Buried Secrets - Calle J. Brookes Page 0,73

was no love lost between him and Hollace; Weatherby had made that clear when they’d identified Hollace as the main person of interest. Weatherby scooped Marin into his arms and stepped out of the way, leaving room for Max to secure Hollace’s weapon. “You have another weapon on you. A pistol. I’ve seen it before. Check his shoulder.”

Max worked quickly. Knight kept his weapon on Hollace, steady and sure. The man could charge at any moment. He wasn’t stupid. Max was in a precarious position until Hollace was secured, and they all knew it.

“What’s this about? I didn’t do anything wrong,” Hollace started shouting.

Max secured his hands behind him. “You know what you did. There was an innocent woman and baby there. A baby. What do you have to say about that?”

Knight could sense the crowd encircling them now. Miranda’s family were about to burst through the glass doors to the diner at any minute. There were diner patrons with their noses pressed right up to the glass.

He hated small towns.

“Let’s get him out of here before we have a riot.” Knight finally looked away as Max started reading Hollace his rights.

Weatherby stood there, a perplexed look on his face and an unconscious Talley woman in his arms. “No kidding. As soon as I decide what to do with her.”

Knight snorted, then gave a dark laugh. He understood that feeling, for sure. “Good luck. That’s Miranda Talley’s younger sister you’ve got right there. What did he do to her?”

“I don’t have a clue.”

“Her family’s in there,” Knight told him. “Get her inside. They can do the rest.”

“I sure hope so. I think she’s coming around.”

“Yeah. Good luck with that one. That’s a Talley. From what I’ve seen—they’re trouble. In every possible way.”

Knight just left Weatherby there. He and Max would handle Hollace for the time being. Weatherby had his own hands full—and probably would for quite a while.

53

It was the spittle that grossed her out the most. Jac didn’t like to think that she was a wimp, but when it came to bodily fluids, she was a bit squeamish. Jim Hollace sat in the interview chair, hands cuffed to the table legs—the DCI interview rooms were a bit more sophisticated than the one at the Masterson County Sheriff’s Office—and just stared, a defeated expression on his unremarkable face. “Mr. Hollace—”

“Officer Hollace,” he practically spat at her. Jac resisted the urge to wipe her cheeks. She didn’t think any droplets had gotten on her, but it still made her skin crawl.

“Why don’t we settle on Jim?” the man next to her asked coolly. Sheriff Joel Masterson had that steady-as-a-rock thing going on for him. She’d met his wife before. When they’d been extras in the movie together. Phoebe had played the part of Jac’s younger sister. But Jac hadn’t interacted with the sheriff that much. “I don’t think you’ll be with the Wyoming State Police after what happened today, do you?”

The older man’s face flushed. “I—I—I—”

“You dropped a receipt in Clint Gunderson’s front yard. As well as your brass. And you were placed at the scene by two federal agents and eight witnesses,” the sheriff said. Now she heard the temper. “Did you know Clint’s infant daughter was in the barn with Maggie Tyler? The nanny? You hit the nanny, Jim.”

He paled. “I—”

Jac leaned forward. They knew he was the one who’d done it. Miranda had forwarded his photo to Carrie, who’d confirmed with Maggie Tyler that Jim was the one she’d seen. “You were seen, you were recognized, and your squad car was identified. There’s gray paint from the truck you scraped against fleeing the scene right there on your patrol vehicle. My brothers’ truck—the one I loaned to the FBI. The bullet casings you left behind are already on their way to the FBI crime lab in St. Louis—they’ll be expedited by our people. We have you…dead to rights. You hit Maggie Tyler, Jim. With a bullet. While she was holding a baby. If you don’t want this to go bad for you, you may want to start talking.”

“I…” His head bowed down, and she almost thought he sniffled. “I didn’t mean to hurt no one. I was just pissed at Gunderson, that’s all.”

“And you were drunk,” the sheriff said with disgust. “I can smell it on you still. Your file with IA is a mile thick, most of the problems alcohol-related.”

“I was getting help for that.”

“Until today?” Jac said. “Why?”

“I just was stupid.”

No kidding. Jac paused a moment,