Alex’s chest tightened. While he’d been chasing the masked assailant into the men’s restroom, another man in black had come after Maya. “I never considered partners in crime.”
He’d thought he’d had the assailant trapped in the restroom, but not so. His quarry had escaped through the high window and disappeared before Alex could identify him. A simmering anger made Alex’s hands tremble as he pulled an evidence bag from a pouch on his utility belt and slipped the discarded mask he’d found on the restroom floor inside it.
“I can’t believe Truman protected me,” Maya said, her gaze soft on the horse.
“All those hours of training,” Alex told her. “Plus, he likes you.” He would give the horse some extra carrots for a job well-done.
“Apparently, they wanted Brady’s backpack.” Still clutching the backpack to her chest, Maya dropped to her knees in the grass and unzipped the front pouch. A set of keys tumbled out with a small square tracking device. She held it up. “I hadn’t thought of this before, but do you think you could track Brady’s movement and see where he actually went on the trail through this?”
“That’s a smart question.” From a smart lady. “I’ll give it to Hannah Nelson. If it can be done, she’ll figure it out.”
Maya opened up the main part of the backpack and pulled out a safety blanket, a lunch bag and a small emergency kit containing Band-Aids and antibacterial ointment. She froze. “Oh, no.”
Alex squatted next to her. Anticipation revved through his veins. “What is it?”
Truman shifted his feet as if he, too, sensed the tension radiating off Maya.
Slowly, she withdrew a black leather-bound journal, the edges of the pages smeared in dried blood. It had to be the same journal the treasure hunters had described the deceased dentist keeping his notes in. Her hands trembled. “Why would Brady have this?”
Stunned for a moment by the unexpected find, Alex struggled to believe what he was seeing. Could sweet Brady be a murderer?
Forcing himself to push aside his reaction, Alex said, “Lay that on the grass.” He dug through the pouch on his utility belt for another evidence bag.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she did as he instructed. “You can’t think... Brady wouldn’t have hurt anyone.”
A knot formed in Alex’s gut. He carefully slid the notebook into the bag and stood. “Maya, we need to get you back to the podium, where you’ll be safe with my dad. And then I need to find Brady.”
She rose to her feet and put her hand on his arm. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to bring Brady in for questioning.” As much as he didn’t like the idea of detaining Brady as a suspect, his job required him to be impartial and follow procedure.
“He didn’t do anything,” she pleaded with Alex. “Brady did not kill that man. You heard him. He ran away when the man yelled at him.”
“Then how did the dentist’s notebook end up in Brady’s backpack?”
Maya dropped her hand and stepped back. The devastation in her pretty eyes punched him in the midsection. “I don’t know. There has to be a logical explanation.”
Alex prayed she was right. “I have no choice, Maya. I have to take your brother into custody.”
Maya couldn’t believe this. Brady was a suspect in a murder. It just didn’t make any sense.
She paced the length of the outer reception area inside the station. Brady would never hurt anyone. And no matter how much she had tried to convince Alex, he insisted on bringing Brady to the sheriff’s station and putting him in an interrogation room. They wouldn’t even let her see him.
She didn’t know how the dead man’s notebook had found its way into her brother’s backpack, but she was going to find out.
Brady hadn’t been the only one on the hiking trails that day. There were five people who had known the victim. Though Alex had told her the five treasure hunters claimed to have not seen the victim, that didn’t mean they weren’t lying. An image of the masked ninja-like thief—make that thieves—appeared in her mind and she shuddered.
But right now, her focus had to be on Brady. As soon as Alex and the sheriff stepped out of the sheriff’s office, she rushed forward and blocked their path. “Let me talk to my brother,” she said, her voice thick with frustration. “He’s scared. He doesn’t understand what is happening.”
The compassion on Alex’s face scraped her emotions raw. “Maya, he’s safe. No one can hurt him while he’s in our custody. You need to stay here. I can’t have you interfering.”
Desperation clamped a steely hand around her heart. Anxiety twisted in her tummy. How could they possibly believe Brady was capable of such a horrendous crime? “I watch enough crime dramas to know he needs a lawyer.”
“That is certainly your choice, Maya,” Sheriff Ryder stated.
“It is my choice.” She glared at Alex. “You know he didn’t hurt that man.”
Alex’s expression held empathy and sorrow. “Maya, maybe he didn’t mean to.”
“No,” she insisted. “He wouldn’t do anything that would hurt someone else. You said you don’t even know how that man died.”
“We do know the cause of death.” Alex glanced at the sheriff, as if asking permission to proceed. The sheriff nodded.
“Blunt force trauma to the back of the head.”
She frowned. His explanation didn’t prove anything. “How tall was the deceased?”
“Five feet nine inches.”
“Brady’s only five-six. How could he have reached the back of that man’s head and hit him hard enough to kill him?”
Alex rubbed his jaw, his gaze troubled. “Maya, we don’t know enough at this point to hypothesize. We need to talk to Brady. If he is innocent, then he may know more than he realizes.”
