Five

Un-frickin’-believable! Lainie stormed through the sheriff’s department, her hands clinched into tight fists. She didn’t need Rance’s charm or assistance. She didn’t need him anywhere near her, no matter how much her panther panted in his direction. Besides, his entire story reeked of bullshit. She wasn’t sure what game he played, but he definitely worked some angle, and until she knew what it was, she would keep him as far away from her as possible.

She rapped on the doorframe of Chet’s office before barging inside. “Did this idiot give you a laptop?”

Chet glanced up at her from underneath his gray bangs, a grin pushing up his cheeks. “Nice to see you’re playing well with others.” He reached out to the top of his desk and tapped the plastic bag perched there. “I think this is what you want.”

She reached out, taking the evidence bag, and stared at the laptop. “Have you looked at it yet?” Noise from behind her caught her attention, but she didn’t turn around. She knew it was Rance. The man could wait.

Chet shook his head. “No. I figured you’d want the first go round. Of course,” he glanced behind her to where she knew Rance stood, “looks like you might have an audience.” Chet grinned again and then waved them out of his office.

As Lainie shoved past Rance, who just stood there, his hands out to the side in a gesture of surrender, Deputy Johnson yelled out. “Lainie, where do you want this guy?” He held the Serpent member by his forearm, his own posture bored, as if he wanted to hurry off to anything but what he was doing.

“Just stick him in the box and put someone on him. I’ll get to him in a minute.” She turned back to Rance, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. “Well, are you coming with me or not?”

She didn’t face him long enough to wait for a response, but she knew he wore a smug smirk. Her panther purred within, and Lainie just shook her head. This is not the time. But then, the way his jeans wrapped around his ass and the strength in his shoulders just made her…

Stop!

God, she really didn’t need this now.

Turning into an empty office, she plopped into one of the chairs, ignoring Rance as he did the same, not wanting to see his thick thighs wrapping around…

Stop it, damn it!

She ripped the evidence bag open, sliding the laptop onto the desk. She took a deep breath, staring at the device a moment before opening it. She wasn’t sure why she even bothered. Roger was dead, and she couldn’t imagine anything on this computer telling her who did it. Looking up, she glanced over at Rance who just sat there, patiently waiting for her to do whatever she was going to do, hands clasped in front of him on the table. The angelic schoolboy. She rolled her eyes.

She flipped the lid of the laptop open, hitting enter to wake it up. As she waited for it to boot, she looked over at Rance, his golden eyes expectant, almost hopeful. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” she said. “There may be nothing on here.”

“I’ll take my chance.”

The laptop beeped, drawing Lainie’s attention back to the screen. Great. The damn thing needs a password. “You’ve followed him,” she said, her tone frustrated and snappy. “Any ideas what his password would be?”

Rance stared at the screen a moment, his brow furrowed in concentration. Finally, he shook his head. “No, not a clue.” He glanced over at her, his gaze hopeful. “Don’t you have a team who can crack it?”

“Yeah, but not as fast as either one of us wants right now.” Not fast enough to get you out of Bull Creek. She fell back into her chair with a sigh of aggravation. “Great.” Now what?

“There’s always the gang member we brought in,” Rance said.

“We brought in?”

“What? I helped you catch him, and you know it. Not that I want credit or anything. It’s your collar. I’m just saying, maybe now is a good time to talk to him.”

As much as Lanie didn’t want to agree with anything Rance said, he made sense, and it pissed her off. “Fine, let’s go.” She didn’t wait to see if he followed her. There was no way he would be left behind. If she didn’t know better, she would swear Chet set this little partnership up just for shits and grins. She’d have to find some way to get even with him, the old coot.

A deputy stood by the door to the interrogation room, the square, bare space called the box by the sheriffs, his hands clasped in front of him as he stared off into space. Lainie didn’t envy him but knew his situation was the price for being low man on the totem pole in the department. She nodded to him as she passed him, opening the door, Rance right behind her.

The kid sat at a boring table, his hands handcuffed with the cuffs attached to a ring in the table in front of him. As they entered the room, he jerked his attention toward them, yanking on the cuffs. “What the hell, woman? I didn’t do nothing for you to do this. You need to let me go. Now.”

Lainie walked around to the other side of the table, ignoring the kid’s words. They all said the same thing. It was a misunderstanding. They didn’t belong there. They did nothing wrong. Then, they were all found guilty and sent to prison. She was sure this kid would suffer the same fate.

She slid into the chair across from the gang member, Rance taking the chair beside her. She did her best to ignore the detective, but her panther paid more attention to him than the man who wanted to kill her. She didn’t need this distraction right now.

“Look, I thought it was my friend’s cabin, okay,” the gang member said. “I was playing a practical joke, you know. When I saw you, I got scared and ran. See? A misunderstanding.” He lifted his arms as high as they would go, feigning innocence. “Now, can we get these off?”

