This time, Selena drove through the Double Y’s main gate and pulled up to the big house, the home that had been Zeb’s until his murder. Winter freezing and thawing had obviously been hard on the siding. It needed repainting. Ornamental foundation plantings looked scraggly, too, as if everything about the home had been left to deteriorate while the barns and outbuildings were well maintained in contrast.
“Typical rancher,” she commented. “It looks as though Edward is putting all his money and effort into the cattle operation.”
“That was one of the things that impressed me about my father when I first met him.” Finn smiled slightly. “Zeb took good care of his half of the business.”
“What was his half?” Selena asked. “He and Edward were partners in the ranch, weren’t they?”
“As an investment, yes. Zeb handled their other business interests while Edward ran the ranch. That’s why I met Edward long before I figured out who my dad was. When I was hired to work cattle, there was no reason for me to visit the house.”
“Why did you?” She couldn’t help thinking how much better it would have been if Finn had not been in or near the big house at the approximate time of the murder.
“Like I said, Edward accused me of theft and fired me. I made up my mind to argue my case in person rather than just walk away, and that’s when I met Zeb. The minute I laid eyes on him, I sensed a connection. It was uncanny.”
Selena removed her key from the ignition, opened her door and started to step out. “Stay put. Let me handle this.”
“I’m going with you,” Finn insisted.
“No, you’re not.” She leaned in the open door. “If there is something shady going on here, and I’m not saying there is, you are the last person I want Edward to see. He’d know right away why I was here, and I’d lose the element of surprise.”
“What about Scout?”
“I don’t want to appear aggressive. He can stay and guard you. It’ll be safe enough. Edward has been smart enough to act in secret so far. I don’t think he’ll try to harm you while you’re sitting in a police vehicle in his own front yard.”
“What if he’s not in the house at all?”
Pausing, Selena made a face at Finn. “One problem at a time, okay? If I can’t rouse anybody, I’ll come back to get you, and we’ll discuss our next move. In the meantime, keep your eyes open. Your baby brother is resourceful enough to have found another way to get himself out here.”
“No argument about that,” Finn said. His “Be careful” was muted when Selena slammed the door. He watched her pause to straighten her jacket and hitch up the heavy utility belt that held her holster, Taser and other equipment. Then she began to stride across the lawn toward the covered front porch.
Finn’s heart leaped, and his mouth was so dry he could hardly swallow. Yes, he admired the federal officer Selena had become. And, yes, he knew she was well trained and capable. But some buried part of his consciousness feared for her safety, for her ultimate survival. He couldn’t help himself.
Asking why was unnecessary. Finn was no fool. He might be putting one over on everybody else, Selena included, but he couldn’t bluff enough to hide the truth from his own heart and mind. Bottom line, he loved her. It was that simple and that complicated. If he had been thinking only of his personal preferences, he would have told her long ago. That wasn’t the problem. Because he cared so deeply, because he wanted only the very best for her, he had to back off. He had to.
Selena had reached the house and was knocking on the carved oak front door. Finn held his breath. Would she be able to convince his uncle to admit the truth if Sean was actually there? Even if he wasn’t, someone might have spotted him around the ranch. Assuming she returned empty-handed, Finn planned to insist they quiz everybody working at the Double Y.
Letting himself believe that Sean had actually managed to return to the ranch was comforting only because it gave Finn hope of a safe reunion. If, however, the teen was discovered on the premises after all the warnings against it, Finn knew it was going to be very difficult for him to control his temper.
There had been times, too many times, when he had turned his anger toward God because he’d wanted someone to blame. He now knew that was wrong and had begged forgiveness, yet a shadow of guilt still lingered in his subconscious. The Bible said that God forgave him, yes, but that didn’t mean it was easy for him to forgive himself, especially considering all the complications that had arisen despite his best efforts to do the right thing.
Seeing Selena waiting as the front door slowly opened, Finn closed his eyes for a second to confess his errant thoughts and ask his Heavenly Father to protect her.