She knew her brother was innocent. There was no if. But maybe Alex was right, perhaps Brady had seen something or heard something that would lead them to the real killer.
A thought slammed into her. How had he become separated from his backpack? And why was it hidden beneath the bushes? Something else had happened on the trail. But what? “I’m calling our family lawyer.”
Alex nodded. “I think that is a good idea.”
She turned on her heels and stalked to the reception desk. “Carole, may I use your phone?”
Carole glanced toward Alex, who had followed Maya.
“That’s fine,” Alex told the older woman.
Without comment, Carole turned the landline phone to face Maya.
In the days, weeks and months after her parents’ death, she’d had to call Grayson and Sons law firm so often she had the number ingrained in her brain.
When the firm’s answering machine kicked in, Maya’s stomach sank. Most likely the Graysons’ were at the parade like the rest of the town. The message gave an alternate number to call in case of emergency. Maya declared the situation an emergency. She dialed the number.
A man answered. “Grayson here.”
She recognized the voice as that of the younger Grayson, Donald. He’d been two grades behind her in school. Over the past few years, ever since he’d returned to Bristle Township to practice law in his father’s firm alongside his two siblings, he’d attempted to entice her out on a date. Even going so far as to buy her picnic basket during last July’s rodeo days auction. She gritted her teeth. “I’m trying to reach Oscar Grayson.” She wanted his father to handle Brady’s case.
“My father’s unavailable. How can I help you?” came the clipped reply.
She sighed. There was no help for it. “Donald, this is Maya Gallo.”
“Maya!” His voice warmed. “Have you reconsidered my offer of going to the Harvest Festival dance with me tonight?”
She’d completely forgotten he’d asked her last week. She’d declined with the excuse that she already had plans. She hadn’t explained those plans were to hang out at home with Brady. But now she wouldn’t be doing that. He was sitting in an interrogation room.
“No. I need your help. Brady has been taken into custody. We need a lawyer.”
“What’s happened?” His voice changed from would-be suitor, which she usually heard from him, to a professional lawyer. That gave her hope. She quickly explained the situation, leaving out no details.
“I’ll be right there. Don’t let him talk to anyone,” he said. “Maya, you did the right thing by calling.”
“Thank you, Donald.” Maybe she needed to rethink her feelings for the youngest of the Grayson clan. But right now she wasn’t ready for romance, whether with him or anyone else. Her gaze strayed to Alex standing at his desk with a file in his hand. He wasn’t reading the file, though. His attention was aimed directly at her.
Right now, her priority had to be her brother.
She hung up. “Our lawyer is on his way. Brady isn’t to talk to anyone until Donald arrives.”
“Of course not.” He reached out as if to comfort her but then dropped his hand to his side. “I’m sorry about this. You have to understand, I have to follow protocol. I can’t show any favoritism.”
She gathered every ounce of patience she possessed. Of course, he would want to proceed in a professional manner. But that didn’t mean she had to like the situation even if she appreciated his integrity. She moved to sit on the bench beneath the window and tapped her foot against the hardwood floor. How had life gone from mundane and normal to chaos in such short order?
The masked assailants had been after Brady’s backpack. But how had the thieves known the leather-bound journal was inside? Had the dentist somehow come across Brady’s backpack, hidden his journal inside, then told the assailants before succumbing to his injuries? Maya rubbed her temples in dismay. How could she protect her brother from this?
The door to the sheriff’s office opened and Donald Grayson strode inside wearing pressed khaki pants and a light blue button-down shirt. His blond highlighted hair was perfectly combed and his bright blue eyes filled with concern. Maya wondered why she wasn’t interested in him. He was single, good-looking and successful. But he didn’t make her heart leap or her pulse pound. Not the way Alex did.
She mentally rolled her eyes. Stop it, she commanded herself. Now was not the time to contemplate her attraction to the sheriff’s deputy.
Donald strode to Maya’s side. She slowly rose to her feet, still wishing the elder Grayson had been available. She trusted him. “Thank you for coming, Donald.”
“I’m here now,” he said as he took her hand. “Everything will be okay now that I’m here.”
The platitude abraded her nerves. She swallowed back her annoyance and managed to say with conviction, “I appreciate your confidence.”
Grayson gave Alex a nod of acknowledgment and straightened to his full height of six feet. Not quite as tall as Alex but close. “Deputy, I’d liked to speak to my client.”
Alex’s gaze slid to Maya and back to Grayson. With a tilt of his head, he said, “This way.”
Maya hurried after Grayson and Alex. At the door to the interrogation room, Alex paused before opening the door. “We’d like to ask him some questions.”
“And we will allow it after I have a moment to understand the situation.”
Inclining his head in agreement, Alex opened the door.
Maya rushed inside and straight to her brother’s arms. He clung to her. “Maya, what’s going on? Why am I here?”
The contrition on Alex’s handsome face had Maya looking away. She wanted to be angry with Alex, but he was only doing his job.
Alex withdrew, closing the door behind him.
“Brady, this is Donald. He’s a lawyer and he is going to help us.” Maya sat in the chair next to her brother while Donald took the seat across the table. He took out a notepad and pen.
