Page 10 of Child In Jeopardy
Slater hadn’t thought that would be enough to make them leave, but they turned and headed toward the exit. Neither Pamela nor Leonard made a move to give their surviving daughter a hug or offer any words of comfort. That confirmed what Lana had already told Slater about being written out of her parents’ lives.
“We’ll need to take an alternate route to Austin,” Lana said the moment their visitors were gone. “I don’t trust any of them not to spill that we’ll soon be on the road.”
Good. He and Lana were of a like mind on this. “We can use the old highway and not the interstate.”
Duncan nodded. “I’ll have Luca drive with me to take the baby to the ranch, and Sonya can follow behind the two of you as backup. Brandon can man the office until I can get another deputy in here with him.”
Brandon and Luca both made sounds of agreement, but Sonya stepped forward with her laptop in hand. “I found something,” Sonya said, turning the screen so they could see the photo. “This was posted on Stephanie’s Facebook page fifteen months ago.”
Slater, Lana and Duncan all moved in to take a closer look. It was a couple’s shot of Stephanie at what appeared to be a party, but Slater didn’t recognize the smiling dark-haired man who had his arm draped around Stephanie’s shoulder. Lana must not have, either, because she shook her head.
“Who is he?” Lana came out and asked.
“Patrick Holden, Buck’s brother,” Sonya provided, and then she shifted to another open tab with a different photo of Patrick.
One for his obituary.
A quick glance at the date of death showed that he’d died only a week ago.
“Cause of death?” Duncan immediately wanted to know.
That grim look on Sonya’s face told him they weren’t going to like the answer. “He was murdered.”
Chapter Four
Lana kept watch out the window as Slater drove on the back roads toward Austin, and she knew Slater was doing the same thing. Keeping watch. Looking for any signs of an attack.
Sonya was behind them, also in an unmarked Saddle Ridge cruiser, and she, too, was no doubt in vigilant mode. If there were any signs of trouble, she’d be able to respond.
Part of Lana wanted Buck to resurface, to come after them so they could stop him and toss him in jail. Cameron was safe, and if a showdown was coming, maybe it would be better now than later. After all, she couldn’t keep Cameron in protective custody indefinitely. Even though the baby had had a horrific start to his life, he deserved a whole lot better. But better wasn’t going to happen with Buck at large.
Her interview with Austin PD might help with the at-large status. Maybe there was something she could say that would pinpoint Buck’s location. Then she and Slater could grab some sleep before returning to Saddle Ridge. A return that wouldn’t happen tonight because of the already late hour, and it was the reason Lana had arranged for them to stay at a small house owned by Sencor, the company she worked for. She hadn’t wanted to trust the security at a hotel or a short-term rental.
“Are you okay?” Slater asked.
She didn’t need to know what had prompted the question. Lana had heard yet another sigh leave her mouth. She’d heard the deep, ragged breaths she’d been taking as well. She’d never had a panic attack, but, mercy, it felt as if everything was closing in on her.
“There’s been no time to grieve,” she settled for saying. Lana nearly left it at that, but she knew the grief was just the tip of the iceberg. “I’m worried about Cameron. Worried what else Buck will do.”
Slater made a sound of agreement. Coming from most people, that would have seemed like a blasé response, but Lana could practically feel the emotions coming off him in hot waves.
“Stephanie and I weren’t close,” she admitted. “But she was my sister.” She paused, debating if she should even voice her next comment about his father. A check of the time convinced her just to go for it. They still had thirty minutes before they arrived in Austin. “How did you deal with the grief of losing your father?”
Slater stayed quiet for so long that she was about to launch into aforget I said thatapology. “I haven’t,” he muttered, and then winced as if he hadn’t intended to spill that. “I’m still dealing,” he amended a moment later. “Maybe I always will be. It’s possible that’s something that never goes away. Sorry,” he tacked onto that. “I should have come up with something more, uh, supportive.”
“No,” she insisted. “I’d rather have the truth. I’d rather know what I’m up against.”
Again, he paused. “If your experience is anything like mine, then what you’re up against is what I call death plus. A natural or accidental death causes you to grieve in a thousand different ways. But murder, well, murder causes you to grieve, and hurt, and go through all the regrets and feelings that you should have done something to stop this from happening. That you should have done more.”
Yes, she was already feeling some of that. Clearly, Slater was, too.
“Find someone to talk to if you can,” he went on. “That might help. I did some grief therapy for a while. Just don’t shut down.”
The last part seemed as if it’d come from personal experience. “Is that what you did?”
“Yeah,” he admitted while he continued to keep watch. “I ended a two-year relationship because it didn’t feel right. Me, being happy, continuing with my life when my dad was dead. So I put everything aside but the job. Because it’s the job that’ll get my father justice.”
“And give you some peace,” she finished for him. Slater made another of those sounds of agreement.