Chapter Twelve

Duncan poured himself another cup of coffee—his third of the morning—in the hope that it would help get rid of the headache that was throbbing at his temples and behind his eyes. That was a lot to ask of mere caffeine, but he needed a much clearer head than he had right now.

He heard the shower going in the guest room and figured Joelle would be out soon to join him in the kitchen. Maybe she'd gotten some sleep after he'd left her in the guest room an hour or so after Slater had called with the news about Willie Jay. Maybe. But like him, she'd obviously had to try to get that sleep while processing what the hell had happened.

Duncan was still processing that.

Luca no doubt was, too, because he had downed multiple cups of coffee since getting up and was now at the other end of the kitchen table while he worked on his laptop.

Like Duncan, the deputy was digging for anything and everything that would help them make sense of this. Joelle had almost certainly done the same. She just hadn't surfaced for coffee yet, probably because she could no longer have a morning jolt of caffeine. The pregnancy had apparently put a temporary halt to that.

"The tox report came in," Luca announced just as Duncan saw it pop into his inbox. As promised, Slater had pressed the lab hard to get those results ASAP. No easy feat since it had taken the ME nearly two hours to arrange for the body to be removed from the jail and transported to the county morgue.

Duncan was scanning through those results when Joelle came hurrying into the kitchen. Her focus was on her phone screen, and her hair was damp, but she was dressed. She was wearing the clothes she'd washed and dried the night before after she'd borrowed one of his shirts and a pair of boxers to sleep in. Once they'd gotten the news about Willie Jay, Joelle had known she wouldn't want to be scrounging up some loaner clothes today, that she'd want to focus on the investigation.

"You saw the tox report," she said after glancing at them.

Duncan made a sound of agreement. "Cyanide in the form of a capsule." Part of the capsule had still been in his mouth. "Since Willie Jay was searched before he was locked up, that means he must have had the pill concealed somewhere on him. And that he must have intended to end his life rather than spend time in jail."

That, in turn, added slightly more credence to the murder-suicide of the other two gunmen. The angles of the shots were still off, but now Duncan had to consider that the men had been willing participants in their deaths.

Why?

That's what both Luca and he were digging to find out. Joelle likely would be doing that, too.

"We start with Kate. I want to find out why she called Willie Jay last night," Duncan said, checking the time. It was nearly eight o'clock. "I've already called Dr. Benton, and he said Kate had a rough night and requested sedation. But we'll be talking to her this morning."

That seemed to be Joelle's cue to get moving to the fridge, and she grabbed an apple, and after checking to see there was no milk or yogurt, she went with some cheese. "Did Dr. Benton say anything about what had caused Kate's rough night?"

"More or less. He told Kate that she'd be going home today. She asked if the deputy guarding her would be going with her, and the doctor said he didn't think so, but he didn't know for sure. He said she became agitated after hearing that and insisted she'd be in danger if she left the hospital. He left her for a while because he had to see another patient, and when he came back, she asked for the sedative."

"Does the timing work for when Kate would have tried to call Willie Jay?" Joelle asked.

"According to Benton, it does, and he said she was holding her phone when he came back in the room." Duncan paused. "And speaking of her phone, the request came through for us to get her records."

"They just arrived fifteen minutes ago," Luca supplied, looking up from his laptop to glance at both of them. "In the half hour before Kate tried to speak to Willie Jay, she got two phone calls. One from Brad and the other from Hamlin."

Joelle huffed. "Obviously, we'll be doing a lot of interviews today."

"They're already set up," Duncan assured her. "As soon as you're done eating, we can head to the hospital and knock out the one with Kate. Then, I can have an actual breakfast delivered for you from the diner while we wait for first Brad and then Hamlin to come in."

Duncan expected they'd have lawyers with them and would deny everything. But the pieces were there, and maybe, just maybe, those pieces would fit so one of them or Kate could be arrested today.

"I do have one bit of good news," Joelle said. "I had a text conversation with Bree before I got in the shower, and I convinced her not to come home right now."

