WANTED (11 page)

“I knew Sarah,” Greg finally said. At first, he dodged Wyatt’s gaze, but then met him eye to eye. “Remember the two boys who Webb sent out to work on Travis’s ranch?”

“Don’t do this.” Zeke tried to take hold of Greg’s arm, but Harlan blocked him. Zeke continued to warn Greg, but he obviously ignored him.

“The ones he had gunrunning,” Greg continued.

Wyatt nodded. “Dakota Cooke and Spenser Cash. Cooke’s dead and Cash is missing.”

“He’s not missing,” Greg said, and then he hesitated. “He’s standing right in front of you.”

Travis went closer, his attention pinned to Greg’s face. “Well, I’ll be damned. It’s you, ain’t it, boy? You’re Spenser Cash.”

Judging from Zeke’s profanity, not only did he know it, but it was something he’d wanted to stay hidden.

Wyatt stared at Greg, trying to pick through the features to see if it was a face he remembered. He could see it now but only after the fact. Of course, he hadn’t expected Spenser to change his appearance and identity, and Wyatt had even considered the guy might be dead.

“I’ve had a few surgeries. Changed my hair,” Greg explained. “After Webb disappeared, someone tried to kill me. At first, I figured it was his gunrunning friends trying to tie up loose ends, so Zeke helped me change my identity.”

“You knew all this time?” Harlan demanded, looking at Zeke.

The man nodded. “Greg was a good kid. And Kirby’s not the only one who wanted to protect some of the boys there. I got Greg out of harm’s way, and the person causing that harm is standing right there.” He pointed at Travis again.

“I didn’t try to kill him,” Travis grumbled. “I didn’t even know he was still alive until just this minute. And besides, I got no reason to want him dead.”

“No reason other than trying to cover up the gunrunning,” Zeke argued. “Or covering up your part in Webb’s murder.”

“It might not have been Travis,” Greg said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.

His remark also caused Zeke’s eyes to narrow. “Think before you say anything,” Zeke warned him.

But Greg didn’t even pause. “I saw something at Rocky Creek that night Webb went missing. Something that made me a target for a killer.”

Wyatt got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What’d you see?”

Greg swallowed hard. “The person who helped kill Jonah Webb.”

Chapter Eleven

A dozen questions went through Lyla’s mind, but first and foremost—was Greg telling the truth? And if so, why was he coming clean now? Still, those were questions that might have to wait to be answered because of the last bombshell that Greg had just dropped.

“Well?” Travis snapped. “Spill it. Who’d you see? And if that lie comes out of your mouth saying it was me, you’ll regret it.”

Greg ignored the threat and looked at Wyatt. “It was Kirby.”

Wyatt started cursing, and because she wasn’t sure what he was going to do, Lyla put her hand on his arm to try to steady him.

“You didn’t see Kirby kill Webb because he didn’t do it,” Wyatt insisted.

“I didn’t see him put the knife in Webb,” Greg explained, “but I did see him leave Webb’s office that night.”

Wyatt cursed some more. “Kirby could have been there for a variety of reasons. Webb had beaten up Declan that day. He’d hit one of the girls, too.”

Both good reasons for Kirby to have paid a visit to the headmaster, but obviously he hadn’t told Wyatt about it.

“What exactly did you see?” Lyla asked Greg. And she tried to make note of not just his body language but Travis and Zeke’s. That might help her figure out what was really going on here.

“I was in the storage closet just down the hall from Webb’s office.” Greg’s voice was low and strained. He glanced at the floor. At her. Even at Wyatt and Travis. At everyone but his mentor, Zeke. “I used to go there sometimes when I wanted to be alone.”

“Go ahead,” Zeke pressed when Greg paused. “You opened this can of worms, and it’s too late to stop now. Tell them
everything.
”

And either Zeke was acting, or else he truly hadn’t wanted this to come to light. But she couldn’t imagine why. Because if Greg was telling the truth, this took the blame off everyone else, including Zeke, and put it on Kirby.

Greg bobbed his head but still didn’t look at Zeke. “I heard someone arguing in Webb’s office. A lot of arguing,” he corrected. “First, with Stella. She was upset about the way Webb had hit Declan.” His gaze came to Wyatt’s. “Webb slapped her.”

Because she still had hold of his arm, she felt Wyatt’s muscles turn to iron, and it took a while to get his teeth unclenched. “You should have come and told me.”

“And me,” Harlan added.

“You both would have killed him.”

Harlan’s expression took on a dangerous edge that matched Wyatt’s. “Damn right.”

Greg shook his head. “I was only sixteen, but I wasn’t stupid. I could see what was going on, and I knew it could turn deadly if the wrong people found out what Webb had done to her. Anyway, Stella and he argued for a while, and then she stormed out.”

“And Webb was alive when she left?” Lyla pressed.

