Seated at the kitchen table, Griff looked up and his features brightened. “Could we, Mom?”
She smiled, thinking it was a good idea. “I don’t see why not.” Griff started for the stairs to change, Kenzie close behind him when the doorbell rang. She turned to the door, checked the peephole, and her stomach knotted.
Griff continued up the stairs while Kenzie opened the door. “Detective Ford. I’m surprised to see you.” She didn’t invite him in. She had no idea what he wanted but it couldn’t be good.
“I’ve got a couple of questions I need to ask. They won’t take long.”
She had seen him at the funeral yesterday, standing at the back of the crowd. Griff had recognized him from a news broadcast on TV and wanted to ask him about his progress on the murder case. Fortunately, the detective was gone by the time the service was over.
“What do you want to know?”
A cynical smile curved his mouth. He’d be a good-looking man if he weren’t always scowling, trying to prove her guilty of murder.
“Turns out you’re quite a good shot, Kenzie. You never mentioned your shooting skills. You didn’t tell us your father belonged to the Dallas Trap Shooting Club. Or that the two of you went there together often. Why, you’ve even won trophies.”
Her heart was pounding. She wished Reese were there. “I told you my father taught me to shoot.”
“You said you bought the pistol for self-defense. You didn’t say you were a crack marksman.”
She lifted her chin. “Do I need to call my attorney?” It was what Nate Temple would advise her to say.
“What happened the night of the murder? Reese says you were with him but we both know that isn’t true. Did you go to your ex-husband’s house in order to kill him, or did the two of you get into an argument and things just got out of hand? Maybe you were frightened. After the beatings he gave you, maybe you just reacted. Or you were concerned for Griff’s safety. If that’s what happened—”
“That isn’t what happened. No matter what he did to me, I don’t believe Lee would ever have hurt his son, and I was nowhere near Lee’s house the night he was killed. I think you had better leave, Detective.”
“You might want to think about Reese. I know the two of you are involved. Giving false evidence, interfering in a police investigation—he could be facing some very serious charges.”
“Please leave.”
Ford took a step back and handed her a business card, which she accepted with a trembling hand. “If you change your mind, give me a call.”
The detective walked out of the house. Kenzie closed the door and leaned against it.
“Mom?” Griff stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed and ready for a swim. “Was that the detective who was on TV? He’s the one trying to find Dad’s killer.”
“That’s right.”
“He...he doesn’t think you did it, does he?”
Oh, God. “He’s just doing his job, honey. The police ask everyone questions. I wasn’t anywhere near your dad’s house that night.”
She saw the fear in his eyes as he walked toward her. “If the cops think you did it, they could arrest you.”
She drew him in for a hug. “They aren’t going to arrest me, sweetheart. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Griff pulled away. “We’ve got to help them find the bad guy, Mom. If we find the killer, you won’t have to worry about the cops. Maybe we could get Reese to help.”
The worry in his face made her eyes sting. It wasn’t fair that a child his age should be afraid of losing his other parent, too.
“Reese is already helping us, honey. His brothers are detectives. They’re looking for clues.”
His features brightened. “Really?”
“Yes, they’re doing their best to help.”
“Okay.” He looked up, his shoulders less tense. If Reese was helping, surely everything would be okay. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one falling under Reese’s spell. “You still want to go swimming?” he asked.
“Sure.” She forced a smile, hoping a few laps in the pool would burn off some of the adrenaline still pumping through her system. “I’ll change into my suit and be right down.”
As she headed up the stairs, she saw Griff wander over to the window and stand there staring out. From the upstairs bedroom, she saw what he was looking at, an unmarked police car parked down the block.
Dear God, when would this nightmare end?
* * *
Late Friday afternoon, Reese got a call from Tabby.
“I took another look at Daniel Haines and this time I went deep. The guy is squeaky-clean and I mean golden. He isn’t up for reelection for two more years, but if the vote were held tomorrow, the guy would win by a landslide.”
“An honest politician. A rare commodity. Thanks, Tabby.”
“I figured while I was at it, I’d check on Lee.”
Reese had already done the basics, but anything he learned could be useful. “And?”
“Born and raised in Dallas. Married Kenzie right after she got out of college. Had a son, divorced five years ago. Considered himself a real estate entrepreneur and he definitely made some money in the business, but there were lawsuits and scandals, endless rumors about his integrity. No wonder Kenzie dumped him.”
He thought of the hospital photos he had seen. “Good call on her part.”
“You figure out who killed him?”
“Not yet.”
“One more thing. Bran called, said he’d been busy getting the office ready, asked me to look into Arthur. From what I could tell, Arthur’s a lot like his son—not Daniel, the other one.”
“Anything specific?”
“Not yet, but I’m on it.”
When the call ended, Reese phoned John Denton, VP of sales and acquisitions at Sea Titan, asked him if Black Sand Oil and Gas had made an offer on the Poseidon. The answer was no.
“You must have had other offers,” Reese said.
“We had interest from other companies, but we didn’t really put it up for bid. We knew if Garrett Resources bought the rig, the deal would likely go through. I hope nothing’s happened to change that.”
“You know we’ve had problems. But we’re working them out. I’m just following up, keeping on top of things.”
“Let me know if you need my help.”