Texas Cowboy's Protection, - [books you need to read .TXT] 📗

in on his heels. “I know it’s been a long day.”

“Is there news?”

“Brittany’s mother received a text from her daughter stating she’d decided to go away for a few days and get her head together. Her boss got one stating she’d had an emergency and needed a week off work. Problem is, according to the coroner those texts came post-mortem.”

A stolen vehicle. An empty cabin in what was supposed to be a vacant area. And now texts sent after a murder. “Sounds premeditated.”

The Quinn family knew two things, ranches and law enforcement. Isaac’s Uncle Archer had been the sheriff before he’d stepped down and his son made a run for office. His cousin, Griff, had taken over and become a damn fine sheriff. Several of Isaac’s cousins were U.S. Marshals. Ranching and law enforcement seemed to run in the blood.

Relationships, the Quinn men weren’t so good at.

“It narrows our list of suspects, which until now was every male aged thirty to sixty with brown eyes and a hook nose. The method of killing suggested this was personal. Now, we have proof. We have an initial autopsy report. Based on lividity, Brittany had been dead for at least two hours before those texts were sent.”

“And there’s no chance those texts were delayed?” Gina asked.

“Even if they were, she was setting the scene to meet someone. The cabin next door to yours is owned by folks who live in Houston. I tracked the owners down this evening and the place was expected to be empty. They don’t rent it out. Brittany was most likely set up to meet the perp there.” Griff sat on the armrest of the club chair next to the sofa.

“Could be someone from one of those dating sites. Maybe she was lonely and looking to meet someone.” Isaac’s suggestion was met with a nod of agreement.

“A lot of the houses at the lake aren’t lived in full-time. The person Brittany met must have known that.” Gina made a good point. “My mind keeps going back to the baby’s father. My mother said Brittany never revealed his identity.”

“No one knew who he was that I’m aware of.”

“Sends up all kinds of red flags if you ask me,” Gina said. She mentioned what they’d found on Brittany’s social media page. “What about DNA? Can you find out using the baby’s genes?”

“The only way we’d find a match is if the father is in the database for some reason. If he decided to kill her to silence her, I doubt we’ll find him. A man in that scenario has a lot to lose.” Griff tapped his pen on the desk.

“Is there nothing on her cell records to go on?” Isaac couldn’t help but think there’d be a trail.

“If the affair was kept under wraps then no. One of my deputies is digging into that as we speak. Brittany’s mother gave permission to search her daughter’s cell records so we’re able to speed up due diligence. But it still might take days that we don’t have.” Griff didn’t mention the possibility that Brittany’s killer might never be identified or caught. “She went to great lengths to conceal his identity, which means she was probably smart enough not to use her main cell phone.”

“This is all so hard to believe.” Gina rubbed her wrists and Isaac wondered if she was doing it subconsciously. “I have so many questions. Who was close to Brittany? Surely, she had friends. Is there a best friend? Maybe she kept her life separate from her family on purpose. What about her boss or co-workers? Did she have any fights with one of them recently?” Gina certainly understood not sharing details of her life with her mother.

“All good questions. All leads we’re following up on.”

“My mom was approached by Brittany’s mother, who thought it would be good for the two of us to connect. It makes me think her mother knew something. That woman was always in her daughter’s business.”

“We know her killer is a man. What we don’t know is what he planned to do with you and why he fled the scene.”

“He had the perfect setup to give himself time to clean up the scene of his crime. I must’ve thrown a wrench in his plans. He panicked when I showed up. He seems the type to carefully plan and I messed that up for him. He must’ve been taking me off site to kill me. Maybe he didn’t know what to do with me or had some weird code about not killing an innocent person.”

Seeing the way she kept touching her wrists when she spoke and the pain in her eyes when she talked about the possibility of dying brought out all of Isaac’s protective instincts. He could only imagine what she was going through, the notion that her daughter could be forced to grow up without a parent if anything happened to Gina.

