hours on the road, after all.
“Until they left.”
“What exactly did Pauline tell you about why they were leaving?”
He had been there that day; Jac would bet a month’s paycheck that Jim Hollace knew exactly what had happened to Helen. Now, they just had to figure out how to get him to spill.
“That mom of hers. Helen kicked Pauline and Luther and the kids out into the streets.”
His gaze shifted. And that’s when Jac knew—Jim Hollace was lying through his teeth. “Jim? Who killed Helen?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“But you knew she was dead, didn’t you?” Jac asked softly.
She stared at him, not looking away. Until he finally nodded.
“Did you bury her, Jim?” She didn’t know what gave her the hunch that she was going on, but she had one.
He nodded, then stopped. Shook his head no. Then finally…he nodded one more time.
“Why?”
“Because Pauline told me to, that’s why. Helen’s been haunting me ever since.”
54
Clint let out a harsh curse when he saw Jim Hollace being led away in cuffs. Hollace looked right at him. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know that girl and your baby were there!”
Only the hard hands that landed on his shoulders kept Clint from killing him. Right there in the middle of the station. Only the knowledge that there was a baby girl who needed him, and another baby on the way who deserved to have a chance, and Maggie… what he owed Maggie…only they kept him from doing something ridiculously stupid. No matter how hard it was.
“Keep your cool, Gunderson,” Knight said. “Don’t screw things up for yourself now.”
The man was as cold as an iceberg. “I’m not stupid.”
“No, you’re not. Hollace confessed to the shooting. He got drunk and wanted to teach you a lesson,” Weatherby said bluntly.
“He also confessed to burying the body of Helen Caudrell. He’s going away for a long time,” Knight said, reading from a text from one of the other feds.
“What did he do to Miranda’s sister?” Clint had heard rumors Hollace had tried to take one of Miranda’s sisters hostage. He didn’t know if she knew that or not, yet. “Which one, and is she ok?”
Weatherby growled, and Clint looked at him. “Rex? What happened?”
“Fainted. Said when she and Hollace bumped up against each other, she read his aura, and it caused her to have a sudden-onset migraine as her aura tried to shield itself from his darkness. I hope to never be near that lunatic again.”
Clint gave a short bark of surprised laughter. Weatherby and Marin—two more polar opposites had never existed. “That’s Marin. She ok?”
“Yeah. Seemed to be. Said I was purple. And to tell you to drink that tea she made for you last week. It will help calm you now. You in to all that plant mystic bull now?”
Clint closed his eyes and pulled in a breath. Then another. He wished he had some of that tea now. “I’m good. And no. She…Maggie asked Marin to come out and help her with the ducks last week. They’re close friends. I’ve known Marin since she was a kid. She’s a bit…different. But she’s not a lunatic. And if the woman tells you to get down, you’d better well hit the ground. I’ve never known her to be wrong like that. Not even once. How did she get involved?”
“Hollace was about to enter the diner when we found him,” Knight said. Calm and cool. Clint had to admit the other man’s manner had his own fury receding enough to figure out what to do next. He needed to get Maggie back where she belonged. He had a lot of making up to do to that woman. “Marin was in front of him. That’s all I could see. Then she collapsed. The end.”
“Hollace confessed. And he was the only one involved in what happened at your place.” Weatherby changed the subject. “You can have Dr. Talley bring your…housekeeper…and baby back.”
Clint already had the phone number to where they were. When he was certain they were safe, he was going to get Maggie back to Masterson County. They were going to have a long talk. He was going to tell her he was sorry for what had happened between them and the way he had handled it and make it clear that they were going to do the right thing by the new baby, and by Violet. And then he’d have Maggie where he wanted her. Where he’d wanted her for two months, but was afraid to let her be there.
He’d