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“Where are you?” Jesse countered.
“Trying to get some place safe so I won’t be gunned down. Just tell your cowboy cop friends that all isn’t what it seems and not to shoot first without asking questions. Therightquestions,” Bull emphasized.
“And what would the right questions be?” Jesse prodded, not only because he wanted to know where this was leading, but also because he wanted to give the dispatcher time to trace the call.
It was possible Bull was using a burner that couldn’t be traced, but he could also be using his sister’s cell. If so, they might be able to ping a location. Unfortunately, from the background noise Jesse was picking up, it sounded as if the man was driving. That would make pinpointing his whereabouts a lot harder.
“Questions about what really went on that night Hanna was shot.” Bull stopped, cursed. “None of this should have happened.”
Yeah, Jesse could agree with that, too. “If you hadn’t tried to evade arrest, no one would have been hurt or killed,” Jesse pointed out. He didn’t wait for Bull to react to that. Instead, Jesse went with some important questions. “Where’s your sister? Is she still alive?”
“My sister?” Bull seemed genuinely surprised by the question.Seemed. “What about Marlene? Did something happen to her?”
“You tell me,” Jesse responded, and he kept it at that.
“What the hell is wrong with my sister?” Bull demanded.
Jesse had plenty of bad feelings about this little chat, but he had to wonder if Bull had already killed Marlene and was trying to make it sound as if he’d had no part in that.
“Turn yourself in, and you’ll find out what happened to Marlene,” Jesse countered.
He figured that would cause Bull to keep up the innocent act, but the man cursed and Jesse heard the sound of brakes squealing. Not nearby, but from Bull’s end of the phone connection.
What the heck was Bull doing? Was it possible he was changing directions so he could go to Marlene? If that was the case, Jesse sent another quick text to Grayson to alert him of that possibility.
“You need to ask yourself about what really took place that night Hanna was shot.” Bull threw it out there. “Then you’ll find out the truth.”
With that, the man ended the call, leaving Jesse with a whole lot of questions. That bad feeling he was already having went up a couple more notches.
“What did he mean?” Hanna immediately asked. “Are you keeping something from me about the shooting?”
“No.” Jesse couldn’t answer fast enough. “I haven’t kept anything from you.” It was important for her to hear that, to believe it, because he didn’t need to have her distrusting him right now. Besides, it was the truth. “As for what Bull meant, I don’t know. Could be he’s just trying to muddy the waters.”
If so, it had created some mud, all right, and Jesse had to at least consider the possibility that Bull hadn’t had a part in Marlene’s disappearance. Even though it would be one hell of a coincidence, there was a chance that what’d happened to the woman had had nothing to do with her brother. Marlene was a wealthy woman who lived alone; someone else could have broken in and kidnapped her. Still, Jesse’s money was on Bull for this.
“‘You need to ask yourself about what really took place that night Hanna was shot,’” she said, repeating Bull’s words. “Are there any doubts or questions about what Bull did that night?”
Five minutes ago, Jesse would have said no, but he forced himself to go over it again. Not that it was ever too far from his thoughts. But it was possible to miss something when a case or investigation was personal. This one had been as personal as it could get.
“One of the ranch hands heard a commotion at the gate,” he said, spelling it out for her. He hoped that by saying it aloud again, he’d notice any gray areas that might answer her concerns, and his, about what Bull had just told them. “It was already dark, but he used his phone app to look at the security camera. He saw the two vehicles—your car and Arnie’s truck. There was no audio, but since the ranch hand thought there was some kind of argument going on, he called me and Noah.”
No need for Jesse to explain that Noah was another cop and someone who’d been raised on the ranch. Or that the reason the hand had contacted both of them was that he’d known they were home and could make a quick response.
“When Noah and I approached the gate, Arnie had already pulled you out of your car,” Jesse went on. “We think he did that to use you as a human shield so we couldn’t arrest him.”
“He knew for a fact you were going to arrest him?” Hanna asked.
This was yet something else Jesse had already answered, but he tried to see it with fresh eyes. “Bull and he both knew arrests were imminent. Grayson had them scheduled for questioning the following morning, and he’d advised them to bring their lawyers.” Jesse paused. Because he had to do that. He needed a moment to try to rein in what guilt he could. “I should have expected they’d panic and would try to do something stupid.”
“Is that because they’d done something stupid before?” she quickly challenged. “I mean, had they ever come to the ranch to confront Boone or you?”
“No,” Jesse had to admit. But it was still something he should have anticipated. “Since Arnie and Bull knew they would be arrested, that obviously escalated their need to go through with the confrontation.”
Hanna stayed quiet a moment. “But instead of confronting Boone and you, they tried to take me. Maybe because something I said provoked one of them?”
His gaze fired to hers. “There’s nothing you could have said that should have provoked them to do what they did.” Jesse wanted to make that crystal clear. She’d been the victim in this. Evan and her. He didn’t want her shouldering any of the blame that should be her attackers’.
And his.
