Page 113 of Proof of Guilt

“Soon,” Ivy assured him, and Jodi took him back into the office and shut the door.

But not before August had gotten a glimpse of her son.

Just as Theo and everyone else had done, August saw the resemblance, and he smiled. He moved as if he might go to Nathan, but both Theo and she stepped in front of him.

“So, I guess things weren’t as over between you two as you thought,” August said. “Are you two back together?”

“No,” Theo and she said in unison. It was Theo who continued. “I came back because I got a warning about an attack at the Beckett Ranch. Ivy could be the target.” He leaned in closer. “But if she’s the target, then her son is in danger, too.”

“Your son,” August corrected.

Theo didn’t confirm that. Didn’t deny it, either. “If Travis really doesn’t want Jodi and me hurt, then how do you think he would feel about someone harming that little boy?”

Travis’s grandson. Theo didn’t spell that out, but August clearly understood what Theo was saying. And his eyes narrowed again.

“What will it take to convince Jodi and you that I’m not behind the attacks?” August asked.

“Proof,” Theo said. “Proof of who’s doing this. And if it’s not you, then I’ll owe you an apology. For now, though, you have some questions to answer.”

“Questions that I’ll be asking in the interview room,” Gabriel stated, and he motioned for August to follow him.

Thank goodness Jodi had shut the door so that August couldn’t get another glimpse of Nathan. It wasn’t pettiness on her part. Ivy just didn’t want her son to be exposed to his great-uncle until she was certain August was indeed innocent.

Theo looked at her. The kind of look that asked if she was okay. She wasn’t. Her nerves were right there at the surface, and Theo must have seen that, because he muttered some profanity under his breath.

“Why don’t we go ahead and take Ivy, Nathan and Jodi to the safe house,” Jameson suggested. As they’d done in the house, he kept his voice at a whisper.

“It’s ready?” Ivy asked.

Jameson nodded. “Just don’t expect too much. I didn’t have a lot of time to put it together.”

Ivy was about to say she didn’t care about that, but then it hit her. “What if Nathan gets hurt because of me?” she asked. “The gunman said I was the target.”

“And he could have been lying,” Theo pointed out just as quickly. He huffed. “I’d rather Nathan and you not be under the same roof as our suspects.”

He had a point. Of course, the real culprit could be out there, waiting for them to leave so he or she could attack again. Maybe it was someone who wasn’t even on their radar. Her parents’ murders had drawn a lot of press, and it was entirely possible this was a sicko who’d glommed on to them. A sicko who was not only sending threatening emails and letters, but a person who could also hire thugs to kill them.

“I’ll pull the cruiser up to the back door,” Jameson offered. “Once I have all of you settled, then I can come back here and help Gabriel with the interrogations.”

Jameson headed off to do that, but before he made it into the hall, his phone buzzed. “SAPD,” her brother said, looking at the screen.

He took the call but didn’t put it on speaker. Since this could be an update on the case, Ivy decided to wait to go in and tell Jodi and Nathan about plans to leave for the safe house. She couldn’t hear Jameson’s conversation, but whatever the caller had said to him, it caused Jameson’s forehead to bunch up.

“What?” Jameson snapped a moment later. He paused, listening. “You’re sure?”

Ivy glanced at Theo to see if he knew what was going on, but he only shook his head.

“Birch McKenzie’s dead,” Jameson said when he finally ended the call. “Murdered. A gunshot wound to the head.”

Ivy hadn’t known the man, of course, but he’d been the link between the gunmen and the person who’d hired them. A link, too, to August.

“Who killed him?” Theo asked.

“SAPD doesn’t know. They went out to question him about his possible involvement in this, and they found him dead. The cops also found his phone, and they glanced through his recent calls. The last call he made was to one of our suspects.”

“August,” Ivy muttered.

But Jameson shook his head. “No, McKenzie called Lacey.”

---