slow pulse of warmth through his body. “That was precisely what I had in mind.”
Rael stepped back into the cabin. “Hashtag, did you finish laying a false credit trail for Dellan?”
“About two hours ago.” Hashtag stilled. “Why?”
“Because we might need it. There’s a police car coming down the road.”
Horvan let go of Dellan and went over to the window. “Yup. It’s pulling up here.”
Dellan’s heartbeat slipped into a higher gear, and Rael was at his side in an instant. “Of course they’re here. It was inevitable.”
Roadkill nodded. “Just keep calm, okay? And stick to the story you told the Chicago cops.”
Dellan nodded, breathing deeply.
“You remember what we discussed?” Hashtag asked him.
“Yeah.” Outside, a car door slammed, and Dellan straightened in his chair.
Roadkill went to the door and opened it. “Good afternoon, officer.”
“I believe Dellan Carson is staying here?” The cop sounded young.
“Yes, he is. Please, come in.” Roadkill stood aside and the cop entered the cabin, glancing around. His gaze alighted on Dellan, and he came over, taking a notebook from his breast pocket.
“Mr. Carson? I’m Officer Logan from the Salmon police department. I’m following up on a call you made this morning to the Chicago PD.”
Dellan nodded. He gestured to a chair. “Please, have a seat.”
The cop took it and peered at the others. “You’re all here on vacation?”
“Since last Thursday,” Horvan told him. “We rented the cabin from Mr. Lane. You just missed him.”
“Did they check on my brother?” Dellan blurted out. It wasn’t an act. Part of him hoped against hope there’d been nothing to find, that it had all been a nightmare.
Officer Logan opened his notepad. “Can you tell me exactly what happened, leading up to your call to Chicago?” He gave a slight smile. “I know you’ve already gone through this with the Chicago PD, but I have to check.”
Dellan swallowed. “This morning after breakfast, I placed a Skype call to my brother, Anson Prescott. My half brother, if you want to be exact.”
“Why did you call him?”
“To say I was coming home. I’ve been away for over a year.” His stomach clenched at the lie.
“Was Mr. Prescott surprised to hear from you?” Officer Logan made notes.
“I think he was surprised my sabbatical was finally over.”
Officer Logan frowned. “Sabbatical? If he knew that, then why did Mr. Prescott have you declared missing last year?”
Dellan did his best to feign astonishment. “That’s news to me, officer. We discussed my taking time away from the business after New Year’s last year. I have no idea why he’d do such a thing.”
“I’ll come back to this in a second. So… you placed the Skype call. What time was this?”
Dellan glanced at Hashtag, who peered at the laptop. “Ten this morning, officer. Dellan made the call on this laptop.” Hashtag turned it around, and Officer Logan looked closely at the screen, scribbling in his notepad.
“The call didn’t last long,” he noted. “Just over three and a half minutes.”
Dellan nodded. “I told him I was coming back to Chicago within the week, and that I was ready to take back the reins. He’s been running the company in my absence.”
“How did he react to that?” Officer Logan gazed at Dellan. “Was he unhappy about the news?”
Dellan shrugged. “I couldn’t tell. He knew when I left he’d be the CEO temporarily, until my return.”
“Then what happened?”
Dellan fought to maintain some degree of calm. “He said he heard a noise, and he got up from the laptop.” He shivered. “That was when the screaming started.”
“Then who disconnected the call? Did you see anyone else?”
Dellan shook his head. “The screen went blank. I called the Chicago police.” He leaned forward. “Now can you tell me about Anson?”
Officer Logan put down his notepad. “I’m not at liberty to reveal any details about the case. I can only tell you that Mr. Prescott is dead.” His face tightened. “You have my condolences.”
Dellan closed his eyes. “It sounded so awful from here. And when the call got disconnected….” He swallowed again and opened his eyes. “Is there anything else you need to know?”
Officer Logan glanced at his notepad. “Can we go back to where you’ve been for the last year?”
Dellan recalled his conversation with Hashtag. “I make regular large donations to several conservation groups, located in different states. I decided to get away from it all and spend some time checking on my investments.”
“Conservation groups?”
Dellan gestured to the window. “National forests, for example.”
“Did you inform any of these groups that you’d be visiting?”
Dellan smiled. “I didn’t