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“Is it in his handwriting?” Bree quickly asked, voicing the question that was first and foremost in Rafe’s mind.
“The wife says it is,” the detective confirmed. “She’ll be questioned, of course, but for now, she’s saying she had no idea that anything was wrong, that he hasn’t been acting strange. No marital problems, according to her, and that he was a loving, devoted husband and father.” He paused. “You think Gavin could have been coerced into ending his own life?”
“It’s possible,” she muttered.
“If he had written the note of his own free will, he likely would have mentioned the wife and kids by name,” Rafe spoke up. “He would have probably tried to give an explanation for what he was doing.”
“True,” Bree added. “We don’t have identities on either body, but when I have them, we can search for any connections between Gavin and them. And if there are indeed connections, we’ll need to find out why he dumped the bodies here in Canyon Ridge.”
That led Rafe to another of his concerns. “If Gavin did dump them, then why not try to conceal the bodies? He was operating the excavator so he could have shifted enough dirt to cover the first one, rather than expose it.”
“I see your point,” Jace agreed. “I’ll do some digging on my end and see if I can come up with anything. He paused again. “You work for Ruby Maverick’s team?” the detective asked.
“I do,” Rafe verified.
“Maybe sometime we can get together, and I can pick your brain about what it’s like to work for her. I’m thinking about trying to join Maverick Ops.”
It wasn’t a totally out of the blue remark. Plenty of cops, PIs, and former military wanted to join. It wasn’t easy though to get in, and Ruby wasn’t easily swayed by the people she wanted on, or off, the team.
“After this case, we can talk,” Rafe assured him, and Bree ended the call.
“So, you’re not buying that Gavin ended his own life,” she immediately said. “Neither am I, and Buckner could have been the one to coerce him.”
Bree gave the voice command to call Buckner at one of the numbers that she’d gotten from Ruby. First one. Then, two. Then, the third. All three went straight to voicemail, causing Bree to curse under her breath.
“I might have to pay him a visit in San Antonio,” she said. “I don’t want Malley to do that. I want to see and hear for myself what Buckner has to say.”
Rafe agreed. But there was another factor here. “You have to be exhausted. Best to have a clear head when you talk to him.”
She didn’t argue with either part of that. “All right, first thing in the morning then. In the meantime, I’ll continue to call until I either get him on one of the lines or he blocks me.”
It seemed she was on the verge of repeating those calls right then, but her own phone rang. For one hopeful moment, Rafe thought it might be Buckner, but it wasn’t any of his numbers that popped up.
“This is Teddy Sanchez,” the caller said, his voice pouring through the cruiser when Bree answered. “I’m head of the county bomb squad. Just wanted to let you know that we’ve cleared the scene. We didn’t find any other explosives, so it’s safe if you want to come back out here and have a look around.”
“I do,” Bree verified, and she executed a U-turn using a ranch trail that threaded off the road. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Good,” Sanchez said. “Because there’s something here you’ll definitely want to see.”
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Chapter Six
Bree could feel the exhaustion in every muscle in her body. The post-adrenaline crash had drained her, which was why it was standard procedure for her police department to take at least twenty-four hours off after some high-risk encounter.
The explosion was definitely high risk, and she would indeed get that rest. Just not a full twenty-four hours. And not right now. She needed to see what Teddy Sanchez, the bomb squad expert, wanted to show her.
She pulled her cruiser to a stop behind the row of vehicles that were parked in front of the inn. The bomb squad SUV, the CSIs’ van, and the fire marshal’s truck. Bree hadn’t expected to see Davy back here, but then he would no doubt want to learn Sanchez’s findings as well.
After Bree texted Millie to let the deputy know about the change in plans, Rafe and she got out of the cruiser and made a beeline toward Davy, who was next to a lanky dark-haired man that she figured must be Sanchez. She hadn’t had cause to meet him before now, so she made introductions as they approached.
“I’m Sheriff Bree O’Neil,” she said, “and this is Rafe Cross, consultant.”
Even though the consultant label was true, saying it still didn’t feel natural coming out of her mouth. Then again, it didn’t feel natural to have one involved in her investigation either.
“Teddy Sanchez,” the man greeted in return. “Good to meet you, and thanks for coming. I’ll put everything I’m aboutto go over with you in my report, but like I said, I figured you’d want to see it for yourself.”
Bree made a sound of agreement and glanced around. She tried not to have any flashbacks of nearly being killed here. Hard to do though with the fatigue and the nightmarish images flashing through her head. Still, she made herself focus since revisiting the scene could help with the investigation.