Good. That was one less person who might get caught up in this messy investigation.

"I can eat my apple on the way to the hospital," Joelle insisted. "I'm eager to hear what Kate has to say."

So was he, but Duncan took a moment to make sure Joelle was up to this. One glance at her and he knew she was. He couldn't say she looked rested, but she was clearly raring to go. So, that's what he did.

With Luca grabbing his laptop, Duncan headed to the window—again—to make sure there wasn't anyone lurking around. When he didn't see anyone, they went to the cruiser and started the cautious drive to the hospital. Only a couple of minutes. But if the missing gunman and his boss had realized Duncan and Joelle had spent the night at his place, then they might have set some kind of booby trap on the road.

Luca and Joelle no doubt expected the worst, too, because they kept watch. Joelle did the entire five-minute drive with her hand over the butt of her weapon. Thankfully, though, they made it to their destination without anyone trying to kill them.

Despite the early hour, there were already several cars in the parking lot, but Luca parked close enough to the door that Joelle only had a short distance out in the open before she hurried in through the ER doors. Duncan was right there with her, and he did a sweeping check of the ER. No one suspicious.

With Luca staying close behind them, Joelle and Duncan made their way to Kate's door, and Duncan was pleased when he saw Clyde Granger standing guard. Clyde was in his sixties now and a retired deputy, but Duncan knew the man was still plenty sharp.

"She's whining," Clyde said, his tone indicating this wasn't the first time. "She won't leave without police protection."

"So Dr. Benton told me," Duncan verified. "I'll consider it." He was stretched thin with manpower and was surprised that Kate hadn't just hired private security. The woman certainly had enough money to do that.

Luca stayed in the hall with Clyde when they reached the room. Kate immediately sat up in bed, and she had her phone gripped as if ready to call 911. She audibly released her breath when she saw it was Joelle and Duncan.

"Dr. Benton said he's releasing me this morning," she said like a protest.

Duncan nodded. "He said you believed you were in danger."

"I am," Kate was quick to verify. She glanced away, then. "Maybe in danger from my own son. Did you arrest him?"

"I'm questioning him," Duncan supplied, and he considered that the end to him answering the woman's questions. He hadn't come here for that. "Tell me why you called the sheriff's office last night and asked to speak to a prisoner we had in custody."

Kate didn't look surprised. Probably because she would have known all calls would be logged. Especially calls made to a criminal like Willie Jay.

"That PI, Al Hamlin, phoned me," Kate snarled with plenty of venom in her voice now. "He told me you'd arrested a man named Willie Jay Prescott, and that the man was going to tell you and the deputies that I had been the one who arranged to kidnap the dispatcher and Deputy McCullough."

"Did you?" Duncan demanded.

"No." That came out as a howl of outrage, followed by a groan and a lot of head shaking. "Of course not. I wouldn't do something like that."

The jury was still out on that, but Duncan tried a different angle. "Tell me about Arlo Dennison."

No howl of outrage this time, but there was plenty of surprise. "Why do you want to know about him?"

Duncan gave her a hard look to let her know she would be answering questions, not him.

Kate's mouth tightened. "Arlo managed one of my gyms. And I know what you're going to say," she continued when Duncan's look hardened even more. "That PI told you he talked with Arlo when he and his girlfriend were giving up their baby for adoption."

"He did." And Duncan made a circling motion with his finger for her to continue.

She obeyed, after she huffed. "I was very busy with work when all of that was going on, but a friend of a friend wanted to adopt a baby. So, when I got word of Hamlin and his girlfriend, I made the initial contact. Arlo followed up with them. But you should know that I had no idea Hamlin and his girlfriend wanted money for the baby. They were convicted, you know."

"And you and Arlo were questioned," Duncan reminded her. Ruston had come across that tidbit and passed it along.

"We were," she admitted, "but nothing came of it because there was nothing to find. I was trying to do this friend of a friend a favor, and I got caught up in the middle of an ugly mess. Now Hamlin thinks I took his sister and am running some kind of baby-selling business. I can assure you, I'm not."

