killed his dad.” Rose’s wide eyes went from one person to another before landing on Pax. “I didn’t think you could drag a kid in without having a parent there! That can’t be legal!”
“We can question a minor if he’s old enough to understand the situation. We just can’t interrogate a suspect without Mirandizing him or her.” Pax met Raleigh’s gaze. “But the sheriff is going to gently fish.”
“We knew they would probably question Cody, but the bastard got a jump on us. Mia’s on the phone with Grace now.”
“She’s going to call the sheriff,” Mia said, joining them. “When did they pick him up?”
“And where?” Pax asked.
“He was working on that fencing job. Remember how Cody said that the sheriff drove by and one of the laborers hid? He knew the kid would be on his own, vulnerable. Of course, Cody would have gone. I taught him to respect authority. He’d be too scared not to.”
Bastards. They picked him up when he wouldn’t have anyone as an advocate. “How long has he been with them?”
“An hour or more. Someone from the sheriff’s office called and left a message, telling me what happened. I didn’t get it until a few minutes ago. I’m sorry, Raleigh. I called and told them to stop questioning him. The sheriff came on the line and said they were done chatting. He was about to take him back. I said I’d come get him, but I wanted to come by here on the way.”
An hour or more. Plenty of time to coerce the kid into telling the truth. And nail the lid on Raleigh’s coffin.
Mia’s phone rang. “It’s Grace.” She put the call on speaker.
“The son of a bitch got what he wanted. That’s how the sheriff put it.”
Rose ran to the door, her face pale. “I’m going to pick him up right now.”
“Raleigh, the sheriff wants you back at the station,” Grace said. “We’ll meet outside and talk first.”
Raleigh felt beat up. Bruised inside. “We’ll be right down.”
Pax walked to the door with them. “I’m going to hit the list of names, see what I can dig up.”
Raleigh shook his hand. “Thanks.”
“I owe you that much, after what my father’s doing.”
“You don’t owe me anything. But I appreciate it all the same.”
Grace, Rose, and Cody were waiting outside the station when they arrived.
Cody stepped over with a heartbreakingly sorry look. “I had to tell him about what Dad did. Which meant I had to tell him about how you knew, ’cause he kept asking…. I didn’t want to, but he said people go to jail for lying to the police.”
“It’s okay, buddy.” Raleigh pulled Cody close and ran his hand over his head. It broke his heart, seeing the angst and fear on the kid’s face. “We should have told the police when it happened.” Rose had been adamant about not putting Cody through the questioning and the potential trial.
Grace asked, “Cody, did he threaten you with jail if you didn’t tell the truth?” She had a predatory gleam in her eyes as she met Raleigh’s gaze. “I could get Cody’s whole statement thrown out.”
Cody loosened his grip and looked at Grace. “Not exactly. He asked if Dad had ever…well, you know. I wasn’t expecting that question, and it threw me off. At first I said no, but he knew I was lying. Then he said people can go to jail for lying in a serious case like this.”
Grace’s mouth tightened into a hard line. She mouthed a whole lot of words, ending with what was no doubt the least acidic: “Bastard.”
Raleigh braced his palms on his thighs so he was face-to-face with Cody. “You did what was right, telling the truth. We don’t have anything to hide. We didn’t do anything wrong, you hear?”
Cody nodded, clearly not feeling it.
Rose pulled him into her arms and whispered something in his ear.
Raleigh, Mia, and Grace walked to the side, away from mother and son.
“Now they have their motive,” Raleigh said. And a peek into his dark secrets. That was almost as bad.
Grace was aiming that hard look at him. “There something you’d like to tell me…your lawyer?”
“I wouldn’t like to tell you, but I reckon I’m going to need to now.” He unearthed the shadows in his soul a second time. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it had anything to do with my dad’s murder. I’m still not sure it does, but I admit it’s a huge coincidence. Still, we don’t know