“Help us do what?” Brady asked.
“Get you home tonight,” Donald said. “How about you tell me what’s going on?”
Maya opened her mouth to reiterate what she’d already explained, but Donald held up a hand. “I need Brady to tell me he understands what is happening.”
Brady frowned, his gaze bouncing from Donald to Maya and back again.
“Brady, do you understand that you’re a suspect in a murder?” Donald asked.
For a long moment, Brady didn’t say anything. He turned to Maya. “I don’t understand.”
Maya gathered his hands in hers. “Brady, remember the man who yelled at you when you were on the hiking trail the other day?”
Brady made a mean face. “I didn’t like being yelled at.”
Donald held up a hand. “Let me stop you right there. I don’t want to hear you say that again.”
Maya’s gaze jerked to Donald. “What?”
“We don’t want anyone to think he had a motive for killing this man. If being yelled at made him angry, a conclusion could be formed that Brady lashed out at the man in anger.”
His words struck a fire within her chest. It infuriated her that anyone would consider her brother capable of this horrendous deed. Keeping her emotions in check, she gently squeezed Brady’s hands. “When the man yelled at you, what did you do?”
Though she knew the answer, he had already told her and Alex about his encounter with Ned Weber, she wanted Donald to hear Brady’s story.
“I turned and ran. I ran and ran as fast as I could go. And then I tripped and then I tumbled and then I landed and my ankle hurt.” He lifted his leg to show Donald his booted foot.
“I see. So you were scared and ran away.” Donald made a note. “Did you see anyone else on the hike before you saw the man who yelled at you?”
Brady shook his head. “Not before.”
“But after?”
Head nodding, Brady said, “These really nice people found me and helped me. They brought Alex.”
Donald made more notes. “We’ll get back to them. Now, think hard. Before you saw the man who yelled at you, did you hear or see anyone else?”
Again, Brady shook his head.
Donald asked, “When the man yelled at you, what did he say to you? What was he angry about?”
Brady pulled at his ear, something he did when he was deeply upset. “He thought I was following him. That I was cheating. But I wasn’t. I’m not a cheater.”
“Brady,” Maya said, reaching for his hand. “It’s okay. You’re not.” Hoping to distract him, she asked, “What happened to your backpack?”
“When I was running, I got caught on some bushes. I dropped the backpack.” He ducked his head. “I’m sorry, Maya. I know I’m not supposed to take it off when I’m hiking.”
“It’s okay, Brady,” she told him. Maybe whoever had killed the dentist found Brady’s backpack and stowed the journal there. But why hadn’t the man or woman left with the notebook? Why hide it in the backpack?
Donald spoke. “What can you tell me about the notebook?”
Brady cocked his head. “I write in my journal every night just as my teacher tells me to.”
Tenderness filled Maya. “Not your school journal, honey.” Referring to the one he kept on his bedside table that he turned in at the end of every month. “We found a black leather-bound notebook in your backpack today.”
Brady frowned. “I didn’t see any black leather notebook.”
Donald tucked his pen into his breast pocket. “That’s okay, Brady. We’ll be sure to tell the sheriff that.”
“What will happen now?” Maya asked.
“Deputy Trevino will come in to ask his questions.”
“Then we can go home?” Her stomach knotted. They would be going to Alex’s ranch. She didn’t know if she could go with him now that he thought Brady was a murderer.
“Best-case scenario, yes, you’ll both be free to leave. Worst-case scenario—the case will have to go before Judge Turpin. If the judge feels that Brady is not a flight risk, he may remand him into your custody. That’s what I’ll ask for. Or he might hold him on bail.”
“Bail? You mean they will charge him?” Maya’s voice rose with her agitation.
“Not if I can help it,” Donald stated. “But we do need to let Deputy Trevino have access to Brady.” He rose and went to the door.
Heartsick, Maya lifted a silent prayer heavenward. Lord, how do I deal with the situation? A man was dead and Brady was a suspect in the crime. I trust You, Jesus. I trust that You will let the truth win out.
Because she couldn’t survive it if her brother were taken away from her.
Alex stepped into the interrogation room. He hated seeing fear in Maya’s eyes and knowing he’d put it there. But Alex hated even more seeing Donald Grayson sitting beside her, acting protective of both Maya and Brady, as if he had some claim on them.
The burn of jealousy tightened his jaw. He forced his personal feelings aside as he sat down. He trained his gaze on Brady. The kid appeared scared. His fear seemed genuine.
Alex’s mind turned back to what Brady had said about how finding the treasure would allow him to go to a special summer camp.
Was the treasure motive for killing the dentist? Had Brady thought the dentist had found the fortune and wanted it for himself?
The speculations only confused the situation.
Innocent until proven guilty, Alex reminded himself. The notebook found in Brady’s backpack was incriminating. And knowing how much Brady wanted to find the treasure wasn’t something Alex could ignore. He sat down in the chair across from Brady. It didn’t seem right to be sitting there with Brady and Maya in the cold, impersonal room. But Alex had a job to do and he would get to the truth one way or another.