Kate looked ready to add more to that protest, but the sound of some loud talking in the hall stopped her. "Brad," she muttered when she obviously recognized one of those voices.

Duncan knew the other voice was Clyde's, and the deputy was clearly in an argument with Kate's son.

"I want to see my mother now," Brad demanded.

His first thought was to send Brad on his way to the sheriff's office so he could wait for the interview. But then Duncan figured it would be interesting to see how mother and son reacted to each other, especially since there were four deputies ready to intercede if Brad did try to go after Kate. Or vice versa.

Throwing open the door, Duncan silenced Brad with one of the glares he'd been doling out to Kate for the past five minutes or so. Brad froze for a moment, but then moved darn fast when Duncan motioned for him to come inside.

"I don't want him here," Kate snapped.

Duncan ignored her, but he also blocked Brad when he attempted to charge closer to Kate. "Since you clearly have something to say to your mother, say it," Duncan invited.

Brad had another momentary freeze before he speared his mother's gaze with his. "You told Hamlin I hired gunmen to go after Deputy McCullough and the dispatcher."

Kate's shoulders went stiff. "I most certainly did not." She muttered some profanity. "And I'm tired of being accused of things I didn't do," she added to Duncan.

"Hamlin said he called you and that you said I should be arrested before I tried to kill you," Brad insisted.

Kate huffed. "No." She stretched out that word. "Hamlin's the one who pointed the finger at you, and he didn't say anything to me about you trying to kill me. Hamlin, however, did warn me about that prisoner, Willie Jay Prescott. Hamlin claimed you hired him."

Silence fell over the room while they all took a moment to process that. Duncan didn't need a moment, though, since he'd already come to a conclusion.

"Hamlin could be trying to stir up trouble between you two," Duncan pointed out. "More trouble," he amended, "since it's obvious that things aren't lovey-dovey."

"They aren't," Kate muttered, and her face tightened. Duncan figured it had occurred to her that he was right, that Hamlin had called both Kate and Brad to get them at each other's throats.

And it had worked.

It made Duncan wonder if Hamlin had done that with the hopes it would get Kate to say something to incriminate herself in the illegal baby sales. Or if Brad would be the one doing the self-incriminating. If so, Hamlin could have wanted that to cover up his own guilt. In fact, all the attacks and Molly's kidnapping could be to set up either Brad or Kate so Hamlin would escape scrutiny for his pregnant sister's disappearance.

"My lawyer is on his way to Saddle Ridge," Brad muttered a moment later. "I'll talk to him about suing Hamlin for slander."

Duncan didn't tell Brad that would be a long shot and turn into a "he said, she said." Added to that, Kate probably wouldn't want all of this to be rehashed in public, which it would be if there was a lawsuit.

Brad continued to stare at Kate while his jaw muscles tightened. "Look me in the eyes, Mother, and tell me you had nothing to do with Shanda being murdered."

The anger on Kate's face had cooled a bit, but that caused it to heat up again. "No, I did not, and I'm insulted you even asked."

"I have to ask," Brad fired back, "because you hated her."

Kate opened her mouth, and must have rethought what she was about to say. "Yes, I hated her because of the person you became once you got involved with her," she finally said, her voice surprisingly calm. "You changed after Shanda lost that baby. You became obsessed with payback."

"Obsessed with getting my family back," he quickly replied. "I wanted Shanda and a baby."

"You wanted revenge," Kate spelled out.

Brad glared at her. But he didn't disagree. However, Brad did turn and head out the door. It was still open since Luca and Clyde had both been keeping a close eye on the situation.

Duncan went after Brad so he could remind the man about the interview, but when he went into the hall, he saw that Brad was practically charging toward someone.

Hamlin.

The PI was coming straight up the hall, and the men rammed into each other. That caused them to collide with a nurse carrying a tray of meds, all of which went flying.

So did the fists.

Brad managed to punch Hamlin in the face before Duncan could get to him. Hamlin retaliated, throwing his own punch, and the hall was suddenly filled with profanity-laced tirades and the sounds of the struggle. The nurse was trapped beneath the men.

