Page 30 of Tessa's Trust

“I know. That’s from when the shooter tried to take out Nick in Timber City. I hit the ground pretty hard.” Truth be told, despite Nick tackling me and then our car accident the night before, I was feeling all right. My body was a little sore, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

I took a seat. “Do you have any news on the Rudy Brando murder?”

“Nope,” the sheriff said cheerfully, or as cheerful as Franco ever got. He reached for a croissant and shoved half of it into his mouth, peering behind me as if to make sure neither of his deputies knew there were snacks close by.

“So far, all I got on Rudy is that he was an insurance salesman from Denver with three ex-wives who want nothing to do with him. He found out about the long deceased George Brando being his father six months ago and apparently started contacting all the members of the Brando family he could find.”

“Does he have any sort of record?” I wished I’d kept one of the croissants.

The sheriff eyed me shrewdly and then nudged the plate closer. “You can have one. You brought them.”

“Thanks.” I took one of the crumbly treats and tore off a piece.

“No record that I could find so far, but I have to say, the three ex-wives hated his guts. Said the guy hid money and lied in their divorces. One of the women claimed he cleaned her out since she hadn’t made him sign a prenup.”

I winced. “Is there any chance any of them have been to Idaho?”

“Not that they’ve said. I have a couple of buddies in Denver and asked them to discreetly investigate the three ex-wives—more specifically to trace their movements over the last week. My friends are all retired law enforcement and excited about the project.”

It didn’t surprise me that the sheriff had friends everywhere. He was that kind of guy, and he’d always reminded me of Sam Elliott. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with Sam Elliott? “Have you had any luck finding Sadie or Jonathan?” I held my breath as I awaited the answer.

“Not yet. I had acquaintances checking with the airlines, and they didn’t fly anywhere. And so far, none of her neighbors know anything. I’ve contacted his colleagues and friends over in Montana, and all they know is that he was coming to spend the holidays with his sister. It’s really quite the mystery. I hate murders in this town. We get one every few years, and it just irritates the crap out of me.”

I nodded. “No kidding. For the record, I really had no idea about the quitclaim deed from Sadie to Rudy, and I don’t think it’s authentic.”

“I sent it to the tech lab in Boise, along with samples of Sadie’s writing that we found in her cottage. Guess we have some new handwriting analysis expert. I swear, everyone is moving to Idaho from the big cities.” The sheriff took another croissant.

That was true, and hopefully, it would make my new restaurant successful. “I hope the deed was fake,” I said fervently.

“They’ll be able to tell us if she signed it or not. Sadie was a trustworthy gal, except for all the gambling, so my gut instinct is with you, Tessa. If it turns out it’s valid, then he owned the place,” the sheriff said. “But let’s not borrow trouble. We’ll figure it out when we know.”

I rubbed the bruise on my aching jaw and took another bite of the delicious croissant. I was a decent cook and a pretty good baker, but I still wasn’t up to my mother’s level. Like my younger sister, I loved to bake. Donna, on the other hand, could burn water and went through pots and pans like most people did water filters.

I cleared my throat and tried to think of a decent segue to my next question but came up empty. So, I just asked it outright. “Where are you on the Lenny Johnson murder?”

The sheriff scoffed. “Yeah, I heard about that clause in the contract you signed.”

Of course, he had. There were no secrets in Silverville. “You’ll help me out?”

“No.” The sheriff leaned back in his chair. “I don’t want you snooping around and getting into more trouble. I have enough to deal with when your sister does it.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. I should be able to get into as much trouble as Anna does,” I protested, finishing off my croissant.

The sheriff looked at me for a while. “You know that’s true. She does take up a lot of the oxygen in the family, doesn’t she?”

I sat back, surprised and oddly warmed that somebody actually saw me. “No, Anna is a sweetheart. She’s smart, she works hard, and she’d do anything for, well…anybody,” I admitted.

He steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “Yeah, but she’s often everyone’s focus, and I get it. Being kidnapped as a kid and going through that ordeal definitely made us all protective of her.”

I nodded. It had been a rough three hours. Although her kidnapper hadn’t had time to truly hurt her, the ordeal had been terrifying. And then Aiden, as a sixteen-year-old, had rushed in and rescued her before anything truly bad could happen. Even so, we all shielded her as much as possible, even though she didn’t want it. Plus, she was the baby in the family, so it was probably normal.

“So you’re going to let me help with this?” I asked hopefully, changing my angle with him.

The sheriff shook his head. “No, but I will tell you what I have because it ain’t much.”

Hey, it was a start.

“As you know, Lenny Johnson was a vagabond who just did odd jobs in town for the last thirty years. He had a drinking problem, and it tortured him,” the sheriff said.

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