“So other than sitting with my brother so they don’t have a chance to kill him, what’s our plan?” asked Cole.
“You should go back to Koyama'. There’s no need for anyone else to be there. You won’t be allowed to be with your brother.”
Cole laughed out loud until Kennedy gave him a withering stare. “Oh, you weren’t joking? Because I thought you were. Let me be clear. There’s no fucking way I’m going anywhere without you. The only, and I do mean only, people I’d trust your safety with are all related to me and the one sitting in jail doesn’t count.”
“They’re not going to murder both of us while Clay sits in custody.”
“Why not? Seriously. If you believe, as the rest of us do, that Clay isn’t safe in the sheriff’s custody, what makes you think your presence, by itself, would stop something from happening?”
Kennedy started to say something but stopped, rubbing her chin. “I don’t want to believe the sheriff’s department is complicit in whatever’s going on, but I think I might feel better if you were there,” she confessed.
He reached over and placed his hand on hers in her lap. “I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”
“I doubt very much they’re going to let you bring a gun into the sheriff’s office.”
Cole flashed her a knowing smile. “Not to worry. I have all kinds of ways of protecting you that have nothing to do with guns.”
Kennedy stared at him for the longest moment and something in her seemed to settle. “I believe that. Cole, what do you think is going on?”
“I can’t be sure, but I might agree with the sheriff that the death of Lorna’s father is connected to Cyrus’s death. And I definitely think the old bastard’s death is linked to my mother’s.”
“But it’s a small town. I can’t imagine two murders in the short span of time between Cyrus’s and Lorna’s father not being linked. I find it easier to believe they were connected rather than your mother’s and father’s.”
“That’s because you’re a city girl. Revenge runs deep out here on the open range.”
“If that’s what everyone believes, it makes all four of you the best suspects since it isn’t any secret that you all believed Cyrus had something to do with her death.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine living under the same roof with the man you thought killed your mother. Are they buried in a family plot?”
Cole laughed. “You mean together? Oh hell no. Cyrus is buried here in town in a very lonesome grave. I don’t know one person who will ever visit it. As for my mother, Cyrus tried to bury her in a coffin in a tomb in a mausoleum. He thought he’d impress everyone by how beautiful and elegant it was. She would have hated it. So, the day they put her in the ground, Clay and Trey dug her up.”
“Are you kidding me?” Kennedy said, laughing.
“Nope. They took her up to her favorite spot by the old homestead and laid her to rest out there.” He smiled, proud of his brother and future sister-in-law all over again.
“Oh, that’s right, Serena mentioned something about Clay proposing to her up there.”
By the time they reached the sheriff’s office, Clay had been booked.
“I’d like to speak with my client,” Kennedy informed the sheriff.
“I told you not until morning,” came the snarly reply.
“Cole? Do you think you can get hold of the judge or prosecuting attorney so they can tell this jackass that he can’t keep me from seeing my client?”
“Not a problem,” Cole said, dialing the judge.
After explaining the issue, the judge asked to speak to the sheriff. They couldn’t hear what the judge said, but it seemed to do the trick because they got to enjoy watching the Sheriff turn a peculiar shade of pale. When the judge was through with the sheriff, the latter handed the phone to Cole and escorted Kennedy to see Clay.
“Thanks, Judge Simpson,” said Cole. “I appreciate your help. Might I remind you that you had ruled Kennedy had until close of business today to get Clay to turn himself in? When the sheriff showed up, Clay was already planning to do so and allowed the sheriff to arrest him at Koyama' to keep him from trying to muddy the waters further by arresting Serena, who, by the way, is working as Ms. Greyson’s paralegal.”
The call ended with the judge telling Cole he would get in touch with the prosecuting attorney, and that both of them would be in the sheriff’s office in the morning.
When the sheriff returned, he said to Cole. “That’s going to cost you, Waverly. From here on out the kid gloves are off.”
Cole smiled a cold, feral smile as he leaned into the counter separating him from the man he’d known for decades. “Kid gloves? You’ve been trying to pin this on my brother since it happened. And if you actually believe that Clay is guilty, you’re too stupid to live.”
The sheriff jumped to his feet. “Are you threatening me?”
“No. Simply stating a fact. That’s my kid brother in there with my bonded spirit. If anything, and I do mean anything, happens to either of them, I will personally rain hellfire down on you and everything you hold dear. I might just start asking about how Lorna’s father was killed by a female rattlesnake and wondering where your wife might have been at the time of his death.”
