The Johnson Ranch was located about fifteen minutes outside of town, which probably made it a sensible choice for an alternative location for the chili cook-off, but Luna had a hard time seeing old man Johnson loving the idea of strangers tromping around on his property.
From her dealings with the old man, he wasn’t exactly a people person. Luna didn’t know his son very well. Scott Johnson hadn’t grown up in Cottonwood but had returned to his father’s ranch after college, bringing big-city ideas to the small town with various levels of success.
Small towns were notoriously closed-minded to progress, often eyeing change with suspicion, contributing to towns slowly withering away to nothing.
Cottonwood wasn’t immune to the small-town curse.
Any time the town council talked about a new business venture, new agriculture, new development, it didn’t matter—anything new and different—people got all up in a lather, protesting, going off half-cocked about “preserving the Cottonwood way of life” and grumbling about how city folk and outsiders were ruining everything good about the town.
Frankly, a little freshening up would be nice. Charlotte was right; the Johnson Ranch was beautiful, and the fairgrounds were a potential health-code violation that should’ve been demolished years ago and rebuilt, but there weren’t the funds to make it happen.
Luna pulled up to the front and parked. The Johnson Ranch was a moderately sized working cattle ranch, and about this time of year, the ranch hands moved cattle from pasture to pasture to keep the cattle from overgrazing the land.
She’d called ahead to let Scott know she was coming, and he met her outside with an inviting smile that showcased nice, even white teeth and a sharp jawline that could cut paper.
“Thanks for being willing to talk on such short notice,” Luna said, following him into his office inside the ranch house.
“Anything to help,” he said, sliding into his chair opposite the massive desk. “We are devastated by the news. My God, who could do such a thing to such a wonderful family?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Luna assured Scott. Scott’s spicy aftershave smelled expensive and made her nose twitch. Unfortunately, there was no way to finesse what she had to ask, so Luna went straight to the point. “There’s no easy way to say this, but I have to ask. Were you and Charlotte having an affair?”
Scott shook his head, but he wasn’t as offended as Luna thought he’d be. He leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Not going to lie, there was interest on my part, but Charlotte wouldn’t hear of it. She was loyal to Roger and I respect that. She was a good woman, and Roger was a lucky son of a bitch to have her.”
Luna was relieved. “Do you know why anyone would think that there was something going on between you?”
“I sure do,” he answered, surprising her. “I hate to say it but sometimes women can be catty creatures in the face of rejection.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, I’m not one to talk about personal stuff like this but given the circumstances, I feel there’s no room to hold back if it means protecting Charlotte’s character.” He drew a deep breath. “I was seeing someone but when Charlotte and I started working on the details of moving the chili cook-off to the ranch, I started having feelings that weren’t conducive to staying with the person I was dating. I thought a clean break was best.”
“But you said Charlotte wasn’t interested in dating you.”
“That’s true but that’s not saying that I didn’t want to keep trying my luck. I mean, we were working together a lot and I couldn’t help being drawn to her. To know Charlotte was to love her, am I right?”
“She was one of a kind,” Luna murmured in agreement but shifted against the “ick” from Scott’s comment. Obviously, recognizing consent wasn’t a huge concern in Scott’s life if he continued to press his luck with Charlotte even after she turned him down.
Scott must’ve realized he’d hit the wrong chord because he was quick to clarify. “In the end, I respected Charlotte’s wishes and backed off with no hard feelings but by that point I realized it’d never been a good fit between me and the other person. When I rebuffed her attempts at a reconciliation, she blamed Charlotte instead of putting the blame where it belonged, with me, and to be honest, that part bothered me more than the rejection. Charlotte didn’t deserve anything but the best. I’m not one to wax poetic about anyone but Charlotte was the kind of person who made even people like me want to start being a better person. That’s a rare individual.”
“What do you mean, ‘people like you?’”
His chagrined chuckle was telling as he admitted, “I’m not exactly known for my generous heart. I’ve always had a head for business and sometimes that’s taken precedence over people’s feelings when I’m dealing with situations. I’m trying to work on that aspect of myself but change comes slowly. Like I said, Charlotte made me want to be better and I’ll always be grateful to her for that.”
