A low curse fell from Tanner’s mouth, although he could admit he wasn’t terribly surprised. Anders had been in and out of prison for the entire eight years Tanner had known him. Tanner had been the one to arrest him more than once.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “When? How?”
Sheriff Duggan looked over at Whitaker before bringing her eyes back to Tanner. “Roughly nine hours ago. The body was found about an hour later. He was stabbed multiple times in the back.”
“Like Newkirk,” Tanner said.
Whitaker crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, exactly like Newkirk.”
Tanner shifted to look at him. “I hope you’re not considering Bree as a suspect again.” Because Tanner damn well wasn’t going to stand for it.
Whitaker’s eyes narrowed. “No,Breeisn’t our suspect.”
The implication was clear, but Tanner turned back to the sheriff, wanting to make sure he understood. “What exactly is Dallas PD implying over here?”
Before she could respond, Whitaker spoke again. “Is there anybody who can verify your whereabouts last night?”
“I was on a stakeout at Dunwoody’s auto shop in thesoutheast corner of the county. They’ve had some vandals. We think it’s high school kids and wanted to put a stop to it before Dunwoody decided to take matters into his own hands with buckshot.”
“Anyone see you out there?” Whitaker demanded.
“No. There was nothing happening, so I went home.” Tanner looked over at the sheriff. “I called everything in. It’s all logged.”
Whitaker shifted his weight in the chair, looking over at Tanner, eyes narrowed. “You went all the way back to your ranch when you could’ve just gone to your place in town.”
Damn it, Tanner still wasn’t going to drag Bree’s name into this. Especially since he hadn’t actually seen her this morning and she couldn’t provide an alibi anyway. “Yes. I have a place in town, but the ranch is my home. Everybody knows that.”
“It’s also a lot more isolated,” Whitaker quipped. “You’re quite a bit less likely to be seen there. If, say, you needed to wash up or something.”
Tanner jerked out of his chair, nearly knocking it over in his fury. “What exactly are you saying?”
“Hey, I’m just—”
“Enough, Whitaker,” the sheriff cut in.
Tanner ran a hand through his hair, getting himself under control, but he was too agitated to sit back down. “Fine. I get that someone else whose arrest I was involved in is dead, and that sucks. But to jump straight into accusing me of washing blood off my hands? What the hell?”
The sheriff held out one hand toward him. “You’re right, Tanner. And I don’t believe you had anything to do with Anders’s death.”
“Her belief is the only reason you’re not in cuffs in an interview room rather than in an office,” Whitaker muttered.
Sheriff Duggan slammed her palm down on her desk then pointed at Whitaker. “You watch it. The Dempsey reputation is multigenerational and stellar. So you can either present the facts with respect and let your colleague provide his refutation or you can get the hell out of my office.”
Whitaker shrank a little in his chair. “Yes, ma’am.”
And somehow, even though it should make him feel better, that exchange made Tanner even more concerned.
“Sit down, Tanner,” she said. “Tell us about your relationship with Peter Anders.”
He rubbed a hand down his face as he sat. “I first arrested him eight years ago. He’s been in and out of prison since then. Tends toward violent crimes. Assault. Assault and battery. Has—had—a pretty nasty temper.”
“And like Newkirk, you also reported to Anders’s parole board that you thought he shouldn’t be let out.” Whitaker’s more reasonable tone didn’t reassure him.
He met the sheriff’s eye. “Look, I’ll be honest—I do that with a lot of people. I get these requests for my opinion from review boards, and I give it honestly. Most of the time I do think the criminals should serve closer to their full sentence. A lot of times it feels like we’re fighting a losing battle if the prison system just dumps them back on the streets too soon. But...”
“But what?” she asked.
Tanner sat forward and leaned his arms on his knees. “Peter got out almost a year ago after his latest charge—a bar brawl where he put a guy in a coma. But this time Peter seemed different. He’d found religion orsomething. I don’t know. I really thought he was trying to change.”