A sense of foreboding washed over him. His eyes popped open. A blur of color, someone in a red jacket, was rounding the far side of the house and barreling toward him.
Finn fisted the door handle. Thrust open the door. Called, “Sean!”
Concentrating on Edward Yablonski’s expression and seeing his focus shift, Selena turned to follow his line of sight and saw what was happening a mere forty yards away.
The passenger door of her SUV was open. Finn was standing with his arms wide to embrace the racing figure of his brother. They hadn’t found Sean. Sean had found them.
She was halfway turned back to face the middle-aged, hefty, bearded man in the house when she felt a grip on her right arm tight enough to stop circulation. She tried to break the hold, but her adversary was too fast and too strong for her. In milliseconds he had jerked her into the house and kicked the door shut behind them.
Selena twisted her whole body, ignoring the pain. Had he chosen to grab her left arm instead of her right, she’d still be able to draw her gun. This way, she might as well be a helpless civilian.
“Let go of me and I won’t arrest you,” she shouted at Edward.
His laugh was less sinister than it was cynical. “It’s a tad too late for that,” he said.
Was he about to confess? Hopefully. Although, considering her present predicament, she figured she’d have trouble proving it, especially if this situation didn’t end well. Above all, she told herself, she needed to stay calm on the outside. It didn’t matter how hard her heart beat or how shaky she actually felt, it was the facade she presented to Edward Yablonski that was going to get her out of this mess.
“We can talk about it,” Selena suggested. “Just let me go, and let’s discuss the situation over a cup of coffee.”
“Coffee? You think coffee is going to fix this? What kind of police training do you have, anyway?” He leaned to look past her. “Where’s your dog? I thought you two always worked together?”
In case Edward hadn’t noticed Finn by her SUV she chose to avoid calling attention to it. “Not all the time.”
“Too bad.” Limping through the living room and into the kitchen with Selena in tow, he circled something obstructing their steps.
The acrid air bore the smell of gunpowder with undertones of iron and the unmistakable tang of death. Selena swallowed past a lump in her throat and looked at the floor.
The body of Ned Plumber lay crumpled next to the dining table as if he’d fallen from a chair. Two mugs sat on opposite sides of the tabletop. The victim had apparently been doing exactly what she’d suggested—sharing a cup of coffee and conversation.
Recreating that scenario suddenly did not strike her as the best idea she’d ever had.
Edward’s grip on her forearm tightened, and he yanked her across the bloody floor. Selena knew that seeing this body changed everything for her and for the rancher. Worse, he wasn’t attempting to explain away the mayhem or shift blame. Nor was he trying to hide the limp that was probably the result of her bullet after the van wreck.
That was a bad sign. A very bad sign.
Finn shepherded his hysterical brother around to the other side of the parked SUV and pulled him down so they were both crouching, hidden from anyone in the house. Because Sean was sobbing and shaking, he waited a few moments before asking, “What happened? What scared you so much?”
“He killed him. I saw it.”
“Whoa. Slow down. You’re not making sense. Who killed who?”
“That old guy in the house shot him.”
Finn gripped Sean’s shoulders and held him away to look into his face. “Edward? You saw Edward shoot somebody?”
“Yeah, yeah, him. I just said.”
“Who did he shoot?”
“That—that foreman guy. The witness.”
“Plumber? Edward shot Ned Plumber?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
Finn would have sorrowed over the man’s untimely death if he hadn’t been so worried about Selena. He grasped Sean’s thin shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. “Are you sure he’s dead? We can call an ambulance.”
The rapid shaking of his brother’s head and his wide-eyed stare told Finn it was probably too late to help Ned. Nevertheless, he crawled to the driver’s side of Selena’s SUV, opened the door and reached for the radio. He’d seen her operating it often enough to know how.
He keyed the mic. “This is Finn Donovan. I’m at the Double Y Ranch with Officer Smith, and there’s been a shooting. We need an ambulance. And she needs backup.”
