Page 33 of Maverick Detective Dad
More seconds ticked off. “Yeah, it was Daisy,” Jared finally admitted. “I gave it to her.”
Noah kept up the rapid-fire pace, tossing out a question the moment Jared finished his sentence. “Did you give her the money because she was blackmailing you?”
Jared frowned. “No. No,” he repeated, shifting in his wheelchair. “She mentioned that she wanted to do a fundraiser to help the family of the dead man who’d killed her mother. I met her after the meeting and told her I’d give her the money.”
Of all the explanations Everly had thought the man might come up with, she hadn’t thought of that one. “Why would Daisy want to help them?” Everly asked.
“Because she was a good person.” Jared closed his eyes a moment and actually shuddered. “I hate that she’s dead.”
His reaction seemed heartfelt. Seemed. But it occurred to her he could be feeling that way because he’d been the one to kill Daisy. Maybe because he’d felt he had no choice if she was blackmailing him. Or if she’d simply figured out he was killing in the name of justice.
“Did Daisy give you any kind of receipt or thank you note for your generous gift?” Noah pressed, and yes, there was plenty of skepticism in his voice.
That caused Jared to pull back his shoulders, and he was glaring again. “No,” he growled. “And I think it’s time for me to call my lawyer. According to the Miranda you recited, that’s my right,” Jared smugly added.
“It is.” Noah stepped back, but he didn’t ease up on his expression. “Make the call.”
“I will, but I can’t wait around here today for him to show up. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment. I’ll have to come in tomorrow with him.”
Noah stared at him a long time as if trying to figure out how to handle this. As a lawyer, Everly could have told him that the evidence he did have was circumstantial. Jared’s lawyer would no doubt say the same thing. There wasn’t a single shred of physical evidence to link Jared to any of the crimes, and they didn’t even know for certain if he had the mobility to have carried out the murders.
“Tomorrow morning at nine,” Noah said. “Be here then or I’ll issue a warrant for your arrest.”
Getting a warrant was a definite long shot. Well, for murder anyway. But Noah could indeed bring a suspect in for questioning. Especially a suspect who’d already lied during an interview.
“Tomorrow at nine,” Jared growled like profanity, and he turned his wheelchair around and left.
Jared wheeled past Deputy Lawson who was chatting with a tall dark-haired man wearing jeans and a black tee that showed the sleeve tat on his right arm. He wasn’t heavily muscled like Jared, but he had a solid build that reminded her of a lightweight boxer.
The man tipped his head in greeting when he saw Noah, and Noah held up his finger in a wait-a-second gesture. He took out his phone, and she saw him press Detective O’Malley’s number.
“I need a search warrant for Jared Jackman’s residence,” Noah said the moment he had the detective on the line. He rattled off the address after looking at the background check of the man.
“You have probable cause?” O’Malley immediately asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Noah verified. “Jared handed that to me when he told me he couldn’t walk. He can. He also admitted to giving ten grand to our latest victim, Daisy Reyes. She could have been blackmailing him, and there might be something to prove that in his apartment. Might be some links to the explosive that was in that box, too.”
“All right. I’ll get right on this,” O’Malley assured him. “I’m guessing you’re still in Silver Creek?”
“I am.” Noah checked the time. “I’m taking Everly out to her place right now so she can get some things and go over options for a new security system, and then we’ll be going back to the ranch.”
Everly had another look at the man in the waiting area and realized this was probably Hudson Granger, the person in charge of security for the Ryland ranch. He didn’t live in Silver Creek. She would have known if he had. But she realized she’d definitely seen him around.
Noah finished his call with O’Malley, put his phone away, grabbed his laptop and handed her the one she’d been using before he got her moving out of Grayson’s office. “We can continue the research on the financials on the way.”
Since her house was a very short drive, they wouldn’t have a lot of time to do that, but they would when en route to the ranch.
“Do we need a backup deputy to go with us?” she asked.
“No. Hudson will fill in on that.” Noah stopped, made introductions and then added. “Hudson was Special Ops.”
She would have guessed he had a background in law enforcement since those sharp green eyes had seemed all cop to her. Cop with maybe a dark edge. He looked more than capable of providing backup. Everly only hoped it wouldn’t be needed.
They hurried outside, not to a cruiser but to a sleek black SUV that was parked directly in front of the door. “It’s bullet resistant,” Hudson explained as he got behind the wheel. Noah and she got in the backseat.
“Hudson provides a variety of security services,” Noah added when he no doubt saw that she had questions.
This definitely wasn’t an ordinary SUV. The dash seemed more like something that would be in the cockpit of a fighter jet.
