Texas Forever (The Tylers of Texas 6)

Sky didn’t respond. He was staring at the photo as if he’d seen a ghost.

“What’s wrong?” Erin asked. “Do you recognize something?”

“Maybe,” Sky muttered. “But what I’m thinking doesn’t make sense. When Beau gets here, tell him he needs to make a phone call for me. I’ll tell you more later, depending on what he finds out. Right now—” He pushed his chair back from the table. “I meant to stay longer but I need to go. Thanks for the stew, Rose.”

“You’re leaving so soon?” Rose asked.

“Sorry. I need to get back to Lauren and the kids. I don’t want to leave them alone tonight. And, Rose, you may want to stay in the house with Erin. I can get one of the men to come in if you want.”

“I’ll be here with my gun. I can probably outshoot any man on the ranch,” Rose said. “At least I’ve had more experience. We’ll be fine. But I wish you’d tell us what’s got you so fired up.”

“I can’t be sure until I have Beau call Gatesville Prison,” Sky said. “But I remember those cockroach kicker boots on a relative of mine. If she’s out of prison and hanging around here, it could only mean one thing—trouble.”

* * *

Luke sat at the table in the interrogation room, with the sheriff and deputy seated across from him. He was doing his best to appear calm. But dread was a cold fist clutching at his vitals. When the highway patrol had picked him up, he’d been confident that he could explain his way out of this mess. But he was just beginning to realize how much trouble he was in.

“Am I under arrest?” he asked.

“That depends.” The sheriff, a big, walrus-like man, toyed with his mustache. “It depends on the evidence we find and the way you answer my questions.”

“I have nothing to hide,” Luke said. “I know how this looks, but I didn’t do anything to Will Tyler.”

“Then why did you follow Will after he left the ranch?”

Luke willed himself to stay calm. He knew the sheriff was trying to rattle him, asking him the same questions again and again, hoping he’d slip up and change his story.

“I told you, I didn’t follow Will. He left for town or wherever it was he went. I finished my chores, took the time to pack my gear, and headed straight for the highway. By then, Will had been gone for at least an hour.”

“Any way to prove where you went? Any gas or credit card receipts?”

“I told you that, too. The tank was almost full when I left the ranch. All I bought was coffee and pie in Plainview, and I paid with cash. Could I have made it that far if I’d taken the time to set up an ambush, lie in wait for Will, and shoot him?”

“How did you know Will was ambushed?”

“It was on the news. I was headed north when I stopped in Plainview to eat. That was when I saw the broadcast. And that was when I turned around and headed back here. I was driving south when I was stopped. You know that, too.”

“What did the newscaster look like?”

“Blond, maybe—hell, I don’t remember. All I remember is hearing the news.”

“Did you see any TV shots of the ranch, or any interviews with folks there, like your girlfriend?”

“I didn’t stick around long enough to see, and she’s not my girlfriend. It wasn’t going to work ou

t between us. That was why I left the ranch.”

The sheriff leaned back in his chair, took a toothpick from behind his ear, and chewed on the end of it. “That not working out bit—it was because her father objected, wasn’t it?”

“You already know that.”

“I do. And I know that it gave you a motive for shooting Will. Get the father out of the way, and you can get the girl and the ranch. Motive, means, and opportunity. You had all three.” The sheriff glanced at his deputy, a red-haired kid who didn’t look old enough to be out of high school. “Roy, show Mr. Maddox what you found in his truck.”

As if he’d waited for this moment in the limelight, the young deputy produced Luke’s .38 in a plastic evidence bag. “I found this under the front seat,” he said. “It looks to have been fired since it was last cleaned. One bullet is missing from the cylinder.”

“And we know that Will Tyler was killed with a single shot from a large caliber weapon,” the sheriff added.

“Oh, hell!” Luke exploded, losing his patience despite his best effort. “I used the gun to kill a rattler. Erin was with me. You can ask her.”