Page 40 of Lone Star Rescue

“No.” Again, Wade’s response was quick and adamant. “If Tessa had found out something like that, she would have come straight to me.”

“What’s your theory about the jacket then?” Rafe asked.

“I don’t know.” Wade groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. He then pulled out a bottle of Oban scotch from his desk, poured a triple shot into a cut crystal glass, and downed it. “Maybe Tessa and this Sandy Lynn crossed paths, and Sandy Lynn liked the jacket enough to have one made.”

Bree couldn’t dismiss that, especially since the two women were at the same university. Sandy Lynn wouldn’t have actually even had to see Tessa but maybe a photo of it.

But that didn’t explain how Sandy Lynn had ended up here.

“I know my dad went through Tessa’s laptop after she went missing,” Bree said. “And when he didn’t find anything, he gave it back to you. Did you keep it? The techs are much more computer savvy now than they were eighteen years ago, and they might be able to find some deleted emails or something.”

Wade was shaking his head again before she even finished. “As you know, I’ve kept most of Tessa’s things, and I’d put her laptop back on her desk after your dad returned it. Unfortunately, the window there had a bad leak, and the laptop and desk got soaked. I had to toss them out.”

That was too bad, but maybe Jericho could do for Tessa what he’d done for Sandy Lynn and access old social mediastuff. Eighteen years ago, a mention of a fellow classmate named Sandy Lynn wouldn’t have raised any alarms, but now it could be proof that the two had met.

And then what had happened?

Well, that was the question of the moment, and Bree could only speculate. She doubted it was a coincidence though that shortly after the second jacket had been made, Sandy Lynn had ended up dead and buried in it, and Tessa had disappeared.

“Wade, can you think of anyone who might have a deep grudge against you?” Rafe asked. “A grudge that would go back at least eighteen years?”

For a couple of moments, Wade just looked confused, and then the horror crept onto his face. “You think someone took or hurt Tessa to get back at me?”

“We have to cover all angles,” Rafe said, and Bree noted Wade hadn’t included Sandy Lynn in his comeback question. Perhaps because he hadn’t wrapped his mind around her also being his daughter.

“Hell, Rafe. I got a lot of people pissed off at me,” Wade admitted. “Nature of the beast. I’m a businessman, and sometimes, I make hard choices. You think one of those choices…” He trailed off and groaned.

“Why don’t you come up with a list of people who might want to get back at you?” Bree advised. “Keep it in the timeline we’re looking at. Around eighteen years ago.”

He nodded, eventually. “If you think it’ll help.”

She wasn’t sure it would, but Rafe was right. All angles had to be explored now that they knew Sandy Lynn was connected to Wade.

“What will happen?” Wade asked. “Will everyone have to know I fathered this girl?”

Bree wished she could give him a blanket assurance this would stay secret. She couldn’t. “We certainly won’t bespreading it around, but news of it will get out. This is a murder investigation, and a lot of people will be coming in contact with the info. And if we catch a killer and he or she goes to trial, it’ll certainly come out then.”

Wade nodded and went quiet again. “I’ll get to work on that list of those who might want to get back at me,” he muttered. “Maybe we can talk later, after…well, after I’ve had some time.”

Rafe and she stood, understanding that need for time. She just didn’t know for certain what Wade was going to have to process.

“You believe him?” Rafe asked her the moment they were outside. She’d been about to ask him the same thing.

“I want to believe him,” Bree said on a huff as they got back into the cruiser. “You?”

“Same. I want to, but Wade is a smart, resourceful man. Unless he had a lot of one-nighters, you’d think he would want to at least check the possibility he’d gotten Nancy Franklin pregnant.”

“True. But maybe he just wanted to forget about it. Pretend it hadn’t happened. After all, he stayed with his wife, and he likely wouldn’t have wanted her to know he cheated on her.”

“But?” Rafe prompted.

Bree would have definitely voiced some possible scenarios if her phone hadn’t rung. “It’s dispatch,” she said and answered it right away.

“Sheriff, you have a call from a Dr. Meyers. He says he wants to give you an update on his patient, Patricia McCray. Want me to put him through to you?”

“Absolutely,” Bree couldn’t say fast enough.

She started the cruiser so she could turn on the A/C, but she didn’t drive because Bree suspected this conversation would need her full attention.

---