Kate saw Zane standing outside the room, listening on the CCTV.
“What do you think?” Kate asked.
“I think Laura and Rudy are being charged with second degree murder. I’m trying to decide if David is an accessory after the fact.” Zane stared at the screen.
“What about that fact they left her in the room? They didn’t drag her out to the field.” Kate didn’t think any of it added up. “Why shoot Allie up? Waste good drugs that could be sold. Then again, it was new stuff. Maybe he always gave away or sold first stuff cheap, just in case.” Kate wished she knew more about this part of the drug trade.
Kate’s phone rang. “Corporal Darby.”
“Ms. Darby, It’s Tiffany Wilkerson. I’m just now getting back from Dallas. Can we talk?”
“What about, Mrs. Wilkerson. I’m in the middle of a murder investigation, and I don’t really have time for the vandalism of your husband’s car,” Kate snapped.
“I have information on your dead girl. You’re going to want to talk to me. I’ll be home in about fifteen minutes.” Tiffany hung up.
Kate stood with her mouth open.
“Jonah’s wife? What was that all about?” Zane asked.
“She said she had information about Allie.” Kate turned, ready to head back to her unit.
“I’m going with you,” Zane went the other direction. “I’ll meet you at the end of the parking lot.”
Zane didn’t have the Wilkerson address, so he followed behind her to the country property. Yeira felt the tension in the air and whined the whole way.
“It’s all good, Yeira. We are going to talk to the good guys. We have the bad guys locked up.” She smiled, even though Yeira didn’t understand the gesture.
Kate and Zane arrived at the house before Tiffany.
“Should we knock to see if Jonah is home?” Kate asked.
“Considering her information probably involves him, let’s just wait.”
They could see the dust turning up on the gravel road before they saw Tiffany’s car. She pulled into the drive and one of the three doors on the garage opened. She drove in and got out of the car. Opening her trunk, she pulled a briefcase out and shut the trunk, and then the garage door lowered as she walked outside.
“Officers,” Tiffany smiled. “First, I want to apologize for not calling earlier. I had this presentation at work, and I couldn’t put it off. It’s for a major client. Like a multi-million dollar project.” She looked at Kate. “The one I was working on the night you came to visit.”
Kate smiled.
“Sergeant Zane Gwilly, ma’am. We haven’t met.” They shook hands.
“Come inside. I need a drink.”
As they followed her into the house, Kate noticed the porch camera following them.
Zane and Kate sat at the dining room table while Tiffany poured herself a Stoli vodka on the rocks. She filled the glass almost full. “What a day. After hearing the news while I was getting ready this morning, I’ve been distracted all day.”
“Distracted?” Zane asked.
“Well, I heard about that girl, and I know my husband was having an affair with her. I wanted to call you, but I had to do this presentation. I could barely focus all day.” She put the vodka bottle down on the counter and drank from her glass. “I think my husband may have killed her.”
Kate’s mouth suddenly watered for the taste of vodka. She’d definitely have a drink when she got home tonight. “What makes you say that?”
“The night you stopped by, my husband didn’t come home right away. In fact, he called me from some country bar where he said he’d been out with co-workers. He said he needed a ride home. Being the good wife that I am, I jumped in the car and went to get him.”
“Where was this?” Zane asked.
Kate had called Zane and told him about her chat with the restaurant manager. He said a woman picked Jonah up.
“Whip N Spur, I think it’s called. Just so you understand, he’s been spending a lot of time there.” She pulled her cell phone from her purse. “I put a GPS tracker on his cell phone when I realized he was cheating on me.”
“You knew?” Kate said.
“Of course, I knew. The girl’s best friend even came by to snitch on her.” She drank from her glass, then cocked her head. “So I may not have been completely truthful with you the other night.”
“No, really?” Kate said.
“Believe me, after what I have to tell you, you won’t be mad.”
Kate doubted it. Because they may have learned enough to save a lot of time and manpower. She said, “I’m anxious to hear what you have to say.”
Tiffany sat down. “I brought Jonah home, but he didn’t stay home. Not long after he crawled in bed, his phone rang. He had it on silent, but I felt the buzzing. I knew it was her.”
“How did you know?” Zane asked.
“Well, I didn’t know at first,” she sighed. “He said his work buddy called, drunk, and needed a ride home from the bar. Just like co-workers, Jonah doesn’t have any friends in Peculiar. Maybe Greenville, but not here. That, and I have the tracker on his phone. I know every call and text that he gets. He just doesn’t know it.”
Amazed, Kate asked, “You’re able to track his calls and texts?”
Tiffany grinned wide, took another pull of her drink, then said, “Isn’t technology marvelous? It’s an app for keeping an eye on your kids. Make sure they aren’t sexting, or chatting with a pedo. I just use it to keep an eye on my child, Jonah.”
“Interesting. I’m sorry, go on,” Kate said, truly fascinated.
Why on earth would you stay married to a man who you trust so little, you have his phone basically bugged? Money? What other reason could there be? Had to be money.