Duncan reached into the heap and pulled out the nurse, sliding her toward Joelle who had moved closer to help. Once Joelle had the nurse out of the way, Duncan went after Brad next and hauled him out of the fray by the collar of his shirt. Clyde and Luca took hold of Hamlin, who came off the floor ready to run at Brad again.

"You lying SOB," Brad yelled, and he added plenty more profanity to go along with that. Hamlin was doing the same.

Duncan glanced at Joelle who was moving the nurse back toward the nurses' station. "Call for two deputies," Duncan instructed Joelle. "I want both Brad and Hamlin taken to holding cells."

That would keep both men off the streets at least until Duncan had a chance to interview them. It was possible, likely even, that Brad and Hamlin would be filing assault charges against each other. But he'd deal with all of that later. For now, Duncan needed to establish some calm and control since a crowd had gathered to see what the ruckus was all about. There were at least a dozen medical folks and patients gawking at the two men being restrained and the now-crying nurse.

"I can get this one to the cruiser now," Luca offered, keeping a firm grip on Hamlin. "Once he's in holding, I can come back for Joelle and you."

"Do that," Duncan agreed. As long as Brad and Hamlin were around each other, there'd be the possibility of another altercation.

Luca immediately got a still-cursing Hamlin moving toward the ER doors, and when Brad tried to go after the PI, Duncan had had enough. He pulled out some plastic cuffs from his pocket and restrained Brad.

"Go back and stay with Kate," Duncan told Clyde. "I'll look for a place to stash Brad until the other deputies arrive." Duncan also wanted to check on the nurse. She didn't appear to be injured, but she had taken a hard fall.

Duncan got Brad moving toward Joelle and the nurse, but he'd only made it a couple of steps before Clyde called out to him. Duncan turned to see Clyde standing in front of Kate's still open door.

"The room's empty, Sheriff," Clyde said. "Kate's gone."

J OELLE READ THE text from Woodrow to let her know that Ronnie and he had Brad out of the hospital and in their cruiser. Thankfully, she'd already gotten a text from Luca to let them know he'd arrived safely with Hamlin, and that the PI was now in a holding cell where he'd wait until Duncan and she could get back to the sheriff's office.

Whenever that would be.

There was a full-scale search going on for Kate not only in the hospital but also the grounds. Since Duncan hadn't wanted Joelle out of his sight, they had taken the patients wing with the hopes that a frightened Kate had ducked into one of them to avoid another confrontation with her son.

So far, nothing.

And that's what Clyde and some of the orderlies were reporting as they searched the grounds. Kate had seemingly vanished, and Joelle knew that couldn't be a good thing.

In the chaos of the fight, it was possible someone had sneaked in and taken Kate. There was a good argument to be made for that since Kate's phone had been left on the bed. If the woman had fled of her own accord, she likely would have taken that. Then again, she might have left it behind since the phone could be used to pinpoint her whereabouts.

If so, Kate might have left out of fear of her own arrest.

Duncan huffed when they cleared another room and there was still no sign of Kate. At least this particular room hadn't had a patient. Some of the others had been occupied, and it had to be unsettling to have two cops show up and conduct a search. Joelle had doled out a lot of apologies. Not just to the patients but the nurse who'd been shaken up in the brawl. Thankfully, the woman hadn't been hurt other than some bruising and frayed nerves.

"Three more to go," Duncan muttered when they went back into the hall. "And supposedly none is occupied." He'd likely gotten that info from one of the nurses since Duncan's phone had been dinging every few minutes with texts.

As they'd done with the other rooms, Duncan kept his gun ready while he eased open a door and peered inside. Once he'd done the initial check of the main part of the room, Joelle stepped in to cover him so he could have a look in the bathroom.

"Empty," he said, and he stopped to read another text. "The hospital security guard is searching the roof to see if Kate went up there."

Joelle figured if the woman was going to run, it wouldn't be to the roof where she would essentially end up trapped since there was only one set of stairs leading to it. Still, Kate might not be thinking straight.

