Page 44 of Holding On to a Hero
Special Agent Bardo:Ma’am, I really need you to tell me where you were.
Montgomery:No. Unless you’re charging me with something I’m pleading the fifth.
Special Agent Bardo:You’re refusing to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate you in the crime?
Montgomery:No! I didn’t do it! I mean, I just don’t want to say who I was with. It’s private. If you charge me with something then I’ll have to tell you, but my lawyer will be involved.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Will
The next morning Ally went to work, and I only had my own thoughts to keep me company. I thought a lot about how I didn’t have anyone to call to tell them I was in the hospital. I’d mostly kept to myself since I’d moved back to Austin. Wildlife photography was a solo pursuit, and I wasn’t much for going out to bars or clubs except for the occasional hookup. Ally and Abigail had been my only social outlet until Cole and Jason.
And now look where I was. Alone again for who knew how long. Until Cole was out of the coma? Until the shooter was caught? How would they feel about me after all that time? Fuck.
A respite from my downward spiral – note to self, call your therapist ASAP – came in the form of a visit from the police. And a Texas Ranger.
The two Bent Oak Police detectives were like an opposites duo chosen for a movie or TV show solely because of how they looked together. Detective Artie Callahan was tall, pale-skinned under his freckles and had red hair. Detective Carlos Ochoa was shorter, Hispanic and darkly good-looking.
The Texas Ranger, on the other hand, was unexpected in many ways. Ranger Penelope Ramirez (“just call me Ramirez”) was blond despite her Hispanic surname, almost as tall as Callahan, and held herself like a soldier.
Ochoa told me, “Due to the high-profile nature of this incident, the Texas Rangers are assisting us with the investigation.” He looked completely neutral about this information.
They had me go through the events of yesterday morning as I had experienced them. Ramirez was particularly interested in my conversation with the deputy when I’d tried to enlist the Sheriff’s department’s help.
“Hmm. We will definitely follow up on that.” One corner of her mouth lifted. “It’s possible Deputy Franks was in league with the shooter. We’ll have to go through his life with a fine-toothed comb.”
Ochoa and Callahan looked at her with sudden appreciation, then turned to each other and grinned.
I laughed for the first time that day. “That sounds completely viable to me.”
Callahan said, “Mr. Graham—”
“Please, call me Will.”
“Okay, Will. Your sister provided us with your camera and we found your laptop in your truck. We were able to see the photos of Mr. Washburn and the bullet holes from the memory card that was in the camera. We’d like to access your laptop and take a look at any other photos you have from the ranch or the wildlife preserve.”
“Of course.” I gave them the password to my laptop and then I told them how to log into my cloud storage drive to see all of the unedited photos.
“They’re mostly sorted by date taken. I’ve been to different parts of that wildlife preserve starting last year, but I didn’t find the beaver den until about two months ago.”
“And is that when you met Cole Washburn?” Callahan’s voice was as casual as could be. I wished I wasn’t on pain medication for this. I was fighting sleep and having trouble focusing.
“Yes. I didn’t know who lived at the ranch but I wanted to see if they knew anything about the beavers and how long they’d been there. So I went over and knocked on the door.” I snorted. “Cole took one look at me with my camera and decided I was a paparazzo. He ran me off the property.”
“But you became friendly?”
“Yes.” Oh, shit. What was I supposed to tell them about Cole being gay? “I met Jason a few weeks ago and I guess he told Cole I wasn’t a paparazzo. So then when Cole was out jogging one day and, uh, ran into me, he was really nice.”
“And you’ve been to the ranch house?”
Maybe if I closed my eyes I’d fall asleep and they’d leave. “Will? Mr. Graham.” Shit, I wasn’t a good enough actor.
“Yes, they invited me over a few times for coffee or lunch. I came out to take photos last weekend when they took in some sheep that Animal Control had rescued. Uh, and I had dinner there a couple of nights ago.”
“That would be the night before last? Before you were shot yesterday morning?”
“Yes. Right.”