Cole didn’t believe for one moment the sheriff’s wife had anything to do with Joseph Merrick, Sr.’s death, but it wouldn’t stop him from casting suspicion her way.
“You leave my wife out of this,” growled the sheriff and the “s” on the end of the last word had a decidedly snake-like lisp to it.
“As long as you play it straight with my family, I’ll leave yours alone.”
The night was long, and Cole alleviated the boredom by baiting the sheriff. Normally, that wasn’t good sport, as the sheriff was an easy target, but it gave him something to do. Shortly after the office opened to the public, Serena strolled in with the aroma of cinnamon rolls preceding her.
The sheriff was persuaded to take her back to the interview room when Serena offered him some for himself.
“I’m surprised you’re letting Serena join us,” said Kennedy as Serena entered.
“I told him that if I could see Clay, I’d let him have some cinnamon rolls,” Serena said without an ounce of sarcasm.
Clay laughed. It was good to see his spirits were up.
“That’s not what I said, but I do appreciate you letting my deputies and I have some.”
Kennedy grinned. “Don’t worry, Sheriff. I won’t add bribery to the list of charges I’m going to want you brought up on. I’ve heard Serena’s cinnamon rolls never make it through the breakfast rush.”
Cole pushed past the Sheriff into the interview room, nabbing two cinnamon rolls and silencing Kennedy’s rebuke by shoving a cinnamon roll in her mouth before taking a bite out of the other one.
“The judge has been called,” said Cole, before taking another bite. “He said that since everybody was already here, he’d just join us. Arguably, that might have had something to do with knowing Serena brought cinnamon rolls.”
Kennedy laughed. “Jurisprudence in a small town. I was about to make some scathing big city-lawyer type remark, then I tasted these. Oh my God, they’re delicious. Screw becoming a paralegal again. Let’s you and I open a bakery. Nothing but cinnamon rolls. We’ll make a fortune.”
Serena grinned. “I’m only doing this one paralegal gig for you as long as you’re in town. Once you leave, it’s back to full time at the diner. Eventually, I think Wes will let me buy it.”
Judge Simpson arrived and the sheriff allowed Serena to stay with Clay while Kennedy and Cole spoke with the judge. Kennedy laughed when Cole bolted back to the interview room stating, “Forgot the cinnamon rolls.”
“Just what the hell did you think you were doing?” asked the judge.
Thinking he was talking to her, Kennedy started to speak, but stopped when Cole placed his hand on her arm.
“Well?” growled the judge. “Explain yourself, Langley.”
“Who me?” the sheriff fumbled. Obviously, this wasn’t going the way he’d thought it would.
“Do you see any other idiot in the room?” said the judge before taking a bite of the heavenly baked goods. “Damn, these are good. I don’t always get up to the diner to nab one before court.” He wiped some crumbs from his face and looked back at the sheriff. “Well, Langley? I asked you a question. Never mind. Ms. Greyson...”
“Kennedy, please, your honor.”
The judge nodded. “Very well. Kennedy had a deal with the prosecutor and me. She had until the close of business today to get Clay to turn himself in.”
“He only stepped up because I was going to arrest Ms. Clarke.”
“For what? Doesn’t matter. She’s the paralegal for Kennedy here which means any contact she had with the client could be considered within the scope of her work. Besides, it was a shitty thing to try to do. You jumped the gun, Russ.”
“He also tried to serve and enforce a search warrant before it was valid,” said Kennedy, smiling graciously.
“What the hell has gotten into you, Russ?” asked the judge. “You’ve had a hard-on—excuse my French, Kennedy—for arresting Clay since Cyrus was found dead.”
“He had motive, means, and opportunity,” said the sheriff.
“Anybody who ever met the old bastard—no offense Cole...”
“None taken,” quipped Cole, who really seemed to be enjoying himself.
“As I said, anybody who ever met Cyrus had motive. He was a mean, sneaky sonofabitch who never did anything nice for anybody unless it profited him more. As for means, I doubt many long-time residents don’t have an antique pistol. And opportunity? I don’t have an alibi for that timeframe. Want to arrest me?”
Kennedy sat back, leaning against the desk next to Cole. More and more, the idea of practicing law in a small town was gaining in appeal.
“Cole, raise your right hand,” said the judge and Cole complied. “I’m swearing you in as a witness. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Was your brother going to turn himself in?”
“I hadn’t had a chance to ask him, but he did surrender himself to the sheriff, and I believe he would have come into town to do so if he’d been given a chance.”
