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“No, I don’t want the wrong person arrested,” Noble countered, “but I want the threat gone. I want people to know they’re safe in their own homes.”
“This might help,” Vance said, and he handed Leigh a piece of paper.
She read through what was written on it, and while she didn’t smile, Cullen thought he saw some relief. “The SUV that rammed into my cruiser was sent to the lab for processing,” Leigh relayed to the council. “The steering wheel had been wiped, but they found a partial print. The lab’s going to try to match it.”
Noble blew out what Cullen thought might be a breath of relief. “Good,” he said. “Then, we’ll postpone this meeting until you’ve had a chance to get the match.”
It didn’t seem nearly enough. More postponing the witch hunt rather than giving Leigh the credit she was due.
Jeb stood as if he might say something for, or against, his daughter, but Leigh’s attention wasn’t on her father. Or anyone else on the council. It was on her phone as it rang.
“It’s Austin,” she relayed in a whisper to Cullen and her three standing deputies. While Noble officially ended the meeting, Leigh stepped to the side of the room to take the call. Cullen went with her.
“Something’s happened to Kali,” he heard Austin blurt out.
Cullen thought of the part of the phone conversation he’d heard when Leigh had been talking to Kali. Leigh had been concerned enough to send someone out to check on the woman.
“What’s wrong?” Leigh demanded.
“I came to her house to check on her, but she’s not here.” Austin groaned. “And there’s blood on her back porch. Leigh, you need to come right away.”
LEIGHHADPLENTYon her mind as Cullen and she hurried out of the town hall toward his truck. She still had plenty of anger about the town council meeting that Rocky had been able to wrangle. Plenty of anger directed at Rocky, too. But right now, her focus was on Kali.
She certainly hadn’t forgotten about her brief conversation with Kali, and Leigh had suspected then that the woman was in some kind of trouble. Not the kind of trouble that would cause blood to be on her porch though. No. However, Leigh knew this could have turned out to be an overdose, either accidental or intentional.
“Where are you now?” Leigh asked Austin.
“I’m trying to figure out a way inside Kali’s house. She must have changed the locks because my key doesn’t work, and all the windows are locked up.”
It didn’t surprise her that Kali would change the locks. The woman had been very upset over Austin’s cheating. But that led Leigh to another question. “Why call me and not the locals?”
“Uh, I don’t know the locals,” Austin answered. “I know you.”
Yes, and it was a huge understatement to say he didn’t much care for her. Still, it was possible this wasn’t a trap and had nothing to do with his feelings about her. Maybe Austin was truly panicked about Kali, and he would have had her phone number right there in his contacts.
“Call an ambulance,” Leigh instructed Austin, “but don’t go in.” Because if this wasn’t an overdose, it could be another murder. The killer could still be inside. “There should be someone from Clay Ridge PD arriving soon. Tell him or her what you just told me.”
She ended the call and instructed her own deputies—Vance, Yancy and Dawn—to go back to whatever needed to be done, that she would handle things with Kali. Then, Leigh called her brother, and she was thankful when Cash answered right away.
“One of my deputies, Karen Wheatly, should be at Kali’s house soon,” Cash said without any kind of greeting. “I’m guessing that’s why you’re calling?”
“I am,” Leigh confirmed. The moment they’d buckled up, Cullen took off, heading out of town. “Her former fiancé is there now, and he says there’s blood on the porch.”
Cash cursed. “The dispatcher didn’t say there were any signs of foul play or danger so I didn’t send any backup with Karen.”
“I just now found out about the blood, and Cullen and I are on the way there now,” Leigh assured him. “Call your deputy and tell her to approach with caution. The same person who killed Jimbo could have gone after Kali.”
Cash belted out some more profanity. “I’m in Lubbock right now and won’t be able to get there for at least thirty minutes. You’ll be backing up my deputy?”
“I will. I’ll keep you posted,” she added and ended the call. Leigh immediately started glancing around, no doubt to make sure they weren’t about to be attacked.
“Are you okay?” Cullen asked, but he, too, kept watch.
It took Leigh a couple of seconds to shift gears from her conversation with Cash, but she knew what Cullen was really asking. He wanted to know how she was handling what had just happened in the town hall.
“If I don’t make an arrest soon, the mayor could press for a recall and have me ousted from office,” she said. “Rocky might have been the one to set everything in motion, but Noble will get pressure, and he just might cave.”
Still, Noble wouldn’t be able to start the recall process to get rid of her by himself. It would take a majority vote from the council. Leigh had no idea just how many, or how few, votes would swing her way. Heck, she couldn’t even count on getting Jeb’s support. But that wouldn’t stop her from doing her job for as long as she held the badge.
