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“Maybe we’ll do that,” Mel said. “I have some questions.”
“Any time,” Brody said.
A sheriff’s cruiser appeared around the curve, and he switched off the siren and pulled onto the shoulder. Jacobs leapt out of the car and hurried over. Stared down at the bound man on the pavement. “Larsen?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Brody said. He nodded toward Mel and Devlin. “This is Mel. The woman I met on the day of the fire. Your other suspect.”
Jacobs studied Mel. Nodded. “I’ll have some questions for you,” he said.
“Happy to answer them,” she replied.
Studying the hog-tied man, Jacobs shook his head. “Never could beat you in the calf-roping contests at the rodeo, Jones,” he said. “Guess that’s a good thing.”
Crouching beside Larsen, Jacobs patted him down, then snapped handcuffs on his wrists. Yanked him to his feet and loosened the rope around Larsen’s ankles, but didn’t remove it. He read him his Miranda rights, then guided him to the cruiser. Larsen stumbled repeatedly, but Jacobs kept him on his feet. The rope trailed behind him like a brown snake.
Once he was in the back of the cruiser, Jacobs removed the rope. Coiling it expertly, he handed it to Brody. Then nodded at his truck. “I’ll call the windshield guys for you,” he said. “In the meantime, one of us will drive you to the office so you can give us your statement. A couple other deputies are on their way.”
“Can the statement wait until tomorrow?” Brody asked. “We need to pick up Phoebe from her sleepover.”
Jacobs nodded slowly. “Larsen isn’t going anywhere,” he said. “And I suspect you’ll have no trouble remembering what happened.”
“No,” Brody said. “We won’t.” He tightened his arm around Lainey and pulled her closer, pleased when she snuggled closer.
“If you don’t want to wait for the deputy, we’ll drive you back to your ranch,” Mel offered. “Save you some time.”
Brody studied her for a moment. Nodded. “That would be great. That’d let the deputies get to work here at the compound.” He smiled. “Stick around, and we’ll tell you all you want to know when we get back with Phoebe. In fact, stay for dinner,” he said. “I’ll tell our cook to plan on two more.”
Mel tilted her head to study him. Nodded slowly. “I’d like that.” Her mouth curled into a smile. Brody had never seen her smile, and she looked like a different woman. Light. Friendly. Approachable. “Be good to meet my new neighbors.”
“And I’d like to hear what you have planned for that place.”
“Deal,” she said. “Now let’s hit the road. Don’t want to keep your kid waiting.”
Her words were like a knife to Brody’s heart. He wanted Phoebe to be his kid. His and Lainey’s.
But he wasn’t sure Lainey wanted that anymore.
Just when he found what he’d been looking for his whole life, he might have lost it. And it was his own damn fault.