Before Kennedy could say anything, the judge continued. “I do, too. Therefore, it is my ruling that Clay be fitted with one of those ankle monitors.”
“We don’t have any,” admitted the sheriff.
“Shit. In that case, as Kennedy is staying out at Koyama', I hereby place the accused in her custody as an officer of the court on a half million in bail. Agreed?” Kennedy nodded. “Good,” he said pounding his fist on the desk. “It is so ordered.”
The judge pilfered another cinnamon roll, turned, and left the office without another word.
“Do you have fifty thousand in cash for the bail bondsman?”
Cole glanced at his watch. “The bank’s open. I can get the whole half million. You want that in cash or will a certified check or electronic transfer work for you?” he asked the sheriff.
Kennedy was surprised. “You have a half million just sitting around?”
“It was supposed to go to River Run for the purchase of a bull, but Cash and the owner have become an item, so if it’s a few days late, it won’t be an issue.”
The bank facilitated an electronic transfer of the bail from the Koyama' account to the sheriff’s office. Once that was done, Cole left her to fill out the paperwork while he went to retrieve Clay and Serena.
Cole walked down the hall, then opened the door into the interview room. He grinned; it would seem his kid brother had found something a lot more enjoyable than cinnamon rolls to indulge in.
“I thought you might take advantage to enjoy a far tastier treat than those cinnamon rolls,” said Cole.
“You didn’t leave any for us to enjoy,” accused Clay with a laugh.
“And if you’d have preferred them to the pleasure to be had with your mate, you’re no brother of mine. I’ll have your bail revoked immediately.”
Serena wriggled out of Clay’s embrace and walked past Cole, trailing her finger across his chest. Smiling back at her mate, she said to Cole, “No worries there. He’s all Waverly.”
Cole laughed out loud, watching her sashay down the hallway. “Good to know,” he called after her before turning back to his brother. “You do know you’re going to have trouble with her.”
“Yes. The very best kind. You could have the same with Kennedy,” Clay said and shrugged.
Cole clapped his brother’s shoulder. “What makes you think I’m not?”
“Seriously? Well, if my claiming Serena is the best news you’ve had in a while, you no longer denying that Kennedy is your mate is the best I’ve had.”
“Kennedy just got you out of jail on bail. You’re on house arrest, but at least you’ll be out at Koyama'. And little brother? Don’t do anything stupid. The judge put you in Kennedy’s custody. That means he’ll hold her responsible if anything goes wrong with this arrangement.”
The two brothers joined their women, got in the SUV, and headed back to Koyama'.
“You didn’t make any friends in there,” said Kennedy to Cole.
“Do I look like I care?” he quipped.
Sheriff Russell Langley was concerned. This whole thing seemed to be coming unraveled. Once the Waverlys and their women were out of the office, he grabbed the burner cell from his desk.
“What part of burner do you not understand?” asked the voice on the other end of the phone.
“What do you mean?”
“You use a burner one time and dispose of it. What the hell do you want?”
“This whole thing is degenerating into a huge mess.”
“I have it under control,” said the voice.
“Do you, Joseph? I wonder if you do.” There was a pause on the other end. “What? I wasn’t supposed to figure out it was you? And how dare you frame my wife.”
“The snakebite? Your wife isn’t a timber rattler. That cranky old bastard you have for a medical examiner should be able to tell what kind of snake it was from the venom that was used. Besides, I’ve used Angelica before. She’s good. Trust me, there are no clues.”
“Is she the one who killed Cyrus? Because she left plenty of clues...”
“Yes, but ones we wanted her to leave. We needed to implicate one of the sons and be able to link all of them to a conspiracy charge. Russ, you need to calm down. This is all going according to plan. My father is out of the way and the Waverlys are implicated in Cyrus’s death, which should take them out of contention to inherit, leaving my sister to get the whole shebang.”
“What makes you think she’ll go along?”
“Because she’ll do what I tell her. If she thinks our sire had a mean streak, baby sister is about to find out how wrong she is. I already have several of my men and a couple of others outside our claw who want to take her to their bed. She’ll stay in line if she knows what’s good for her.”
“Do you even know where she is? Because I’ve heard that she hasn’t been at Koyama' in almost a week, and as far as I know, the only person to see your brother is Cade and that was almost as long ago.”
Joseph ended the call and immediately initiated another to the head of the Flying Aces ranch.
“Bruce? It’s Joseph. We may have a problem in Idaho. My sister and idiot brother are missing, and the sheriff is starting to sound a little unhinged.”