“Anyway, he left. I tracked the call, and it was his girlfriend. I heard someone on the other end say, ‘Help me’ and he said, ‘Where are you?’ I didn’t hear the answer, but I tracked him to the Longhorn Motel.” She downed half of her vodka in one drink. “I thought, what on earth is he doing at a skid row motel?”
“You know this for sure?” Zane asked.
She stood and went to her briefcase. “I printed this off at work. I thought you’d want proof.” Kicking off her four-inch heels, she opened her briefcase, which was on the kitchen counter. Pulling out a file, she handed it to Zane. “There are two copies in there. I have one at my office too, just in case.”
Zane handed Kate a stack of papers that had been stapled together.
“It’s the locations for the last five days. As you can see, he likes the bar where she works, and also the logged calls and text messages.”
“How do you know this bar is where his mistress works?” Kate asked.
“I’ve been doing my homework. She’s not the first. In fact, she’d been staying in his apartment until I shut that down.” Tiffany looked quite satisfied with herself.
“The texts look like he’s stalking her,” Zane said.
“Oh, he was. He doesn’t like to get dumped. He’d have strung her along until he got bored. Like I said, she’s not the first.” Tiffany sat back down.
“Why don’t you leave him? It’s not like you’re a toad,” Kate said.
“Because I love him. Or loved him. Heck, maybe I still do love him. But when I heard the news, and when the girl died, I knew it was Jonah. I can’t be married to a murderer. Adultery is bad enough.”
“Did he come back home?” Zane asked.
“He always does.” She slammed her glass on the table. “Two hours later. I pretended to be asleep. Now remember, I didn’t know why he was there. Maybe he did have a friend in need. But when I saw the news, I had to call you.”
She knew more, Kate could sense it. “What car did he use?”
“My BMW SUV. The same car I picked him up at the bar with, because I was too tired to park in the garage. I parked it in front of the house.”
“Does that video camera at your front door store the footage?” Zane asked.
Tiffany laughed. “No, that one is just for me and Jonah, in case we don’t feel like answering the door. We live in the middle of nowhere. The only security is the two garages and his precious cars. Can’t have them getting stolen, even if they are insured.”
Kate wished she could see in the car, but they wouldn’t be able to until Jonah got home.
“You sure you don’t want a drink? Jonah should be home any time.” Tiffany stood up again and walked back to her liquor cabinet. She didn’t add more ice, but she added more vodka.
Kate and Zane watched, they didn’t even answer.
“Won’t he be suspicious when our cars are here?” Zane asked.
“No, I called him on the way home and said you wanted to talk to him about his Corvette.” She didn’t come back to the table, just leaned against the counter.
“What if he’s innocent?” Kate asked. She wasn’t about to tell the woman they had people in custody already.
“Then I’m a bad judge of character and I deserve to work my tush off the rest of my life, so I can keep living the live Jonah provides.” She frowned. “But I promise I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. I tried to talk myself out of calling you more times than I can count. I just can’t live with a murderer.”
Kate stood. “You two chat a little. I need to go make a phone call.”
She needed to go outside and get some fresh air. She walked around the front yard, taking in the smell of the freshly cut grass, and the expensive landscaping. This woman baffled her, but yet, she’d been so weird the night of the vandalism, she knew. That wasn’t a lie, she knew. Who knows why a person stays with a cheating spouse? She didn’t. And murder would be a last straw for her, too. How did she wait all day? Well, maybe because she knew she’d lose her sugar daddy.
Kate called Bugger. “I need you to come watch a car for me. We’re going to go through it, but I’ll need someone here until the crime lab tow truck can come get it.”
He’d cheated before, so she knew he’d dump Allie and come back. Look at all the successful women who stood by their cheating husbands: Jackie Kennedy, Hilary Clinton, Melania Trump. Why could she only think of politicians? She’s not even sure he did it. Nothing suggested he’d hurt Allie.
When Jonah pulled up the driveway in the BMW SUV, Kate smiled at him. Jonah smiled back. He parked the car and walked up to her, his smile fading as he saw his wife and Zane at the front door.
“Hey, Jonah, you’re under arrest for suspicion of first-degree murder.” He looked so much more handsome in his khaki pants and polo shirt with leather loafers than he did in wannabe cowboy duds.
“What are you talking about?” He didn’t fight her. “Murder? Who?”
“Allie Miller,” Tiffany said. “Your girlfriend who dumped you.”
Jonah looked at Tiffany like she might be crazy.
Kate finished reading him his rights, then Zane took Jonah to his car.
Tiffany stood with her arms crossed.
Before Zane got Jonah in the car, he yelled back at Tiffany. “Come bail me out. This is crazy.”
When Kate found traces of vomit and blood in Jonah’s car, Zane called the judge for a warrant.
The next five hours were spent going through the Wilkerson house while Tiffany sat in the kitchen with her phone and her vodka. Kate didn’t think she ever heard her call an attorney for Jonah.