“What were you thinking about?”
“That asshole, Gunderson.”
“What about him?”
“How he wasn’t a thing like his old man. Clive was a friend.”
The sheriff scowled. “That isn’t exactly a recommendation, Jim.”
“No. I suppose it’s not. How’s the girl he shot? She’s married one of your brothers now, hasn’t she?”
“Yes. She’s recovering. So you were thinking of Clint, and that made you decide to go shoot his home? I have to say, I’m not seeing the reasoning. “
“There wasn’t any thinking behind it. Just wanted to teach him a lesson, teach him to mind his own business.” He pressed his fingers to his forehead. Like he had a headache—or a hangover. “It was stupid. Shouldn’t have done it. Didn’t mean to scare the girl. Or shoot the dog. It die?”
Jac shook her head slightly. “No.”
There’d been two empty six-packs in the backseat of his patrol car. Jac winced. This was not going to reflect well on the Wyoming State Police publicly, that was for sure. “About Helen?”
He nodded, then paused like he was reconsidering.
“Jim, we’re going to find out anyway. You might as well save us some time and get some brownie points in your favor. Just tell us. Do you know something about what happened to Helen?” That was the team’s primary reason for being there—finding out who had killed Helen. But how much Jim was involved in that was still anyone’s guess.
“Help us out here. The Beise family? What do you know about them?” the sheriff asked.
Jac took up where he stopped. “We know you and Pauline were involved with one another. We know you and Luther are cousins. Did he know about the affair? Is her seventh child yours?”
Jim Hollace’s brown eyes closed and he leaned back. Defeated. “No. I don’t think he did. And that kid’s Luther’s. I’m pretty sure of it. It—I didn’t mean it to happen. Us sleeping together was Pauline’s idea. I was…I was twenty-one, and she was available. Wasn’t too bad looking; she wasn’t even forty yet. And she was fun. Could get me what I wanted, when I wanted it.”
“Didn’t you feel bad about sleeping with your cousin’s wife? In his house, I assume?” Jac asked, softly.
“Not at the time. I ain’t proud of it, but I did it.”
“How long were you involved with Pauline?” He’d been twenty-one when his tax records showed he’d moved to the Beise ranch’s address. Two years before the Beise family had disappeared. Had he carried on an affair with Pauline right under Luther’s nose for two years? She supposed it was possible—Luther had been gone long hours on the road, after all.
“Until they left.”
“What exactly did Pauline tell you about why they were leaving?”
He had been there that day; Jac would bet a month’s paycheck that Jim Hollace knew exactly what had happened to Helen. Now, they just had to figure out how to get him to spill.
“That mom of hers. Helen kicked Pauline and Luther and the kids out into the streets.”
His gaze shifted. And that’s when Jac knew—Jim Hollace was lying through his teeth. “Jim? Who killed Helen?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“But you knew she was dead, didn’t you?” Jac asked softly.
She stared at him, not looking away. Until he finally nodded.
“Did you bury her, Jim?” She didn’t know what gave her the hunch that she was going on, but she had one.
He nodded, then stopped. Shook his head no. Then finally…he nodded one more time.
“Why?”
“Because Pauline told me to, that’s why. Helen’s been haunting me ever since.”
54
Clint let out a harsh curse when he saw Jim Hollace being led away in cuffs. Hollace looked right at him. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know that girl and your baby were there!”
Only the hard hands that landed on his shoulders kept Clint from killing him. Right there in the middle of the station. Only the knowledge that there was a baby girl who needed him, and another baby on the way who deserved to have a chance, and Maggie… what he owed Maggie…only they kept him from doing something ridiculously stupid. No matter how hard it was.
“Keep your cool, Gunderson,” Knight said. “Don’t screw things up for yourself now.”
The man was as cold as an iceberg. “I’m not stupid.”
“No, you’re not. Hollace confessed to the shooting. He got drunk and wanted to teach you a lesson,” Weatherby said bluntly.
“He also confessed to burying the body of Helen Caudrell. He’s going away for a long time,” Knight said, reading from a text from one of the other feds.
“What did he do to Miranda’s sister?” Clint had heard rumors Hollace had tried to take one of Miranda’s sisters hostage. He didn’t know if she knew that or not, yet. “Which one, and is she ok?”
Weatherby growled, and Clint looked at him. “Rex? What happened?”
“Fainted. Said when she and Hollace bumped up against each other, she read his aura, and it caused her to have a sudden-onset migraine as her aura tried to shield itself from his darkness. I hope to never be near that lunatic again.”
Clint gave a short bark of surprised laughter. Weatherby and Marin—two more polar opposites had never existed. “That’s Marin. She ok?”
“Yeah. Seemed to be. Said I was purple. And to tell you to drink that tea she made for you last week. It will help calm you now. You in to all that plant mystic bull now?”
Clint closed his eyes and pulled in a breath. Then another. He wished he had some of that tea now. “I’m good. And no. She…Maggie asked Marin to come out and help her with the ducks last week. They’re close friends. I’ve known Marin since she was a kid. She’s a bit…different. But she’s not a lunatic. And if the woman tells you to get down, you’d better well hit the ground. I’ve never known her to be wrong