“Oh, yes. He got other visitors after her.” He paused again. “Zeke came.”

Travis’s face lit up, and he made a sound to indicate this wasn’t a surprise to him. “This just keeps getting better and better.”

“I already told the sheriff and the Rangers that I was there that night,” Zeke readily admitted. “Webb and I were friends, and he called me after his little run-in with Stella. She’d told him she was reporting him to the state officials, and I tried to calm him down so he wouldn’t do something he’d regret. Like fire her. Because that would have only made her go after him even harder.”

Lyla figured this was difficult for Wyatt to hear. Stella was like a mother to him, and she had put herself in danger by going up against Webb like that.

“Stella never told you about this run-in with Webb?” she whispered to Wyatt.

His jaw muscles stirred again, and he shook his head. “That doesn’t mean she’s guilty.”

No, it didn’t, but Lyla did have to wonder why she’d kept it secret all these years. Of course, maybe Stella hadn’t wanted to add any more horrible memories to the ones that her
boys
already had.

“After Zeke left Webb’s office,” Greg continued, “Sarah went into the room. A few minutes later, Kirby arrived. They argued, too. I couldn’t hear about what exactly, but their voices were raised. And then everything got quiet. Kirby left, and he shut the door behind him. Sarah stayed inside, but I don’t have any idea when she came out, because I fell asleep.”

“That doesn’t mean Kirby helped kill him.” Wyatt scrubbed his hand over his face. “Besides, the blood spatter found at Rocky Creek points to the initial attack happening in Stella’s quarters.”

Greg shook his head again. “I’m not sure why that blood was there. I’m just telling you what I saw and heard. And because of it, someone tried to kill me.”

“What you
saw and heard
doesn’t make sense,” Wyatt snarled. “If Kirby didn’t know you were in that closet, then how would he have known to
silence
you?”

“Maybe you should ask Kirby.” Greg checked his watch. “He should be here any minute.”

“What?” Wyatt snapped. “Why would Kirby come here?” And now it was Wyatt’s eyes that took on a dangerous edge.

Harlan’s, too. He grabbed his phone. No doubt to call the ranch.

“I called Kirby,” Greg explained. “Told him I was coming here and told him what I was going to say.”

“That you were going to accuse him of murder,” Wyatt snapped, and he looked at Harlan, who only nodded.

“Kirby’s on the way,” Harlan verified. “And Stella didn’t know. Now she’s on the way, too.”

“Well, well,” Travis mocked. “Soon the whole gang will be here, and this is one show I don’t want to miss.”

Wyatt gave him a glare that could have withered every blade of grass in Texas. “Who’s with Kirby?” he asked his brother. “And can you stop him from coming?”

“Cutter’s bringing him, and they’re already in the parking lot.”

“Cutter?” she whispered to Wyatt.

“He’s a ranch hand,” Wyatt explained.

And that in itself told her that Kirby had sneaked away not just from Stella but the rest of the family, as well. Probably because he knew they would have stopped him.

But why was he coming?

Hopefully to explain the accusation Greg had just made. Of course, it wasn’t so much an accusation. More of an observation, and it certainly didn’t prove Kirby was a killer. So, why had he felt the need to come here? Apparently, they wouldn’t have to wait long for that answer.

“Excuse us for a second,” Lyla said, and despite Wyatt’s attempts to stay put, she led him into Saul’s office. She didn’t shut the door, but she maneuvered him to the other side of the room so they wouldn’t be heard.

“I won’t let them railroad Kirby.” And he tried to get around her. But Lyla held on, pinning him against the wall. Of course, he could have thrown off her grip at any time, but he didn’t. He continued to curse and mumble for several more seconds before he stilled and looked at her.

“Kirby’s getting better, but he’s still weak from the cancer treatments,” Wyatt said. “We came close to losing him.”

Lyla heard the emotion in his voice. Saw it more in his eyes, and she slid her arms around him and pulled him to her. “I’m sorry for all of you.”

“For us,” he corrected. Still looking as if he wanted to battle something, anything, he brushed a kiss on her forehead. “You’re caught in the middle of this, too. You and the baby.”

But then the intense warrior look changed. Maybe because of the baby. He was no doubt still coming to terms with the fact that the child was his.

Lyla was certainly struggling with it.

Wyatt gently pushed away a strand of her ponytail that had slipped onto her neck. The back of his fingers brushed against her skin. And just like that, she got the jolt of heat.

So did he.

Because he kissed her again.

This time on her mouth, and he lingered a bit, adding more and more to that heat. Maybe because he wanted to escape for just a few moments. Lyla understood that. She was escaping, too, except it felt like a lot more than that.

He slid his hand between them. Over her belly. “I don’t want any of this to hurt you.”

She was pretty sure he wasn’t just talking about the danger now. Or just the situation they had to work out with the baby. But it was already too late for avoiding hurt. She was well on her way to getting her heart crushed.

