Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,12

his toddler daughter. Since Owen lived just a short distance from Eli, Ashlyn wanted him to stay close to home in case something else went wrong. Whoever was carrying out this grudge—or whatever it was—might use Owen to get to them.

Kellan didn’t waste any time, and he quickly ushered them into his office. Away from the front door and the windows. A reminder that another gunman could be out there. That didn’t help calm any of her still-raw nerves.

“The doctor said Ashlyn and the baby weren’t hurt,” Eli relayed to his brother the moment Kellan shut his office door behind him.

Kellan nodded and motioned for Ashlyn to take the chair across from his desk. Because her legs felt as if they might give way, she did. “I’ll need diapers and a bottle for her soon,” she let them know.

Kellan gave another nod. “What kind of formula and diapers?”

After Ashlyn told him, he fired off a message to someone, most likely arranging for those items, and then he turned to Eli. “Remy won’t be in until nine in the morning,” Kellan explained. “And he’s bringing his lawyer with him.”

That didn’t surprise her. Word of the attack had almost certainly gotten out, and Remy would know that he would be a suspect.

“If Remy did this, he’ll have an alibi,” Ashlyn said, and judging from the quick looks of approval, Eli and Kellan had already considered that.

“We’ll get his financials,” Eli assured her. “If Remy paid for those thugs, we’ll find it.”

She didn’t have any idea how much it cost to hire would-be killers, but Ashlyn suspected it would be enough of a withdrawal to get their attention. That meant Remy would have covered those tracks, too. Except there was a problem with the whole theory that Remy was responsible for this.

“Remy isn’t rich,” she reminded them, her gaze holding on Eli. “From what I’ve heard, he drained his savings trying to bring a civil lawsuit against you.” A lawsuit for Marta’s wrongful death that a judge had dismissed before it could even go to trial.

If Eli had a reaction to the reminder of the legal attempt against him, he didn’t show it. He kept the same stony expression he’d had in the cruiser. “He could have borrowed the money or sold something to get it,” Eli pointed out just as quickly. He turned to his brother. “SAPD is interviewing Abe Franklin’s family. They might know who actually hired him.”

Ashlyn latched onto that hope even though she knew it was a long shot. “What about the second gunman?”

Kellan glanced at his computer screen, his eyes scanning over the info he saw there. “Charles Cardona. He’s got a record as long as Abe Franklin’s. No family other than an ex-wife. The Austin PD will interview her.”

So, the investigation was already in full swing. No surprise there, since someone had targeted a Texas Ranger. Law enforcement all over the state would hopefully see this attack on one of their own, and that would spur them to get to the bottom of it ASAP.

Eli and Kellan exchanged a glance, and it seemed as if something passed between them. A cue, maybe, because Eli turned to her. “Tell us about the baby,” Eli insisted.

Ashlyn felt herself go stiff, and she tightened her grip around Cora. His comment definitely didn’t sound friendly, more like a lawman’s order. “I adopted her six weeks ago. She’s three months old.”

They both stared at her, definitely waiting for more, and the uneasy feeling in her stomach turned to a hard knot. Because she suddenly knew why they had those lawmen eyes on her.

“Dominick McComb,” she muttered. Just saying his name tightened her stomach even more, but Ashlyn shook her head. “He’s Cora’s biological grandfather, and he wasn’t happy about the adoption. But he wouldn’t have done this. He wouldn’t have done anything to put Cora at risk.”

Eli lifted his shoulder as if maybe not buying that. “Why wasn’t he happy about the adoption?”

Obviously, they weren’t going to accept that Dominick was innocent. And maybe Ashlyn didn’t, either, but it chilled her breath to bone to even consider that Dominick might be behind this. Unlike Remy, Dominick had money along with a cool facade that didn’t make cops take a second look at him. That made him even more dangerous than Remy, but she didn’t think that danger would apply to anything he did with Cora.

Ashlyn took a moment to steady herself before she answered. “Cora’s biological parents were Olive Landry and Dominick’s