“Owen, I need to check you for weapons but then we’ll all go inside and talk.”
Owen nodded. Within a few minutes, they were settled around the kitchen table. The coffeepot gurgled. Emma bustled around pulling down mugs and plating some cookies.
“Where have you been?” Reed asked.
“A rehab facility in Houston.” Owen shifted in the chair. “I was wrong to escape from the hospital, especially since I was under arrest, but Vernon and Mike were looking for me. They wanted to kill me.”
Emma froze, before handing a mug of coffee to her cousin. “Why would they want you dead?”
“I’m Joshua’s alibi for the night Bonnie disappeared.”
Owen’s words had the effect of a bomb going off. Everyone was still and quiet. Reed leaned in. “If that’s so, why is this the first I’m hearing about it?”
“Because I made Joshua promise to keep it a secret. The night of Bonnie’s disappearance, I was with Mike. We broke into a house on Franklin Street. The owners were supposed to be gone, but I guess the husband stayed behind for some reason. We got caught. Mike escaped, but the husband beat me pretty badly before I was able to get out of the house.”
Reed glanced at Austin. His cousin nodded. “There was a robbery that night. The owner couldn’t identify the two men, but he did mention beating one of them pretty good.”
“I couldn’t go to the hospital, for obvious reasons,” Owen said. “Mike had taken the truck and disappeared. I was desperate and called the only person I could think of to help me. Joshua used to rob houses with us but he stopped a long time ago. Still, I figured he would give me a ride.”
“And did he?”
Owen nodded. His shaggy hair fell into his eyes. “Although Joshua was upset about it. He warned me it was the last time he would help me. He advised me to straighten out my life. Anyway, I’m the reason Joshua was late to meet Bonnie at the park. We went there together but she was already gone. Joshua tried calling her a few times, but she didn’t answer. He was worried she’d think he’d gotten cold feet.”
Reed made a point to keep his expression impassive, but if Owen was telling the truth, then Joshua couldn’t have hurt Bonnie. And if Joshua wasn’t behind his sister’s disappearance, then someone else was.
Maybe Judge Norton’s involvement wasn’t such a stretch, after all.
Sadie nudged Emma’s hand with her head, and she stroked her dog’s soft fur. She took a sip of her coffee, but it swirled in her stomach like battery acid. Owen’s delay in providing an alibi for Joshua may have caused serious harm. Joshua was missing, after all. She could only hope he was hiding out and not hurt or dead.
“What time did Joshua drop you off?” Reed asked.
“Late. I’m not sure. He was going to drive over to Bonnie’s apartment to see if she was there. He was frantic. I was too messed up at the time, but in the morning, I felt really bad. Especially when I heard about her disappearance.”
“Why didn’t you come forward when she went missing?”
“Because I didn’t want to be arrested for the robbery. Joshua and I had several arguments about it—the most recent one happened on the same day I confronted Emma on the porch.”
Emma’s gaze flickered to Wayne. It was the fight the ranch hand had observed and told them about.
“Joshua wanted me to come forward and explain he had an alibi,” Owen continued. “He knew you wouldn’t give up on finding Bonnie, Reed. But Joshua was worried time and energy was being wasted looking into him. I refused. I knew Joshua wouldn’t say anything either because he’d given his word to me.”
Emma pushed away her coffee. “Why come forward now?”
“Because Joshua was right. It’s time I straighten out my life. Getting sober is the first step, but I also need to take responsibility for my actions.”
Reed drummed his fingers on the table. “I heard you and Bonnie had an altercation a few months before her disappearance?”
Owen blanched. “We did. I was drunk and it shouldn’t have happened. Drinking has gotten me into a lot of trouble.” He took a deep breath. “I owe you a huge apology, Emma. I treated you badly. I was angry and hurt, but that’s no excuse.”
His voice rang with shame and regret. She closed her eyes. Holding on to her anger wouldn’t get them anywhere. Owen’s addiction had caused him to make choices she knew in her heart weren’t true to who he was as a person. “Apology accepted. All I wanted—all Uncle Jeb wanted—was for you to be healthy.”
“I know that now.”
Wayne took a cookie from the plate in the center of the table. “Tell the sheriff what you told me, Owen. He needs to know the rest.”
“There’s more?” Reed asked.
Owen scratched his chin. “Being arrested for the robbery wasn’t the only reason why I didn’t want to come forward. Dean Shadwick is the other. He’s a dirty cop.”
Emma’s posture went rigid. Dean was the deputy she’d filed a complaint with after someone tried to poison Sadie.
“How do you know this?” Reed demanded.
“Because he’s the one who introduced me to Mike Young. Dean’s been working with the Young brothers for a long time. Lately, they’ve been cooking meth and selling it in the next county.”
Emma let out a breath. “That’s why Dean was so protective of you when I initially reported the stalking on my property. You knew his secrets.”
“Not all of them, but enough to count.”
“Dean always was a sneaky one,” Wayne said. “His daddy was a good man, but my wife used to teach in the high school and she never trusted Dean further than she