Again.

Apparently, she hadn’t learned anything when it came to love.

“Kirby’s coming into the building,” Harlan called out.

Wyatt didn’t rush out, and she looked up at him, dreading what she had to ask. “Did Kirby help kill Webb?”

His mouth tightened, the response he usually had when anyone questioned Kirby’s innocence, but then he shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. In fact, the only person in my family that I’m positive is innocent is me.”

That was what she was afraid he was going to say, and that could mean this meeting with Kirby could have devastating consequence. Because she doubted any of their other suspects were on the verge of a confession. They were still too busy blaming each other.

She followed Wyatt back into the squad room, and he went into the hall to wait by the elevator near the stairs. No doubt where Kirby would be making his arrival. But even though they had only a few moments, Lyla decided to keep digging for information that Greg might or might not have.

“That night when you were in the storage closet, did you hear a noise, like a body falling to the floor?” she asked the man. “Because it would have made a heavy, thudding sound.” And if he’d been able to hear voices as he’d claimed, he wouldn’t have missed that sound.

“I heard some things. Maybe not a thud exactly, but more like someone moving furniture or something.”

So, maybe after being stabbed, Webb had fallen onto a chair or some other piece of furniture. Without Sarah alive to tell them, they might never know. Well, unless they got a confession from her accomplice.

Or her killer.

Of course, that could be the same person, but clearly Wyatt didn’t believe it was his foster father.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Wyatt immediately said when Kirby rolled into the room in his wheelchair. “And you shouldn’t have brought him,” he added to the ranch hand who stayed in the hall.

“When I saw him gettin’ into his truck, or rather tryin’ to do that, he told me he’d drive here on his own if I didn’t bring him,” Cutter protested.

“And I would have,” Kirby insisted. “I’m not an invalid, and I can speak for myself.” His gaze softened a little when he looked at Harlan, Wyatt and her, but there was no soft look for Greg. “Greg, aka Spenser Cash, called and said he was about to implicate me in Webb’s murder. As far as I was concerned, that was throwing down the gauntlet.”

“A gauntlet you should have let Wyatt and me pick up,” Harlan insisted.

Kirby shook his head. “Like I said, I’m not an invalid, and I wasn’t going to sit by at the ranch while Greg spins a web of lies.”

“No lies. I was just telling them what I saw and heard,” Greg argued. “I’m sorry if that points to you being Sarah’s accomplice.”

“I doubt you’re sorry,” Wyatt snapped. “And you’re just spilling all of this now?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Why didn’t you speak up all those years ago?”

“Because he was a scared kid,” Zeke said.

Wyatt shot him a
back off
glare. “I’d like to hear it from him.”

Greg took a moment, gathering his breath. “Because I wasn’t sorry that Webb was gone. I didn’t know he was dead. I just knew he wasn’t around to beat us anymore, and I didn’t really care who was responsible for that.” He paused. “Well, not until the threats started.”

“What threats?” Lyla asked. Again, she watched the body language. Travis was enjoying this far too much, but he was the only one.

“They started within days after Webb disappeared,” Greg continued. “Notes telling me to stay quiet about what I saw. The notes escalated to the tires on my foster parents’ car being slashed.”

“That’s when I stepped in,” Zeke explained. “I told him he’d never be safe if he didn’t disappear, too. I helped him get a new identity, and eventually we started a business together.”

“You withheld information pertinent to a murder investigation,” Lyla accused.

That earned her a hard look from the retired sheriff. “I didn’t know Webb had been murdered then. Thought he’d just walked out on Sarah and turned his back on Rocky Creek. I didn’t know he was dead until his body was found eight months ago.”

“Right,” Travis snarled. “He was your so-called friend, and you didn’t think it strange that he hadn’t contacted you in nearly seventeen years?”

Zeke turned that frosty look on Travis. “One breath you accuse me of wrongdoing. The next, it’s Kirby or Greg. The only person you’re not accusing is yourself.”

Travis smiled. “Because I wasn’t there that night that someone put a knife in Webb’s ribs. Unlike others.” His gaze landed on Kirby. “So, are you here to confess, Marshal?”

“No,” someone said.

Everyone turned in the direction of the doorway, to find Stella standing there. She was breathing hard, probably because she’d run to get into the building.

“Kirby’s not here to confess,” Stella insisted. Her narrowed gaze landed on Travis. “But I am.”

The room went totally silent, but it was the calm before the storm. Wyatt went toward her, but Kirby was closer, and he whirled his chair around to face her.

“You’re not doing this,” Kirby insisted, and both Harlan and Wyatt echoed the same. “You’re not lying to protect me.”

Stella lifted her chin. “Not to protect you. And I’m not lying, because it’s true.” Her determined gaze came to Wyatt. “You need to arrest me because I’m the one who helped Sarah kill her husband.”