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The crew got back to cleaning, the atmosphere decidedly more cheerful now.
But Jane’s grin faded fast.
Bridger put a hand on her arm, catching her attention. “What are you thinking?”
Her eyes were wide, and sad. “Are Randall and Vangie responsible for Jason’s disappearance?”
“Nah.”
“No way.”
“You kidding?”
Bridger, Mason, and Paige talked over each other.
Bridger squeezed her hand. “My guess is Myles told Dressler that Jason was helping him. That would have gotten their attention. They would have realized they’d have to rap this up quickly, before Jason uncovered their plot.”
She seemed to consider that for a second. “So when Jason disappeared, they probably thought he was off investigating them.”
“That’s my guess. And then Billy Peckham came back to town. It was the perfect set up.”
The sheriff looked grim. “Poor kid.”
Jane’s expression morphed from fear to sadness. She looked up at Bridger. “You’re saying Vangie and Randall don’t have any information about my brother.”
“Unfortunately.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Then why did Randall show up at my house?”
“Covering his hind end,” Mason said. “He’s not wrong about Vangie being a little…” He circled his index finger next to his temple.
“Seems Randall takes care of Randall,” the sheriff added. “Showing up here was a win-win. If Vangie succeeded in killing her husband, Randall had an alibi.”
“And he could still ride off into the sunset with her and stick around until he got his half of the payout,” Bridger finished.
Paige made a face. “Ick. What a piece of work.”
Mason looked incredulous. “Piece of work? What about that little husband-killer?”
“Oh she’s outright awful,” Paige agreed.
Jane stared at the front door, oblivious to the team’s banter. “It seems so obvious now. What about Billy?”
Bridger and the sheriff exchanged looks before Bridger shook his head sadly.
“One of them’ll give up the location of the body before the end of the day,” the sheriff assured them.
Fenn pointed at his watch. “We’re supposed to have the rental jet back. If we’re gonna grab pizza first, we need to move.”
Tai mopped up the last small pool of blood. “We should hit it. On the way back, Bridger and I can grab some plywood from the store. We’ll have your place secured before nightfall.” He pointed at the sheriff. “Hey, Lawman, you coming with? My treat.”
That drew a faint grin from the round-bellied sheriff. He shook his head. “The wife’s got a meatloaf in the oven. No one misses Mrs. Hammond’s meatloaf.”
“That good?” Tai asked.
“Not exactly.” The sheriff sighed. “But one thing I’ve learned over thirty years of marriage; don’t disappoint the lady.”
Tai nodded sagely. As if he knew the first thing about having a longtime spouse. “Copy that.”
