Read Online The High Country Rancher by Jan Hambright - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jan Hambright
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color. Most crimes of passion involved infidelity, jealousy, rage. Was Baylor capable of murder over his wife’s affair?
“I’ve got a uniformed officer en route to pick him up for questioning. He’ll be in your interrogation room within the hour. Press him hard, Mariah, make him account for his whereabouts the day Endicott went missing.”
Things were spinning out of control, she realized as she stood up. Was it possible? Her mind wanted to believe the incriminating evidence in the photoswould be enough to push any loving husband over the edge, but her heart couldn’t.
B AYLOR STARED AT THE gray walls of the interrogation room, a bland cubicle that reeked of trouble. Unfortunately he’d had the experience of seeing it once before. A year to the day he’d lost Amy, but he’d survived the aftermath. The fact that he’d even been suspected of not trying to save her from drowning sent a charge of irritation rattling through him.
The door to the room opened and Mariah Ellis stepped inside.
He sucked in a breath to ease the tension knotting his shoulders. He could see it on her face, see it in the narrowing of her eyes as she studied him.
Contemplation.
She pulled out the chair across the table from him and sat down before laying a manila folder out in front of her and opening it.
“These showed up here this afternoon. Did you know about this?” There was an accusatory tone in her voice. He bristled, glancing down at the five pictures she laid out in front of him.
Anger and pain churned his emotions as he stared down at the photos. He reached out and picked up the most incriminating of the group. A shot taken through a slit in a curtained window. Amy and Endicott locked in a kiss, minus their clothes.
“How did I miss this?” He swallowed. “How inthe hell did I miss this? No wonder he came after me when she died. He wanted someone to pay for taking her from him.”
Mariah’s heart squeezed in her chest and her throat tightened around her words. She hadn’t intended to torture him with the pictures, but that’s exactly what she was doing.
“I’m sorry you had to discover the truth like this.”
He rocked back in his chair, his lips formed in a grim line. “I knew there was someone else, but Endicott?” He shook his head slowly. “Why?”
She didn’t have the answer, probably never would, but she suddenly disliked Amy McCullough. What had pushed her to infidelity when her own husband was so…gorgeous? She stiffened, wishing the wayward path of thought to meander somewhere else. Physically sizing up Baylor wasn’t part of her job, getting a firm verifiable alibi was.
“Where were you on April the fifth after 4:30 p.m.?”
His eyes narrowed. “I get it, you think these pictures prove something?”
“A possible….” she cleared her throat “…motive.”
“We’re done here, Detective. I want my lawyer.”
His words slammed into her like a physical blow. She’d had suspects lawyer up time and again, so why did it upset her that Baylor McCullough was doing the same thing?
“Please, Baylor. You have to tell me where you were and what you were doing on the fifth.”
He sat back and crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Time stretched as she waited, waited for an answer that would alleviate the creeping edge of concern that wrapped around her heart. “I can verify it. You’ll be cleared.”
His features didn’t soften.
Why was she pleading with him? She’d never pleaded with a suspect in her life, but he was different.
She pushed back her chair and stood up, gathering the scandalous photos, watching his eyes follow their progression as she put them back into the folder.
“I’m sorry.” Her breath caught in her throat; her brain flooded with sympathy. The emotions were wrong. The situation suffocating.
She moved toward the door. “You’re free to use the phone to contact your lawyer.”
“Mariah. Wait.”
She froze in midstep and turned around, hope generating in
“I’ve got a uniformed officer en route to pick him up for questioning. He’ll be in your interrogation room within the hour. Press him hard, Mariah, make him account for his whereabouts the day Endicott went missing.”
Things were spinning out of control, she realized as she stood up. Was it possible? Her mind wanted to believe the incriminating evidence in the photoswould be enough to push any loving husband over the edge, but her heart couldn’t.
B AYLOR STARED AT THE gray walls of the interrogation room, a bland cubicle that reeked of trouble. Unfortunately he’d had the experience of seeing it once before. A year to the day he’d lost Amy, but he’d survived the aftermath. The fact that he’d even been suspected of not trying to save her from drowning sent a charge of irritation rattling through him.
The door to the room opened and Mariah Ellis stepped inside.
He sucked in a breath to ease the tension knotting his shoulders. He could see it on her face, see it in the narrowing of her eyes as she studied him.
Contemplation.
She pulled out the chair across the table from him and sat down before laying a manila folder out in front of her and opening it.
“These showed up here this afternoon. Did you know about this?” There was an accusatory tone in her voice. He bristled, glancing down at the five pictures she laid out in front of him.
Anger and pain churned his emotions as he stared down at the photos. He reached out and picked up the most incriminating of the group. A shot taken through a slit in a curtained window. Amy and Endicott locked in a kiss, minus their clothes.
“How did I miss this?” He swallowed. “How inthe hell did I miss this? No wonder he came after me when she died. He wanted someone to pay for taking her from him.”
Mariah’s heart squeezed in her chest and her throat tightened around her words. She hadn’t intended to torture him with the pictures, but that’s exactly what she was doing.
“I’m sorry you had to discover the truth like this.”
He rocked back in his chair, his lips formed in a grim line. “I knew there was someone else, but Endicott?” He shook his head slowly. “Why?”
She didn’t have the answer, probably never would, but she suddenly disliked Amy McCullough. What had pushed her to infidelity when her own husband was so…gorgeous? She stiffened, wishing the wayward path of thought to meander somewhere else. Physically sizing up Baylor wasn’t part of her job, getting a firm verifiable alibi was.
“Where were you on April the fifth after 4:30 p.m.?”
His eyes narrowed. “I get it, you think these pictures prove something?”
“A possible….” she cleared her throat “…motive.”
“We’re done here, Detective. I want my lawyer.”
His words slammed into her like a physical blow. She’d had suspects lawyer up time and again, so why did it upset her that Baylor McCullough was doing the same thing?
“Please, Baylor. You have to tell me where you were and what you were doing on the fifth.”
He sat back and crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Time stretched as she waited, waited for an answer that would alleviate the creeping edge of concern that wrapped around her heart. “I can verify it. You’ll be cleared.”
His features didn’t soften.
Why was she pleading with him? She’d never pleaded with a suspect in her life, but he was different.
She pushed back her chair and stood up, gathering the scandalous photos, watching his eyes follow their progression as she put them back into the folder.
“I’m sorry.” Her breath caught in her throat; her brain flooded with sympathy. The emotions were wrong. The situation suffocating.
She moved toward the door. “You’re free to use the phone to contact your lawyer.”
“Mariah. Wait.”
She froze in midstep and turned around, hope generating in
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