Page 19 of Maverick Detective Dad
“Mom’s good with kids,” Noah reminded her when he saw a flash of the nerves in her eyes. “And Ava will keep watch.” The deputy would do that on a laptop that Hudson had set up so she’d been able to monitor all the new cameras. “Added to that, the gate will be locked, and the ranch hands have strict orders. No visitors, no deliveries.”
There were other security measures, too, such as having some armed hands patrol the fence line. His uncles and cousins would be on alert as well and would be looking for anything and anyone suspicious. In other words, they’d turned the ranch into as much of a fortress as it could be.
“It’ll be okay,” Everly murmured, and Noah was 100 percent sure she was saying that to steady her nerves. He wasn’t sure though that the assurance was working.
He went to her and took hold of her hand. Even that simple gesture was a risk because it was still touching. Added to that, they were close and standing face-to-face. Mere inches apart. And that was the problem with having been lovers in the past. Even under the circumstances, their bodies could rev up in a snap.
She sighed, but she might as well have shouted from the rooftops that the heat was still there. Worse, Everly’s gaze dropped to his mouth, and he wondered if she was remembering how they’d once kissed. He certainly was. Remembering it and wanting to do it again. He resisted though and got some help in that area when his phone dinged with a text.
“It’s Theo,” he relayed. “He’s in place on the backseat of the cruiser.” Theo had done that with the vehicle parked in the garage. That way, if anyone had them under long-range surveillance, they wouldn’t know another cop was with them.
“It’s time to go,” Everly muttered. He saw her gaze zip to the playroom, and she was no doubt considering going in to say another goodbye to Ainsley, but she shook her head. “She might start crying if she sees me leave. She does that sometimes, and I might not be able to take it if it happens today.”
No, that wouldn’t be a good way to start this trip. Thankfully, a short trip. Noah already had River’s residence in his GPS. The man lived on a small ranch only about twenty minutes away. So that River would have a chance to get a lawyer, Noah had told River when they’d be arriving. It was a risk, since the man could use the time to set up an ambush, but Noah hadn’t wanted to drive out to River’s ranch only to find him not at home.
Again, Noah tried to push aside all the worry about what could go wrong, and Everly and he got in the cruiser to start the drive. Behind them, Theo moved onto the floor behind the backseat to prevent someone from seeing him and finished a call from Grayson.
“Grayson said I’m to let you know that the CSIs have finished processing the crime scene at Everly’s but didn’t recover any evidence other than the body and the bloody box,” Theo relayed. “Also, SAPD CSI went through Daisy’s place, and it’d been ransacked. Her laptop and phone were missing.”
None of that surprised Noah about the missing items. The killer wouldn’t have wanted to leave anything behind that could ID him, and Daisy might have not only had the membership list but notes about members as well.
“The forensic techs will try to find out if Daisy used a storage cloud for files about the Peace Seekers,” Theo went on. “And your lieutenant at SAPD will send out a detective this morning to talk to Daisy’s coworkers and neighbors to find out if they saw or heard anything. Or if they know if Daisy received a suspicious box.”
That was a necessary thread to tie off, but Noah wasn’t expecting much since Daisy had worked at a domestic abuse shelter where plenty of things were kept confidential. Still, Daisy might have shared some small facts about the Peace Seekers they could use. Added to that, if she’d gotten a box, a neighbor might have seen it. But Noah was still thinking Daisy was the exception to the killer’s MO.
“When will you talk to Megan?” Everly asked, but she wasn’t looking at him. Like Noah, her gaze was firing all around them. Looking for a killer.
“This afternoon if the meeting with River goes off without a hitch.” A hitch being plenty of things from a killer striking to River’s arrest. “Depending on how things go, Megan is coming to my office at SAPD. I thought the official setting might tone down her venom and make her more cooperative. Just in case she knows more than she’s saying about the members of Peace Seekers.” He paused. “Again, depending on the outcome of this meeting, you can go with me to San Antonio and observe the interview.”
Everly hesitated. Then, she nodded. “That’s when you’ll tell her about Daisy being murdered?”
“Yes, and that might shock her into cooperating, too.” He could use that now that Daisy’s next of kin had been notified.
Since there was no direct route to the ranch where River lived, Noah had to thread his way through the rural roads. He was well aware that anyone who’d have them under surveillance could have anticipated this route and could be preparing for an attack. But Noah didn’t see anything to suggest that. Of course, the preparing could be happening at their destination.
As he drove, Noah saw the small farms and ranches dotting the landscape. The houses were few and far between here, and from his research, he’d learned that River’s nearest neighbor was a good quarter of a mile away. Noah passed that neighbor before River’s ranch came into view.
The small house and equally small barn were at the end of a very narrow road. Emphasis on narrow. It was flanked by two fairly deep irrigation ditches, and Noah suspected when it rained, it’d make for one hard trip in and out of here. It’d be very easy for tires to slip into those ditches and get bogged down.
“Turn on your wire,” Theo instructed when Noah pulled to a stop.
Noah was indeed wearing a wire, and Theo would be monitoring the feed through his earpiece. It was yet another security precaution in case all hell broke loose.
The front door opened, and River stepped out. Probably because he’d heard the vehicle. The man was wearing baggy cargo shorts and a white tee. He was barefooted, and either he’d recently gotten out of bed or else he’d yet to comb his hair. River obviously hadn’t dressed for the interview, and since there was only one other vehicle, a blue truck, that meant he probably hadn’t brought in a lawyer.
“I’m Detective Noah Ryland,” he said, stepping from the cruiser.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” River grumbled. He raked his hand through his mop of long sandy brown hair to push it from his face.
Noah couldn’t see any weapons, and since River was drinking from a coffee mug, his right hand was occupied. Still, he’d keep a close watch on him.
“I have Everly Monroe, an attorney from Silver Creek with me,” Noah continued, staying put for the moment. “Is it okay if she comes in with me while we talk?”
River tipped his head toward the open door. “The more, the merrier,” he muttered with a boatload of sarcasm. Still drinking from the mug, he went inside.
Noah did another check around the grounds, and when he didn’t see anyone, he went to the passenger’s side of the cruiser and had Everly get out. He kept her close, ready to drag her to the ground if it became necessary.
“Move fast,” Noah instructed her in a whisper. “If the killer’s out here, I don’t want to be easy targets.”
