caused the driver to lose control. When your mother went over the side of the bridge, the truck flipped, ending up upside down in the water. The investigator was able to save a piece of sidewall where the bullet had entered. Your mother literally had no time to react, as the rim would’ve hit the ground in less than one and a half seconds. It all happened in an instant.”

“They have more information than I was led to believe,” Trent said.

Brent nodded. “Colt and Theo concur with that investigation team that the bullet came from a .30-30 rifle.”

Realization dawned on Trent. “Are you saying that Duchess could’ve been the person who fired that shot, killing our parents?”

“It’s possible, especially if she knew which direction they’d be traveling. All she had to do was pick a spot at the bridge and wait in the rain to spot Travis’s pickup. Maybe she thought no one would question a truck that veered off the bridge in slippery weather. I don’t know.”

“Why on earth would she do that?” Tate implored.

“Wait a minute,” Trent muttered. “Maybe our dad discovered her secret about the Triple C back then and threatened to tell Granddad.”

“That conniving witch!” Tate exclaimed. “No wonder she didn’t want Granddad bringing it up.”

---