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“What do you mean?” He tried his best to appear surprised by the question.
“It’s not like you to let a fugitive slip through your fingers. Plus, you didn’t question Big Bertha yourself; you left Coop and BB to do the heavy lifting. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’re a hands-on guy. One of my best interrogators. That Bertha claimed Dania killed Ted doesn’t match the story Olivia told us. That should be eating at you.”
Underneath, Brett knew Gabe was right. His boss, who was also his good friend, could sense something was bothering him. Should he tell him what was going on? Finding the guy who had murdered Matt was turning into a huge deal with all the leads he’d uncovered. He needed help. But realistically, he knew he couldn’t tell Gabe everything. He couldn’t endanger his career too. So instead, he said, “I’m not sure. I guess I have a lot of doubts about who killed Matt.”
Gabe’s mouth fixed in a straight line, not giving the least hint of what he was thinking. “A jury convicted his wife. It’s a done deal. It’s the law. Need I remind you that you took an oath to upholdthe law.”
“But, Gabe, you know darned well sometimes justice isn’t served and innocent people end up doing time for something they didn’t do while the bad guys get away with it.” Was he coming on too strong? If so, it was too late to do anything about it. Had Dania made it to Rex’s, and if not, where was she?
“Hold on.” Gabe glared at him. “Without the rule of law, we wouldn’t have a fair society. And you do know you’re questioning the law, right?”
“No. What I’m questioning is whether all the facts were brought up at the trial. You know yourself how fast they rushed things because the case had to do with Attorney General Tyler’s son.”
“A man you know and respect,” Gabe reminded him as he pushed himself to the edge of the sofa cushion. “Tyler told me today in my office that you paid him a visit this morning and that you even borrowed Matt’s planner. He thought it was for sentimental reasons, but I don’t think so.”
Brett had to handle this just right. Gabe wasn’t an idiot. He could sniff out deception better than anyone. Plus, Brett wanted to know where Gabe was going with his questions. “Why are you telling me this?”
“There’s a smell factor here.” His gaze clamped onto Brett.
“Smell factor?”
“Yep.” Gabe leaned back against the couch, wove his fingers together, and kept his stare on Brett.
What could Brett do? What could he say to throw Gabe off his scent and make him believe in him again? It had to be good, had to be believable, and, most importantly, had to lead him to not doubt Brett’s loyalty to his job or that he’d been compromised in any way.
The best thing to do would be to merely admit it. With truth as his only option, he said, “Gabe, the thing is, I don’t believe for one second that Dania killed Matt. With her escaping, it’s reawakened my doubts. I still feel guilty that I couldn’t help her more, so I called Sheriff Kennard and picked up what files he had on Matt’s case. There might be something in there that they missed. Or something that might direct me to where Dania could have gone. I owe it to Matt to look into this.”
“I knew it.” Gabe gritted his teeth. “I shouldn’t have given you this assignment. It’s playing with your head, making you feel guilty for no reason.” He leaned forward. “And I understand. Really, I do. In a perfect world, the district office would have sent us some help by now, but they called this morning. They have their hands full with another big push in ten cities nationwide focused on reducing violent crime, so they won’t be sending anyone for a couple of days. In the meantime, I’m two men down. Coop, Char, and BB are good at their jobs, but they are already overworked taking up the slack. We need all hands on deck. We can’t go off and investigate a case that has already been solved. We don’t have the manpower.”
“But don’t you think Dania’s trying to solve the case too?” Brett was onto something. If he could convince Gabe to let him continue looking into Matt’s death on the pretense that doing so would help him find Dania, it would solve two problems while covering up the smell Gabe was talking about. “I think we’d have a better chance of catching Dania if we looked into the case some more. You know darn well that’s what she’s doing.”
“What makes you say that?” Gabe reared back.
“Because I know for a fact that she loved Matt. Plus, her child is here, living with her in-laws. I think she’d do whatever she could to uncover the truth so she could be with her son.”
“You might be right.” Gabe gave a reluctant shrug. “Do you think she knew what was in her husband’s planner?”
“I have no idea.” A lie.
“Where is it? I’d like to see it.” Gabe glanced around the room.
“I, ah, I left it at my apartment.” Lie number two. “But as I went through Kennard’s files, I found something interesting. A few days before his death, Matt received a text from Merle Skinner. He hired Matt to help him save his place. On Matt’s cell phone records, I found a text from Skinner that said, ‘I’ve lost my ranch because I trusted you.’ I want to talk with him. And the night before Matt died, he met with Val Wheeler. I talked with both Val and his father. Something’s up with those two. I just can’t quite figure it out yet.”
Gabe gave a deep sigh. “Well, it’s against my better judgment, but you might be onto something. I’ll give you a couple of days to see what you can find. Who knows, you might be right and run into Dania Black.”
Brett could hardly believe his luck. “And I’ll do better in the office. I promise.”
Gabe stared at him and made no move to get up. Something else must be stuck in his craw. Brett wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear what it was. He’d managed to avoid one disaster; he wasn’t sure if he could dodge another. A change of subject would help. “Can I get you something to drink or eat?”
“You know I’m not a drinking man, but after a day like today, I’m thinking of taking it up.” He blew his breath out of his mouth and shook his head.
Not wanting to act guilty in any way, Brett braced himself and asked, “What happened?”
“Eli Wheeler called me.” Gabe leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Guess what he said.”
“Look, I just asked him and his son a few questions. That’s all.” The man had warned Brett that he’d call his boss. If you poke a bear, you’ve got to be prepared to get chewed on.
“He said that you accused his son of killing Matt.”
