“No. He wouldn’t cough up anything. Seems he told them less than he revealed to us. We probably know more than the police do about what Tucker was doing there and what he saw and heard.” He cranked on the faucet and rinsed down the sink—busy work for agitated hands.
“Now we’re not going to learn any more of what Tucker knew.” She pressed a hand to her face. “Sam, do you think someone got to Tucker in jail? Does that kind of thing happen?”
He hunched over the sink, his T-shirt clinging to his tightly coiled muscles. “That stuff happens all the time, especially if the guy wasn’t on suicide watch.”
“Would Tucker have been on suicide watch?”
“Not unless he made statements that would indicate he was suicidal, which I guess he didn’t.”
“That’s ridiculous. The man was obviously not in his right mind. Wouldn’t that be considered suicidal on its surface?”
“Doesn’t work that way. He didn’t even confess to harming Melody.”
“Because he didn’t.” Jolene folded her arms over her stomach. “But he knew who did, and that’s why he was silenced.”
“Whoa!” Sam spun around. “You’re jumping fast and hard to some serious conclusions.”
“C’mon, Sam. That’s exactly what you’re thinking. I saw it on your face when you were talking to Clay on the phone.”
He plowed a hand through his hair. “What you’re suggesting would require several things to happen—none of them complimentary to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.”
“I’m not saying a deputy murdered Tucker, but you know how he was—highly unstable.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“It wouldn’t have taken much to drive that poor man over the edge completely—haranguing, suggestions, lies.”
“You’re implying someone was paid off to take him over that edge?” He rubbed his chin. “If so, we’re in trouble. I’m going to have to be careful about my interest in the construction site, and the sooner I have a look, the better.”
“The sooner we have a look, the better. There’s no way you’re keeping me away from that land.”
Sam opened his mouth and then snapped it shut when he took in Jolene’s flaring nostrils and the martial light in her eyes. When she got that look, nobody could tell her anything.
She wore that same look when he’d told her about his ex’s pregnancy, and she’d ordered him to go back to his wife and unborn child and to forget about her...as if that were ever going to happen.
AT THE END of the day, Jolene collapsed on her couch, drained and depressed. Not even Chip licking at her hand could bring a smile to her face.
Chip had already been hard at work trying to cheer people up, as she’d brought him to Gran’s house where the family had met to mourn Melody and discuss arrangements. All the relatives believed it was a robbery gone wrong with Tucker Bishop as the culprit. His suicide in jail had confirmed their beliefs.
Who was she to dissuade them? It had brought them a measure of comfort on a dark day.
As Sam had mentioned, they needed to keep a low profile regarding their suspicions about the casino project and what Melody may or may not have known about it. They didn’t want to alert anyone to their interest any more than she’d already done so via her stunt with the bones.
And if those bones came back to her, it could all be dismissed as her concern for the land as a Yaqui.
She plucked at her skirt. She should probably change before Sam got here. He was coming over with dinner, and then they were heading to the construction site to have a look around.
Instead, she closed her eyes and patted Chip’s head as he rested it against her knee. Two seconds later, a knock on the door made her jerk upright.
Chip whined and scampered to the front door. If he wasn’t barking, he must know Sam was on the other side of that door. She glanced at her phone and jumped up from the couch. She’d been asleep for almost an hour.
She peeked through the blinds at Sam holding bags of food. Nudging Chip aside with her foot, she cracked open the door. “Come on in. I fell asleep on the couch.”
“Get back, Chip.” Sam pushed his way past the excited dog. “Chinese, is that okay?”
“I could’ve cooked something.” She closed and locked the door, and then took a plastic bag twisted around Sam’s fingers.
“You must’ve had a rough day if you fell asleep on the couch.” He placed his bag on the counter. “How’d it go with the family? How’s Granny Viv?”
“Heartbroken.”
“It must’ve been a hard day for everyone.” He reached for a couple of plates from the cupboard. “Are you sure you want to come with me tonight?”
“Oh, no you don’t.” She waved a fork at him. “Don’t try to dissuade me. I’m coming with you. I know where my father’s body was found, and that’s where we’re going to start. It’s a big piece of property. You can’t just wander around in the dark, staring at the ground.”
“I don’t know what I expect to find there. Hasn’t all that land been prepped for the construction? Isn’t that why Wade knew there was something fishy about those bones?” He dipped into one of the bags and pulled out a carton of rice.
“Yeah, that was an amateur move on my part, but I had to put those bones where they’d be discovered during the ground-breaking ceremony.” She plunged a couple of spoons into the other containers. “There’s a part of that land that hasn’t been prepared yet, though. They’re holding that aside for a golf course, or something like that. Can you imagine green grass out there, and the amount of water it would take to keep it that way?”
“Other resorts out here have golf courses.”
“Oh, so this is a resort now? Wade won’t stop until he’s built up a theme park for the whole family—Yaqui World.”
Sam snorted. “I doubt that. So, there’s untouched land bordering the construction area?”
“Yeah, and you need me to find it.