“Copy,” the dispatcher replied. “Where is Officer Smith and why are you using her radio?”
Short of breath and beginning to tremble, Finn voiced the terrible truth. “Selena is in the house with the murderer.”
“You’re sure?”
Although no one could see him, Finn was nodding. Staring at the closed door. Thinking and imagining all the terrible things that might be happening at that very moment.
“Positive,” he said, fighting to keep his voice from breaking the way his heart already was. “I saw him grab her and pull her inside.”
Selena was in survival mode. She didn’t spot a murder weapon on or near the body, and as far as she could tell, Edward didn’t have it on his person. That was one point in her favor.
She was in the process of giving thanks that he hadn’t disarmed her when he gave her arm another yank, turned her sideways and pulled her gun from its holster. As soon as he had it in hand, he shoved her away so forcefully she tripped and fell against the table. That put her in a better position to see the facial features of the man lying on the floor, and she confirmed her initial suspicion that he was Ned Plumber. Correction, he had been Ned Plumber.
“Why kill Ned?” Selena asked.
Edward gave a wry chuckle. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all.” Pushing against the table, she straightened, facing the muzzle of her own gun.
“Huh. You’re even dumber than I thought. It’s your fault, you and that boyfriend of yours. I heard how you were talking to Ned and what he said. I tried to reason with him.”
Selena struck the most nonchalant pose she could manage while tension knotted every muscle and her pulse pounded in her chest, in her temples. How long did she have before Finn decided to storm the house and get them both killed? Worse, what if he’d connected with Sean and brought him along? The only help she wanted and needed right then was her K-9, Scout, and she’d left him outside. Had she had even an inkling of what had happened to the foreman, she would have waited for backup and entered the crime scene with full force instead of letting this evil man get the drop on her.
At this point, what she needed most was time: time to think, time to plan, time to reason, time for backup to arrive before Edward decided to eliminate her, too.
“Sit down,” he ordered, waving the pistol.
Selena complied with raised hands. “Okay, okay. Settle down. I can get you out of this alive if you’ll let me.”
“What good will that do?” he shouted. “I’m already a dead man.” His gaze settled on the body on the floor. “You had to show up. You and that blasted kid. I could have taken care of business, and nobody would’ve been the wiser if you hadn’t knocked on my door.”
“Kid? Sean Donovan, you mean?”
“Yeah. He ran out the back door when I went to the front. That’s your fault, too. Another few minutes and I’d have been rid of him, too.”
A shiver skittered up Selena’s spine and prickled the hair at her nape. “You see now that it’s over, don’t you?”
“No. No.” Edward was pacing, was waving her gun around dangerously and was clearly on the verge of losing what little control he had left. “There has to be a way out of this. There has to be. Zeb would know what to do. He’d figure it out.”
Selena wondered if he was so deluded he thought his late brother was still alive. She opted to let Edward rant in the hopes his increasingly erratic actions would provide an opportunity to disarm him before he hurt somebody else.
The thought that the deranged killer was currently in the position to harm the people, the person she loved most was unbearable. Not only might she lose Finn before this was all over; she’d never worked up the courage to tell him how she felt. Losing the chance to confess the love her heart could barely contain had to be the saddest loss imaginable.
Selena’s professional law enforcement persona insisted she maintain total control while her softer side wanted to weep for what she was losing. Calling out to God internally, she had no adequate words, no perfect prayer to offer. In truth, there was only one assurance to count on. She had given her life, her job, her family into the care of Jesus, regardless of circumstances she didn’t understand and outcomes that failed to satisfy the human side of her. That knowledge was her strength.
Instead of lightning bolts and audible answers, Selena felt the light touch of peace flowing over and around her. That was more than enough assurance. If God gave her the chance to confess her love for Finn, she was going to speak up. If not, she still trusted Him. She had to. It was the only lifeline she had.