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“It’s not fine,” Anthony growled. “You don’t negotiate with criminals. You handcuff them and drag their ass to jail.”
Tate squared his shoulders, clearly annoyed by his deputy’s refusal to concede he’d done what was necessary. But instead of a cutting response, the mayor glanced toward the house and heaved a dramatic sigh. “I’m the acting sheriff; I took care of the matter as I thought best. I never dreamed he would . . .”
“He would what?” Anthony asked.
Tate waved his hand in a vague motion. “End things like this.”
Anthony’s eyes widened. “You’re . . .you’re saying he rammed his car on purpose?”
“Why else would he take off his seat belt and make sure the airbag wouldn’t work? Clearly he couldn’t bear the shame of what he’d done.” The mayor released his hold on Anthony and stepped back. He was obviously done with the conversation. “Still, we can’t be sure what happened. Or why. Just write the report to say it was an accident. It’s the best ending for everyone.”
“But . . .”
“Do it.”
Anthony’s protest died on his lips as Tate disappeared around the front corner of the house. For a second, the deputy stood staring into space, as if debating how to handle the latest debacle the sheriff had tossed in his lap. Then, with shoulders stooped with weariness, Anthony trudged in the direction of the street.
Waiting until both men were out of earshot, Lia slowly shook her head. “I can’t believe Judge Armstrong ran over Drew.”
Kaden turned to send her a puzzled glance. “You did say he was an awful driver.”
“Yes, but . . .”
“Something’s bothering you.”
He was right, but it took Lia a second to sort through her tangled thoughts and pinpoint her unease.
“The mayor was right when he said the judge considered himself above the law.” She battled through her reluctance to speak ill of the dead. Midwest manners weren’t nearly as important as a potential murder. Besides, the man hadn’t earned the right when he was alive to be treated with respect after his death. “He never paid his city taxes, he ruled on cases where he had a clear conflict of interest, and he put ‘no trespassing’ signs on public land so he would have a private place to hunt. There were even rumors that he shot stray dogs.”
Kaden snorted. “Sounds like a classy guy.”
“He was an arrogant bully, but he wasn’t a coward.” Lia could easily picture the judge losing control of his car and hitting an innocent trespasser. That could happen to anyone. But she could never imagine the man being so racked with guilt that he couldn’t bear to continue living. No way. “If he’d hit Drew, he would have stayed and dared anyone to blame him,” she explained. “Not only that, he would also have convinced everyone in town it had been entirely Drew’s fault. The Hursts don’t have any power or money and Drew has been in and out of trouble since he was a young boy. Most of the sympathy in town would have gone to Judge Armstrong.”
Kaden’s jaw tightened, easily following her line of reasoning. “And if he didn’t have any fear of repercussions, why kill himself?”
“Exactly.” She shuddered as the wind whipped around the corner of the house. “So why did the mayor lie?”
“Let’s ask him.”
Chapter 10
Not for the first time, Kaden was happy he’d followed his intuition to find out more about the accident. It was the same intuition that had urged him to leave Wisconsin and head out west. And, eventually, to leave Hollywood to open his business in Vegas.
Of course, suspecting Judge Armstrong’s death was no accident didn’t mean it had anything to do with Vanna. He was guessing the older man had managed to acquire a number of enemies over the years. Many of them right here in Pike. And even if it was connected to the fifteen-year-old murder, he still had no idea who was behind the crimes.
Keeping close to the house, Kaden battled his way to the front of the garage. There was no way to be graceful in the thick snow, but at least he didn’t fall on his ass. He was taking that as a win.
At last reaching his destination, he peeked around the corner, not surprised to find a crowd gathered in the street. It was human nature to be curious about what was happening. Especially in a place where everyone knew everyone. He turned his attention to the deputy who was keeping people from trespassing on the property. It wasn’t Anthony. This man looked as if he was barely out of high school, with a spotted face and a nervous expression.
He frowned, wondering if the mayor had already managed to slip away, when he caught sight of him approaching a couple of teenagers who were standing on the sidewalk. Assuming he was going to urge them to leave, Kaden sucked in a shocked breath when Tate reached out to shove the boy wearing a letter jacket, knocking him off balance. Next, he grabbed the young girl by the arm and tugged her toward his shiny black car, which was parked in the middle of the street.
Kaden glanced toward Lia, who was standing next to him. “What was that about?”
“Sunny is his daughter. He doesn’t want her dating Cord Walsh.”
“Cord.” Kaden recognized the name. “The boy who found the body?”
“Yes.”