Luna accepted Scott’s answer, realizing it probably took a lot for him to be vulnerable, but she had to get the ex-girlfriend’s version of his story, too. No stone left unturned. “I’m going to need the name of your ex-girlfriend,” she said with an apologetic expression.
“Is that really necessary? That’s just likely to dredge up more bad blood and Charlotte doesn’t deserve anything that could possibly tarnish her memory. She was a damn good woman.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Luna promised. “But I have to corroborate your story.”
“Of course,” he said, understanding, but he wasn’t happy about it as he revealed the name. “Brianne Wilton.”
Luna vaguely remembered her—short, bleached blonde with a thing for bad boys. Last she heard, Brianne was dating the pool hall owner who got busted for running drugs through the business. Not precisely Scott Johnson’s persona. “You got a contact number?”
“Sure, but you’re going to have a hard time catching her. She’s a travel nurse and her schedule is erratic. It’s one of the reasons I realized it was never going to work between us. Maybe it’s selfish of me but I need someone who’s going to be around when I need them.”
Maybe it was selfish, or he was just self-aware enough to know what he was looking for and didn’t want to settle. Either way, it wasn’t her place to judge. After taking down Brianne’s contact information, she returned to Charlotte. “Seeing as you and Charlotte spent so much time together for the chili cook-off preparations, do you know of anything happening behind the scenes of the Leicki family that might’ve been cause for concern?”
Scott shook his head. “They seemed real happy. Since I’ve had a little time to reflect, I think I was a little jealous. Charlotte was a good wife and Roger seemed like a real nice guy. They had the kind of marriage we all secretly want—the ultimate partnership, the true ‘ride or die.’”
Luna looked up sharply, narrowing her gaze at his word choice.
Scott’s flush of embarrassment prompted a hasty correction. “What I mean to say is, they were a good team. Damn, sometimes my dad was right on the money when he said my foot was always a better fit in my mouth than my tongue. I’m sorry.”
Luna let the tension go in her shoulders. She couldn’t keep being this touchy when it came to Charlotte. Focus on the case. “You can’t think of any reason why someone might’ve broken into the house and killed the entire family?”
Scott’s expression crumpled into helpless distress for drawing a blank. “I wish I had the answers. Sometimes the luck of the draw is cruel. I can’t imagine a worse case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Best guess? Probably drug-related. If you ask me, drugs are ruining this country.”
“Drugs?”
“When you hear about crimes like this, it usually turns out to be addicts trying to fund their next fix. The Leickis were comfortable and their wealth wasn’t a secret. Sometimes people covet what they don’t have and find the easiest way to get it for themselves.”
An easy line to draw, except drug addicts usually grabbed the low-hanging fruit to pawn, and bypassing Charlotte’s fat diamond ring seemed a red flag in the face of that theory.
However, it wasn’t common knowledge that the perps left behind items typically taken in burglaries, and Luna wasn’t about to share that intel now.
She wanted to talk to Brianne and find out if her story matched Scott’s, even though it seemed highly unlikely Scott had anything to do with the Leicki murders.
No stone left unturned. Not even the smallest pebble.
“You stand to inherit quite a bit of money,” the attorney said as he pulled the paperwork free from the folder. “Your sister had a separate fund created for you, as well as the boys, but seeing as the boys are deceased, the entire estate reverts to you.”
Benjamin felt sick. He didn’t want the money. Maybe he could find a way to donate it to a charity that Charlotte championed. It didn’t seem right to enjoy one red cent of that money. Better to put it to good use elsewhere.
Curious, Benjamin asked, “Do you know what Roger did for a living?”
“Something in computers,” the attorney answered without looking up from the paperwork as he sorted the stacks that needed signatures. “The man did well for himself. Well enough to dabble in the stock and crypto market. Your brother-in-law had a head for business.”
That didn’t sit well with Benjamin. He may have had a head for turning a dollar, but he sure as hell didn’t consider that whatever he was doing was dangerous.
Sure, he didn’t have proof yet, but his gut was never wrong.
