Always A Lawman

“Does Jodi need a lawyer?” Hector asked, glancing at both Jameson and Gabriel. “Are you accusing her of something? Because it certainly seems to me that’s what you’re doing.”

Well, it hadn’t been certain to Jodi. Her eyes widened, and she shook her head again.

“I know you didn’t stab yourself,” Gabriel said before she could speak. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. There was another component to this situation.

The most recent murder.

Jodi seemed to understand that even before Gabriel could bring it up. “I also didn’t kill that man and plant the knife on the doorstep so I could clear my father’s name.” Jodi’s voice was stronger now, and she got to her feet to face him. She repeated the part about not killing the man.

Gabriel believed her. Yeah, it was stupid to take her word at face value, especially since he’d hardly seen her in years. He wasn’t sure of the woman she’d become. But he seriously doubted that Jodi had become a killer.

“The FBI wants to talk to you,” Jameson told her. “They’re sending an agent from their San Antonio office.”

Which meant the agent would be there soon, since San Antonio was less than an hour’s drive away. That might not be enough time, though, for Gabriel to get answers from their suspect. He hoped that didn’t mean the agent would take her into custody.

“If this is a copycat killing,” Gabriel volunteered, “then the FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction. I do.” That was splitting legal hairs, but it might stop Jodi from being whisked away and put through what would no doubt be grueling interrogations.

Hell.

Gabriel frowned, then silently cursed himself. He wasn’t thinking with his head now. He was thinking like the twenty-four-year-old deputy who had turned Jodi away that night.

He was also thinking like a man.

One who was still attracted to a woman who shouldn’t be on his attraction radar. But she was. And there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it.

“I’ll get you a lawyer,” Hector told her, already taking out his phone.

“No, don’t. Not yet anyway.” She turned back to Gabriel. “Any idea when Billy’s attorney will be here?”

Gabriel had to shake his head. “But it should be soon. We’ve already bagged his clothes and tested his hands for gunshot residue. There’s residue, by the way, and coupled with the fact that he attacked us, that’ll be enough to charge him. Well, at least it’s enough to charge him for shooting at us.”

Jodi continued to stare at him. “You doubt that he killed that man in the house?”

Gabriel really didn’t want to get into the specifics of what he thought or didn’t think. Not with Hector right there. Not before he’d had a chance to try to work it all out in his head.

But there was a problem.

And Gabriel didn’t believe it was his imagination that Jodi wanted to keep Hector out of this, too. Partially out of it anyway, since she’d refused to go with him and had even asked her boss to leave.

“Come with me a minute,” Gabriel told her. He motioned for Jodi to follow him and headed toward the hall. He wanted her in the observation room next to where they were holding Billy.

However, Jodi didn’t get far because Hector stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “You’re not questioning her,” Hector snapped, his glare on Gabriel.

The man knew how to test every rileable bone in Gabriel’s body. “I can and I will.” He tapped his badge in case Hector had forgotten that he was the one in charge here. Of course, Gabriel didn’t have an interrogation in mind, but he didn’t intend to tell Hector that.

“I’ll be all right,” Jodi told the man, and she stepped around him.

That put some fire in Hector’s eyes. “It’s not a good idea for you to talk to the sheriff without your lawyer present. He’s abusing your childhood friendship. Hell, you might not even be able to trust him. Remember, he’s the one who helped convict your father.”

That stopped Jodi, and for several moments Gabriel thought she might change her mind about going with him. She took in more of those deep breaths. The kind a person took while trying to fight off a panic attack. Or a fit of temper.

“Go home,” Jodi finally said to Hector. Her voice was as tight as the muscles in her face. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”

Oh, that didn’t please Hector. That fire in his eyes turned to a full blaze. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be waiting right here when you’re finished.”

In addition to being a pain, the guy was also mule-headed. Normally, Gabriel would have been pleased that Jodi had someone like that on her side, but this wasn’t a normal situation. And Hector wasn’t just an ordinary boss. He was someone who cut legal corners to suit his needs.

“Sorry about that,” Jodi mumbled as Gabriel ushered her into the observation room.

There was a two-way mirror, and Gabriel immediately spotted Billy seated at the table in the interview room. He appeared to be asleep, his head resting on his folded arms.

Gabriel shut the door just in case Hector decided to follow them. Of course, Jameson and Cameron likely wouldn’t allow that to happen. They both knew about Gabriel’s low opinion of the man, and they had equally low opinions of Jodi’s boss.

“Hector’s protective of me,” Jodi volunteered.

“Yeah, I can see that.” He hadn’t intended to make that sound like some kind of question, but it did. And that question was—why?

“I owe Hector,” she said, answering that unspoken question. “He was there for me after, well, after.”

“Only because you didn’t let any of us be there for you,” Gabriel pointed out.

She didn’t disagree with that. Couldn’t. Because she’d refused to see him, Jameson or his sisters, Ivy or Lauren, when she was home from the hospital. After that, she’d disappeared and hadn’t resurfaced until eight months later at her father’s trial. By then, she’d already started her association with Hector. Just how deep that association went, Gabriel didn’t know.

It was possible they were or had been lovers.

Jodi didn’t look away. She met his gaze head-on. “I’m stating the obvious here, but when I was recovering from my injuries, my father was charged with murdering your parents. For a while, my brother was a suspect as well, and you and Jameson were looking to put someone—anyone—behind bars for what happened. It didn’t seem like a good idea to see you and cry on your shoulder. Plus, you had your hands full with the investigation.”

“So, you cried on Hector’s instead.” Gabriel didn’t bother cursing himself that time, but it was definitely something he shouldn’t have thrown out there. He hadn’t brought her in here to dig up the past, but they were certainly doing just that.

“I cried but not on anyone’s shoulder,” she informed him. “Wait. You’re not thinking I turned to Hector because of some romantic feelings?” She cursed, made a face and didn’t wait for him to respond. “It’s not like that between Hector and me. Or any other man.”

Her mouth tightened as if she also had said too much. Now, she looked away, dodging his gaze, and everything in her body language signaled to him that this part of the conversation was over.

Good. It was time to move on, and he tipped his head toward Billy. “There was no blood on his clothes. Nor any visible on any part of his body.”

It didn’t take her long to process that. “That’s why you don’t believe he killed the man.”

Gabriel nodded. “There was blood everywhere in that pantry, and the guy had been stabbed multiple times. An organized killer could have possibly avoided spatter, but I’m not sure Billy’s anywhere near organized.”

She stared at the teenager on the other side of the glass. “He could have changed his clothes and cleaned himself up after the murder.” But Jodi quickly waved that off. She huffed, but it wasn’t exactly a sound of frustration. There was something else mixed with it, too. “You really do know that I wouldn’t do something like kill a man, don’t you?”

“I know.” There was something else mixed with his response, too. Empathy. Hell. More than that. Sympathy. Something that she darn sure wouldn’t want him to feel. “And you do know if I’d had any suspicions ten years ago about what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let you leave my house?”

She nodded, sighed. Jodi looked up, their gazes connecting, and for just a split second, it seemed as if the last decade melted away. He caught a glimpse of the girl. The very one who’d had a thing for him. That thing was still there; Gabriel could feel it, but it was buried beneath the scars and the pain.

He got another flood of memories then. The heat in his own body. He’d never told Jodi that he’d wanted her that night. Wouldn’t tell her, either. Because it wouldn’t help. In fact, it could make things worse with them going through the “what could have been” scenarios.

Their eye contact continued, and Gabriel could feel that old attraction becoming a simmer again. Thankfully, the simmer turned chilly when he heard voices in the hall.