Page 8 of Maverick Detective Dad
Noah made a sound of agreement and motioned toward Grayson’s office. “Is this about Winona Billings’s murder?” Noah came out and asked once they were inside.
Jared followed a nod with a heavy sigh, and he maneuvered his wheelchair so he could shut the door. “I heard she’d been killed and found out you were the lead investigator on another murder, Jill Ritter. She died the same way Winona did.”
Everly wondered how the heck Jared had pieced that together so quickly. Then again, she suspected the discovery of Jill’s body had been all over the news, and since Jared would have likely gleaned any and every detail he could about the murder of the woman who’d left him disabled, then it might not have been so hard for him to see the connection.
She looked at Noah though, to see if he was thinking along the same lines. Or if he was considering that Jared might have gotten his info from some other source. Such as the killer.
“The press reported Jill’s cause of death,” Noah said, responding to her unspoken question.
“Yeah,” Jared verified. “And the reporters talked about her criminal history. Do you have a suspect?”
“I can’t talk about specifics of the case,” Noah informed him.
It didn’t surprise her that Noah had dodged the question. That was standard procedure, but the response seemed to frustrate Jared. He shook his head, muttered something under his breath.
“What do you know about Winona’s and Jill Ritter’s murders?” Noah pressed.
“More than I want to know,” the man said on another heavy sigh.
Noah shifted, just a fraction, but Everly caught the movement. He’d angled his body so it’d be easier to draw his gun. If that became necessary. Because Noah had obviously just come to the same conclusion that she had.
That Jared could be the killer.
“Wait,” Noah insisted when Jared opened his mouth again. “I’m going to read you your rights, and then if you decide to continue without the presence of a lawyer, you can tell me all about what you know.”
Jared didn’t get angry while Noah recited the Miranda warning, and he didn’t seem especially alarmed that he might be on the verge of being arrested. He just sat there and waited for Noah to finish.
“I don’t need a lawyer because I didn’t kill Winona or that other woman you’re investigating,” Jared said the moment that Noah was done. “I haven’t killed anyone.” Obviously, he wasn’t going to exercise his right to stay silent. He tapped the armrests of his wheelchair. “Even if I’d had the inclination to end a person’s life, I wouldn’t have been able to manage it, now would I?”
Everly heard the raw bitterness in his voice, and she supposed she couldn’t blame him. After all, he couldn’t walk because of his injury.
“Before the accident, I was a high school football coach,” Jared went on. “I was pretty good at it, too, but I had to give that up. Just couldn’t keep up with all the physical demands of being on the training field and traveling to the away games.”
“And you blame Winona for that,” Noah stated, and since he hadn’t readjusted his stance, that meant he probably wasn’t convinced yet that Jared was innocent of killing at least two women.
“Of course, I do,” the man readily admitted. “She was to blame, but that doesn’t mean I killed her. The way I see it, a bigger punishment for her was having to live with what she’d done. Now that she’s dead, her punishment is over. I’m still having to live with what she did.”
Yes, there was plenty of bitterness all right, but Everly could understand the point he was making about why it was better to have Winona alive. However, like Noah, she still wasn’t convinced they weren’t face to face with a killer.
“What do you know about Winona’s and Jill’s murders?” Noah repeated.
Jared sighed again. “I debated whether or not I should come in because this might turn out to be nothing. I really hope it’s nothing,” he added in a mumble. “But I’m in a support group for victims of violence or trauma. Peace Seekers, it’s called. Yeah, it’s a wussy-sounding name, but it’s helped me. We meet once a week at a civic center in San Antonio, and we had a meeting last night. Anyway, I’m concerned about one of the members.”
“A member who might have had some part in killing these women?” Noah pushed when Jared didn’t continue.
“Maybe.” Jared cursed under his breath. “His name is River Parnell.”
The name meant nothing to Everly, and judging from the way Noah shook his head, it didn’t ring any bells with him, either. That would change though. Noah would no doubt do a thorough investigation on the man. So would she.
“Tell me about River Parnell,” Noah insisted.
Jared gathered his breath. “He’s in his early twenties and is in the group because his mom murdered his dad when he was a kid. The mom got off, claiming self-defense, but River believes she set it all up so she could collect on some life insurance money.” He paused again and met Noah’s gaze. “River’s one very angry young man. Mad at the whole world, if you know what I mean.”
Noah made a sound of agreement. “Do you know his mother’s name?”
“No. But River said she was killed in a car wreck a few years ago. I don’t know that for certain,” he quickly added, “but River likes to go over the details of her death. He says she didn’t suffer or pay nearly enough for what she did.”
All right. So, that would work as a motive for a vigilante seeking justice.
