clasped on her knees. “Abner Sweeney called me after we got home last night. He wants to question her today. According to him, you swore she didn’t see anything.”
“That’s right. What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. I’m guessing her account will back up yours. We certainly can’t ask Erin to lie. But you sent her away last night before the sheriff got there. And you claimed she hadn’t seen the shooting. By the wrong people, that could be interpreted as obstruction of justice.”
“Justice!” Will exploded out of his chair. “What justice? I killed the man in self-defense!”
A thought line deepened between Tori’s eyebrows. “That’s one way of looking at it. But you shot a man who’d just surrendered his gun, a man who hadn’t yet attacked you with his knife. In a different light, that could be construed as manslaughter, or worse.”
The implication made Will’s gut clench. He paced to the top of the porch steps and turned back to face his ex-wife. “Did Abner tell you the man was somebody we knew?”
Tori shook her head as if to say, How could this mess get any worse?
“It was Stella Rawlins’s brother, Nick.”
“The bartender.” It wasn’t a question. Tori’s face had gone pale. “Will, you know what that woman’s capable of. The rumor is, she’s got mob connections. And even without them, she could hurt you. Worse, she could hurt Erin.”
“Or even you—anything to make me suffer for killing her brother.” Will allowed himself a deep breath. He’d taken enough hits this morning. It was time to take charge of the situation. “For now, this is what we’re going to do. Erin will be safer here on the ranch than in town with you. We can call the teacher and arrange for her to do her schoolwork on the computer. If you’re concerned about leaving her, you can stay here, too. Beau’s old room’s available, and except when you need to be in court, you can do most of your work from the ranch office.”
She started to protest. “Blast it, Will, you can’t just dictate—”
He cut her off. “Why not? If you think Erin needs you, what’s wrong with your staying here? Are you afraid it might interfere with your love life?”
Tori’s blistering glare told Will he’d overstepped. But at least the issue was in the open now. He braced himself as she rose, quivering with fury. “You don’t own me anymore, Will Tyler,” she said. “I’ve tried to keep our relationship civil because of Erin, but my so-called love life is none of your business!”
“Erin says he’s the high school principal.” Will had nothing to lose by pushing her a little further.
“That’s right!” she snapped. “He’s attractive, smart, decent, and, unlike you, he doesn’t try to run my life. That’s all I’m going to tell you. And don’t you dare grill Erin about him! I won’t have you putting her in the middle!”
“Agreed,” Will said. “But speaking of Erin, there’s one thing I need you to do. Call Abner and tell him that if he wants to talk to her, he can do it here, with both of us present.”
“Fine.” Turning away from him, she took her cell phone out of her purse and exchanged a few terse words before ending the call. “Abner will be here in an hour,” she said in her crisp, neutral lawyer voice. “He’ll want to talk with you as well.”
“No problem, I don’t have a thing to hide.” Will tried to sound more confident than he felt. “Can I have my attorney present?”
“You’re shameless.” Tori shook her head, but Will knew there was no way she wouldn’t be involved.
“How about some breakfast, you two?” Bernice, Jasper’s widowed sister, had been the Tylers’ cook and housekeeper since Will’s boyhood. With his family gone from the house, Will did for himself most mornings. But when Erin was here, or when Beau or Sky dropped by, she enjoyed whipping up a feast of bacon, eggs, potatoes, and pancakes, with coffee for the grown-ups and cocoa for Erin.
From the back porch came the sound of Jasper ringing the iron triangle to call Erin from the barn. Maybe Sky would come, too, though he showed up for breakfast less often now that he was engaged and building a home for his bride on the 100 prime acres Bull had left him. The half-Comanche horse trainer was a very private man. He hadn’t known he was Bull’s son until Jasper had told him, and he still kept it quiet. He wasn’t