Page 22 of Gage
Gage nodded and pulled out his phone, typing rapidly on the screen. “I’ll need the name of his psychiatrist.”
“Dr. Joanna O’Dell. Her office is in University Park.” He quickly made the note on his phone and put it back in his pocket.
“One last thing. On the morning of Steven’s death, you woke up when the maid screamed, right?” At her slow nod, he continued. “Do you remember how you felt? Other than the shock. Were you lightheaded, woozy, disoriented? Anything that might indicate you’d been given any kind of sedative or drug?”
She opened and closed her mouth several times, bombarded with memories of that morning. Remembering her dry throat, the groggy feeling, the disorientation that seemed to linger. Everything had seemed to move in slow motion. It had taken her several prolonged seconds to realize her hands and arms were covered with Steven’s blood. That wasn’t normal, and she’d always wondered why the whole scenario had felt odd, muffled and she’d been befuddled.
“I…yes…I was groggy when I woke up, and disoriented. I couldn’t remember where I was or what I was doing in Steven’s room. I remember having a dry mouth and throat, my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Are you—do you think—was I drugged?”
“I think it’s a strong possibility. I found it unusual that you could sleep through the person beside you being stabbed repeatedly and you didn’t wake up. The maid’s statement will tell me a lot, but if you were drugged it could explain a lot. I also need to talk with the medical examiner’s office and see what drugs they checked for on the tox screen. I have a lot of questions and no answers. If you were drugged, was Steven drugged too? I want to talk to the medical examiner that did the autopsy. See if they noticed any defensive wounds on your husband. He would have fought back if he was attacked—unless he was drugged too.”
“You think Donald or Elizabeth drugged the wine? But why? They don’t have a reason to kill Steven.”
Gage grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “That you know of. Right now in my book everybody is a suspect. I know it’s alongshot, but do you still have the bottle of wine from that night?”
She shook her head. “I doubt it. The bottle was empty, so it would have gone in the recycling bin and emptied the next time the truck was due.” Dragging in a ragged breath, she asked, “You really think somebody drugged us?”
“It would explain a lot. It would keep you knocked out while your husband was killed. It would keep him from fighting back. Even if you’d been in your own room, you wouldn’t have heard anything, seen anything. But it would have been smart to give you both something, that way there’s no chance of a witness.”
“It seems so calculated and cold.”
“Premeditated murder is cold. It’s unemotional and heartless and usually well thought out. Otherwise, mistakes are made.”
“I could understand it if Steven had walked in on somebody robbing us and been killed, or he was shot by an intruder. But this? For someone to deliberately drug us and walk into our home and stab him over and over? That doesn’t seem random, it seems—personal.”
“Exactly. Now it’s my job to figure out who had a reason to want your husband dead and you out of the picture. You make the perfect scapegoat, the younger wife looking to be free of an intolerable marriage. Killing your husband is the easy way out.”
“But…” She realized Gage was right. She was the perfect patsy.
“I’m going to Dallas and meet with Detective Jansen, and then I’m going to talk to the medical examiner. Ranger will be here, if you need anything—”
“I’m going with you.”
“No. You’re staying here where it’s safe and nobody knows where you are.”
She stood and bunched her fists on her hips, ready to go toe-to-toe with him if she needed to. This was her life on the line,and she wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines while other people decided what was going to happen to her.
“I’m going. If you try to stop me, I’ll simply follow you.”
“Jansen probably won’t talk to me if you’re there.”
“Blah. That man will spill more information if I am there. He always thinks he’s got the upper hand when he’s talking to me. Thinks I’m the dumb gold-digger blonde who got her hooks into a rich sugar daddy and that I don’t have a brain in my head. He tends to spit and sputter and talk down to me. All you’ll have to do is stand by and catch the clues I’m sure he’ll toss out.”
Gage tossed his head back as though looking for divine intervention before finally shaking a finger at her. “Fine. But you’ll follow my rules and do everything I tell you. And Bas is coming with us, to keep an eye on you, because we still don’t know who tried to kidnap you in New Orleans. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” She gave him a saucy salute and hid her grin. Getting under his skin might be fun. And it would take her mind off the fact she could end up arrested if Jansen had his way.
“Grab you stuff and let’s go.”
CHAPTER TEN
It was afterthree by the time they hit Dallas and pulled into the parking area for the police department handling Steven Dawkins’ case. The mood in the car on the longish drive had been somber and mostly quiet. Gage found himself thinking about the answers Suzanna had given him before they’d left the Boudreau ranch. His gut told him both she and her husband had been drugged, though he wasn’t sure with what and how they’d gotten it into their systems. The most likely possibility was the wine brought by the Blackthorns, but according to Suzanna, they drank from the same bottle.
His gut still told him Sandoval had a hand in this, but that was an avenue he’d yet to explore. He and Sandoval had history, which made things trickier. If Gustavo Sandoval got wind Gage was snooping around his business, things might get ugly. A huge grin crossed his face at the thought. Tangling with Sandoval again wouldn’t hurt his feelings, in fact he relished the thought.
“Why are you smiling, dude? You know something we don’t?” Bas leaned forward, his hands locked around the back of Suzanna’s seat. She turned toward him, waiting for his answer.
“Just looking forward to talking to Jansen. I really hope he doesn’t give us a hard time, because I’m in the mood to do a little damage.” Gage looked over at Suzanna. “Remember what you promised. You let me do the talking.” Gage almost laughed at her eye roll. “Do that again and they’ll stick that way.”