Duncan and she went back into the hall, which had thankfully been cleared of any gawkers, and they made their way to the next room. This one was easier than some of the others since the bathroom door was wide open, so all they had to do was a cursory sweep before moving on to the final room. Once they checked it, they'd be able to head to the sheriff's office where they could question Brad and Hamlin while the search for Kate continued.

They came to a quick stop outside the final room when there was a thumping sound just on the other side of the door. Duncan glanced back at her, a silent warning for her to use extra caution. She would. Because even if it was Kate in there, it didn't mean the woman wouldn't attack them. Maybe out of fear.

Maybe, though, because Kate was the killer.

Duncan motioned for Joelle to stand back, and he eased open the door. Unlike the other rooms, this one was pitch-dark, probably because someone had lowered the blinds. Joelle barely managed a glance inside when she heard another sound. One that she instantly recognized.

A stun gun.

"Duncan," she managed to call out.

But it was too late.

The gloved hand that snaked out of the darkness jammed the stun gun against Duncan's throat. He staggered back, and Joelle reached for him, trying to break his fall, but she didn't get to him in time. Duncan dropped like a stone.

Oh, God.

"Duncan," she shouted.

Joelle automatically drew her gun. But it was too late for that, too. A bulky man wearing orderly scrubs and a ski mask charged right at her, pushing her back against the wall. In the same motion, he tried to knock the gun from her hand. She held on, twisting her body to try and get away from him so she'd have a clean shot. No chance of that since this thug might deflect the gun, and the bullet could hit Duncan.

"Officer down," she yelled, hoping that someone would hear her and come running.

The thug must have thought that was a possibility, too, because he clamped his hand on hers and her gun and started muscling her toward the exit. He was not only tall but strong. A lot stronger than she was, but Joelle knew she had to fight him.

For her baby's sake.

For Duncan's.

This goon might turn and shoot Duncan before he made that final push to get her out of the building. Kidnapping her. Just as Willie Jay had tried. And the other two dead gunmen.

Joelle didn't want to mentally play out what would happen to her if he did manage to get her outside and into a vehicle. Instead, she focused on the baby and Duncan and tried not to let the terror take over.

She stomped as hard as she could on the goon's foot, and while it slowed him down and made him curse her, it didn't stop him. So Joelle twisted around and rammed her elbow into his gut. That worked better than the foot stomp because he staggered back a step, his back smacking against the wall. He still managed to keep his beefy grip on her gun.

From the corner of her eye, Joelle saw Duncan struggling to move, and he was lifting his gun. She had no idea if he had the motor control yet to pull the trigger, and like her, he didn't have anything close to a clean shot.

The goon pushed himself away from the wall, throwing himself at her and off-balancing her. Joelle had no choice but to protect her stomach, and she did that by bending forward. Not an easy task because of the baby bump, but she used her upper torso to protect her child.

Her attacker cursed her, and as Willie Jay had done, he latched onto her hair. The pain shot through her. With his other hand on her gun, he probably hoped to use that leverage and the pain to force her to move.

That failed, thank heavens.

Joelle got another slam of adrenaline. Another punch of the fight mode, and she used that strength and her training to twist his hand. And her gun. Until she had it aimed at his right leg.

She fired.

He yelled, the sound echoing along with the blast of the shot. Staggering, he let go of her hair, and the maneuver allowed her to take aim again. At his left leg. The bullet slammed into him and caused him to drop to his knees.

Joelle heard the sound of running footsteps and Slater calling out to her. Help would be here soon. But she didn't take her attention off the goon. She couldn't see his face, but she figured it had to be twisted in pain.

"Move and I'll put another bullet in you," she warned him, wrenching her hand from his grip.

The goon didn't listen. He moved, reaching out so fast that it was just a blur of motion. But before Joelle could pull the trigger, someone else did.

Duncan.

He was still on the floor, but he'd lifted his head and shooting hand enough to deliver the fatal shot. Her attacker slumped forward. Dead .