In the world Isaac had come from, he faced life and death routinely on missions. A few of his buddies had wives and children waiting for them. He’d heard the stories of those wives putting up a brave front even though his friends could see through it.

Granted, life had way of throwing all kinds of twists and turns at people. No one was guaranteed to wake up tomorrow. There was no better case in point than Des. But signing up for a high-risk job with a family back home wasn’t something Isaac would have considered.

“Based on other evidence, a picture is emerging that says the killer was inexperienced,” Griff said.

“She could’ve threatened to expose his identity. He decided he had to make the ‘problem’ go away.” Gina’s face twisted. Isaac figured it was difficult for her to think of a child as a problem. They were just throwing around ideas.

Deputy Sayer knocked on the door. He had a piece of paper in his hand. “Sir. I got a hit on her workplace.”

Griff motioned for Sayer to come inside.

He took a couple of steps into the office. “According to the victim’s co-workers, she had what they described as a temperamental personality. It wasn’t uncommon for her to blow up when a project didn’t go the way she wanted it to. They described her as difficult to work with. One person in particular seemed to have conflict with Brittany. She accused her of sleeping with the boss to get a promotion.”

“Did anyone else corroborate the accusation?” Griff asked.

Deputy Sayer shook his head. “No one. There was bad blood between the two of them over the promotion. People didn’t put a lot of stock into the rumor. Brittany’s boss’s name is…was Benjamin Day.” Sayer paused a beat. He’d been a couple of years behind Isaac in school.

“Check into it anyway. Ask for a voluntary DNA sample and see if we can get a match with the child,” Griff instructed.

“Yes, sir.” Deputy Sayer jotted down a few notes. “Brittany’s mother called. Said her husband is out of town. He’s been out of cell range until this evening. He’s on his way home.”

Isaac hadn’t met the man yet but couldn’t imagine the horror of finding out his step-daughter had been murdered.

Deputy Sayer took a couple more notes before disappearing down the hallway again.

“Is there any chance the perp stole a car, picked a target at random and Brittany ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Isaac figured it was a long shot. He couldn’t fathom anyone in town being responsible for something so horrific.

“The method of killing is personal.” The look Griff gave said he was holding back.

“What is it?”

Griff got up and closed the door. “What I’m about to tell you stays in this room.”

“Goes without saying.”

“Brittany knew her killer. We won’t have to look far.”

“What makes you so certain?” It was the first time Gina spoke up since arriving.

“It was cold and rainy last night. He killed her on the porch, which was exposed to the elements and he put a raincoat over her.”

Jesus.

“Why would he do that?” Gina paled.

“Because he cared about her getting cold.” Isaac moved beside her and took her trembling hand in his. It was a lot to hear.

Griff nodded. “It’s warped. I know. It’s the only thing that explains murdering her and then covering her up. My guess is that he hasn’t done this before. The scenario in my mind is the two met up. For what reason, I don’t know. They picked your neighbor’s house because the owners live out of town. It’s rainy and cold and the middle of the week. There was a high probability no one would be using the place. A male called the owners to ask about the property a couple of days ago.”

“You think the two of them were planning a rendezvous?” Isaac asked.

“She might have been led to believe so. The father of Brittany’s baby could be married or have standing in the community he couldn’t afford to lose.”

“Which is why she’s protected his identity,” Isaac concluded.

“There’s no name on the birth certificate.”

“You’re thinking the two decided to meet up, maybe got into an argument.”

“That’s where the evidence is leading. Although, the stolen vehicle suggests this guy might’ve decided to kill her to keep her quiet. She might’ve been threatening to reveal who he is.”

“And he wasn’t having that.” Isaac squeezed Gina’s hand for reassurance. “He couldn’t afford his wife or the community to uncover the truth?”

“It’s the most logical explanation.”

“What about her laptop or home computer? She could have been on one of those internet dating sites like Isaac mentioned earlier.”

“Brittany had a laptop that was in her room at her mother’s house. My tech guy has