He counted on Luna to dig into Roger’s financials and find the real trail worth chasing—the money.
“I guess I went into the wrong career,” he said. “I never realized computer work was so lucrative.”
“You and me both,” the attorney chuckled, adding, “but Roger did pretty well for himself. In addition to the stocks and bonds, crypto and of course the ranch, the cash assets are substantial.”
“The money doesn’t mean anything to me,” he said. “I want whoever killed my family to pay for their crime.”
The attorney sobered quickly. “Yes, yes, of course,” he said, pushing the first sheaf of papers toward Benjamin. “I’ve marked each area that needs a signature.”
Benjamin grabbed the pen from the marble penholder and started to sign but paused as he followed that thought process, saying, “Are you under any legal obligation to make a report of some kind if you thought your client was dealing in illegal business transactions?”
The attorney stilled, his gaze narrowing. “May I ask where are you going with this?”
“Nowhere, just asking. I mean, you said it yourself, you never thought computer work was this lucrative and yet, Roger was pulling down some serious cash. Weren’t you worried that if he were involved with something shady that it could come back on you as his financial advisor and legal counsel?”
The attorney leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “Mr. Reeves, I can assure you if I thought there was any illegal activity going on, I wouldn’t sit on that concern. Mr. Leicki was an upstanding community member, a good father and husband. I had zero reason to question his character.”
“Have you never heard of the saying ‘Watch who you reveal your backstage face to’? Maybe you never saw the real Roger Leicki.”
“I assure you, that’s not the case,” the attorney returned, putting the subject to bed as he gestured to the paperwork. “Your signature, please.”
The sudden frost in the room was hard to miss. Benjamin had rubbed the man the wrong way, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t here to make friends. If he needed to ruffle feathers, he’d shake up the roost everywhere he went. Someone in this town knew what had happened to Charlotte and her family; the key was to press on the right people.
But maybe he shouldn’t go making enemies right away. He finished signing and offered an apology. “Hey, I’m sorry if I came on strong. It’s hard to know what to think, you know? I didn’t know Roger all that well and we didn’t really connect when I was around. I loved my sister and I’m trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense.”
That helped soften the man’s body language. “I understand. If I can help put your mind at ease, Roger was a good man—solid and dependable. Maybe he wasn’t a hands-on kind of guy like you seem to be but he was a good provider and he adored your sister. No one loved Charlotte like Roger did. They had a love story worth remembering.”
“Thanks, it’s good to know she was happy,” he said, blinking back the sting in his eyes. He rose, ready to leave. “You have my number if there’s anything else I need to sign.”
“Of course. It’ll take several weeks to process but I’ll let you know when the funds will be released.”
Again, Benjamin didn’t care about the money. Just talking about it made him want to puke, but the man was doing his job, so he wasn’t going to make him feel bad about it.
He waved his goodbye and let himself out of the attorney’s office, almost knocking over a blonde woman walking at a clip in heels and a short skirt down the sidewalk.
“Watch where you’re going,” she screeched as he caught her and pulled her upright, so she didn’t go sprawling. She disentangled herself with a huff and a wrinkled curl of her lip until she saw him.
Then her attitude changed real quick.
She was mid-purr with flirty eyes when Luna’s voice at his back interrupted introductions.
“Brianne Wilton? You’re exactly the person I need to talk to.”
Brianne’s playful demeanor evaporated when she saw Luna. Straightening her skirt, she readjusted her purse on her shoulder with an annoyed expression to ask, “And you are?”
“Detective Luna Griffin with the Cottonwood Police Department. Would you mind coming with me to the station to answer a few questions?”
Benjamin eyed the salty blonde with new interest. Why did Luna want to talk to her?
“Questions about what?”
“It’ll just take a few minutes of your time,” Luna answered with a perfunctory smile.
“Maybe after, we could get a cup of coffee. We can walk together if you want,” Benjamin offered Brianne with a smile, almost feeling Luna stiffen beside him. He wasn’t interested in the woman, but her interest in him was plain as the nose on his face. If Luna needed her cooperation, he’d get it for her.
One way or another.
Even if it meant leading the woman on.