Lainie gave a slow nod as if she contemplated what the kid said. “A practical joke, huh? So, whose cabin did you think you were entering?”

“I told you, lady. My friend’s. I was wrong, that’s all.”

“And your friend’s name?” She gave a noncommittal shrug. “You know, just so we can verify your story and get you out of here.” She leaned forward on the table, hands clasped in front of her as she gave the punk a smile, knowing he lied and just waiting for it all to play out. None of them would just admit their crime and make the whole thing easy. They always made her jump through hoops.

Rance stared at her a moment, but she didn’t look his way. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him match her posture and stare at the Serpent member, waiting as well. The kid squirmed a moment, shifting in his seat, his hands clasped in front of him. “Johnnie, I think.”

“You think?” Lainie leaned forward a little. “You don’t know your friend’s name? You must not be all that close.”

The kid shrugged. “He’s more a friend of a friend. So can I go now?”

Rance leaned forward, closer to the punk kid. “Snake sent you to kill Roger. We know why you’re here, so how about just cutting the bullshit and tell us what you were looking for?”

Lainie stared at Rance, her mouth open slightly. Unbelievable. He’s still trying to steal my case.

The kid jerked in his seat. “Who said I killed anyone? I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t kill that Roger dude. What the hell, man?”

Lainie shook her head. “If you didn’t kill Roger O’Brien, then what were you doing at his cabin? And don’t tell me you were playing a prank. We know better. Save us some time, will ya, and just tell us what we need to know.”

The kid turned his dark eyes on Lainie, narrowing them as he glared at her. Leaning over the table toward her, he sneered, “All you need to know is the Serpents take care of their own, and if I were you, I’d just back out of that old man’s death.”

“Threatening me?” Lainie shook her head. “Not really a smart…”

“What the hell did you just say, punk?” Before Lainie could react, Rance snatched across the table, gripping the kid’s shirt, pulling him halfway across the table. “You don’t talk to her that way.”

The kid screamed as Lainie reached out and grabbed Rance’s arm, pulling him off the kid. “What the hell are you doing?” she screamed at the detective, yanking on his arm. She wasn’t sure he was going to let go of the kid though, and her panther was almost as furious as Rance seemed to be at what happened. Glancing down at his hand she noticed the slight dark gray fur starting to ooze out of his flesh before he got himself under control.

Tossing the kid back into his seat, Rance dropped back into his chair, his breathing coming out in heavy gasps. Lainie could swear she heard a growl come from him as well.

She remained standing, staring at the detective. If he screws up my case…

Rance crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at the kid through narrowed eyes. Lainie could only shake her head as she sat back down. With a deep breath, she turned back to the kid. “So, you admit to killing Roger? Why? So he wouldn’t testify in the case back in Pensacola? You don’t think him running off to hide was good enough indication that he had changed his mind about testifying? You needed to make sure?”

The kid dropped back in his seat, slouching down as he glared at Rance. “You’re lucky I’m in these cuffs, dude, or I’d teach you not to touch me.”

Rance jerked forward in his chair but didn’t cross the table. The kid shoved backward as far as he could go with the cuffs holding him in place, his eyes wide. Rance chuckled. “Yeah, I can see I have a lot to be worried about.”

“Will you knock it off or get the hell out of here,” Lainie snapped at him. She continued to stare at Rance until he nodded his acquiescence, although she doubted he meant it. Turning back to the kid, she said, “And you shut your mouth with that shit. No one is buying your tough guy facade. Hell, you shit your pants when you faced off with a mangy mutt.”

“Mangy mutt?” Rance jerked around to face her, his mouth open as he stared at her. “Who are you calling a mangy mutt?”

“So, why did you kill Roger?” she asked the gang member again, ignoring Rance.

The kid shrugged. Then he glanced up at her, his head cocked to the side in a way that made her want to slap the back of his head and tell him to sit up straight. “I didn’t say I killed nobody. But if someone did, they were probably just tying up loose ends, you know. Making sure no one changed their mind about anything.”

“Oh, is that right?” Lainie shifted in her seat. “And your trip to the cabin was what? Making sure his ghost didn’t come back to life?”

“Nah, man. Like I said, I didn’t pull no trigger on the man. My only job was to search his house for some video.” He shrugged again. “I don’t know who shot your man, lady, but it wasn’t me. I’m just the clean-up man.”

“So you’re saying the murderer has returned to Pensacola now that Roger’s dead?” Rance asked, his tone a little calmer.

But the gang member just shook his head. “No one goes back to Pensacola until all the loose ends are silenced.”

Lainie sat back in her chair, her brows bunched over her nose. Turning to Rance, she wondered what other loose ends the kid referred to if Roger O’Brien was dead. Rance just shook his head. Great. I hate this case.