Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,31
do. “He drove all that way there just to vent?”
“That and he wanted to know if I’d kept in touch with any of my old friends.”
Eli got that feeling down his spine, the one that told him that he was finally onto something. “What old friends?”
“Just some guys I used to hang out with.” Leon’s tone was casual, but there was nothing casual about what Eli was feeling, and it wasn’t a feeling he intended to push aside.
“Are you talking about criminal friends?” Eli pressed.
“They’ve got records, yeah, but Oscar said he might needs some help at his pawnshop. I took that to mean he might need a little muscle or something like that. Maybe some protection in case he’d made some deals that could cause him problems.”
“Criminal friends,” Eli flatly repeated. “Were two of those guys Charles Cardona and Abe Franklin?” Eli didn’t explain that those were the names of the two dead gunmen who’d tried to kill Ashlyn and him. He just waited for Leon to respond, and it didn’t take long.
Leon cursed. “I think it’s time I called my lawyer.”
And with that, Leon ended the call.
Chapter Nine
Ashlyn listened as Eli made the follow-up calls about Oscar and Leon. Calls that might hopefully link Oscar to the attack. Of course, Leon had already linked the man by what he’d told Eli and her, but they would need more than the hearsay of a convict to consider Oscar a real suspect.
Eli was just finishing up those calls when Owen and another deputy, Raylene McNeal, arrived. Ashlyn hadn’t expected the second backup, but she was pleased about it. They had the ranch hands keeping an eye on the place, but she preferred having two trained law enforcement officers guarding her daughter while Eli and she were at her place.
“Oscar’s not answering his phone. It went straight to voice mail,” Eli told her, and he filled in his brother, Gunnar and Raylene while Ashlyn did a quick check on Cora to make sure she was still asleep.
She was.
Maybe they could make it back from her house before the baby woke up. Then she could spend some time with her while she helped Eli unravel this thread that Leon had given them.
When she went back into the living room, Gunnar and Eli were already at the door. Owen, too, and she heard him lock the door as soon as Gunnar, Eli and she were out and heading to the cruiser.
“Is there any reason for Leon to lie about this?” Gunnar asked once they were inside. It was a good question and something that Ashlyn was already considering.
“Maybe Leon’s just ticked off at Oscar about something and thought this was the way to get back at him.” Then Eli shook his head. “But if that were true, Leon would have already figured out a way to get in touch with me so he could blab. What he told us felt more spur-of-the-moment.”
Ashlyn made a sound of agreement. “And Leon’s worried that he could be considered an accessory after the fact for the attack.”
That got nods from both Gunnar and Eli, and while she knew they’d heard every word she’d said, they both had their attention on their surroundings. It was all rural property between her place and the Slater ranch, which meant there were plenty of places for a hired gun to lie in wait.
“When SAPD and the Rangers were investigating Marta’s murder, nothing came up about a connection between Drake and Oscar?” Gunnar asked. He was behind the wheel, and he made brief eye contact with Eli in the rearview mirror.
“Oscar was interviewed, but so were nearly a hundred others.” Eli cursed under his breath. “It was a connection I should have made.”
Ashlyn huffed to let him know that there was no way he should put this on his shoulders, and then she realized the huff was a sympathetic show of support. Something Eli wouldn’t want. Something that was a by-product of the kiss in the kitchen.
A kiss that had changed everything.
Actually, the change had started before that, around about the time she’d realized they were in this together and that they needed to trust each other. But the kiss had sealed the deal, and no matter how Ashlyn spun it in her head, it had reminded her of a man—or rather a boy—that she’d once loved enough for him to be her first.
Now she wanted him all over again.
She huffed again at that, causing Eli to look at her. Gunnar gave