Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (26 page)

“H
ave you crossed
off all the patrons who were at the bar when the attack occurred?” Starr asked, her voice coming through loud and clear over the receiver in Devyn’s office. Trigger, Gunny, and Doc were surrounding the desk as they debriefed Starr on what had been taking place. Daegan and Stick were also included, although the two other team members were holding down the fort at headquarters. “Does that narrow your search enough to identify any likely suspects?”

“We did go through who was inside at the time of the attack,” Trigger informed Starr, wishing he’d refilled his cup of coffee before starting this call. He drained the rest of the contents and held the ceramic mug in his hand instead of setting it down on the desk. “It leaves us back at square one—Micah Kilgore, Dalton Linney, and now Devyn are potential victims. The remaining patrons weren’t on our list to begin with.”

“We have a list?” Gunny asked wryly, knowing full well there wasn’t one. Trigger had been talking opportunity and motive for those customers. He shot Gunny the bird before leaning back in the black leather chair, having to balance slightly because of the broken wheel. That was something else that needed to be done, but it would have to wait. “Detective Chaisson is at the point where another murder would have to take place and hopefully produce some worthwhile leads.”

“That’s not exactly comforting to hear, now is it?” Starr had said earlier in the conversation that she was at Quantico, but it was now evident she wasn’t in an empty office making this call. Muddled voices could be heard in the background, pulling her attention away. “I need to call you back. I’m finally getting somewhere on prying loose information on Brienne Chaylse’s current whereabouts.”

“Is there anything we need to be concerned with?” Gunny inquired, the tone of his voice hardening. He was very protective of Starr, as was the rest of the unit, but Gunny took his responsibility as team leader seriously. “Daegan and Stick can be here within hours if we need reinforcements for Trigger while I fly out to D.C.”

“I’ll keep you posted.” Starr was distracted by whatever she’d heard, which was very unlike her. “I’ve got to go.”

And just like that, the line disconnected. Silence descended and the three men shared looks of concern. None of them liked the fact that Starr thought she had to handle this on her own, but they also were aware of how she would react if they pushed her on the subject of accepting their help too soon.

“All right,” Gunny said, pinching the bridge of his nose to collect his thoughts. “Let’s go over what we do know in order to speed this up, because I don’t like how things are going up in D.C.”

“Micah and Dalton were his prime targets, but now so is Devyn.” Trigger really needed more caffeine if they were going to go over these connections, but he could wait a little bit longer. “Not to mention me. Which means either we saw or heard something this perp believes would threaten him or this isn’t about the
Famous Five
after all.”

“But that would mean that a lot of those people who weren’t on your so-called list are back on, considering Devyn didn’t leave this bar yesterday,” Doc pointed out, enjoying his coffee. Trigger thought about knocking it out of his hand, but deferred that urge when he continued. “Gunny and I both noticed that she took the time to talk to everyone. So who was here when she was attacked? Gunny and I met a few people and can place some names to faces, but you can connect the dots a lot faster. Go over the tapes of exactly who you can exclude and who went missing prior to the perp pulling Devyn out of the back door.”

“By midafternoon, I saw quite a few familiar faces—Cody Arnett, Gil Crouse, Walt McBaucenn, Earl Ashbaw—the last two being customers of the garage. Sheriff Harpole had stopped in and was talking to one of his off-duty deputies. Of course, Micah and Dalton were here as well. Isaac was behind the bar, Erwin was in the kitchen, and you two were playing darts. Devyn had been finishing up some paperwork in her office and I was outside talking to the officer who Chaisson assigned to watch over Micah and Dalton.”

“When you came back inside, I know your attention was on Diesel, but do you remember if there was anyone on that list who wasn’t accounted for?” Gunny asked, looking at Trigger.

“I thought everyone was accounted for, but as you said…my sole concentration was on Devyn and Diesel. I could have missed something. I just don’t believe any of them would have been able to pull this off.”

“It was still rather early when Diesel ran out the back door,” Gunny pointed out as he motioned toward the exit. “Who wasn’t here that stands out? Maybe a regular who would always be here?”

“Justin Yeatman wasn’t here, but then he has an office job that would most likely prevent him from starting his Friday night too early.” Trigger thought of others, rattling off some names. “Pam and Gil Crouse, Jenna, some of the older folks in town who usually stop in after eating their dinner at the diner. Hell, Katie and Jay usually stop in, but Jay’s out of town for business. There’s a hell of a lot more townsfolk, but again, no one I would believe capable of committing such heinous crimes.”

“Who was the basketball coach for this
Famous Five
, as everyone keeps referring to them as?” Doc asked, tilting the chair so that the front legs came off of the floor. “Could he hold some type of grudge against the players from back then? What about the other players at the time? Are they still around?”

“Chaisson said he was covering that ground, but Dale Thompson was the coach,” Trigger informed them, images from past games during his high school years appearing before him. “He passed on some five years ago. As for the players, hell…I don’t think any of them are even around this area. The detective was looking into their current locations, so yeah, maybe there’s something there.”

“Give me the list and I’ll have my contacts look into them. Operations can shove a probe up these people’s asses and we’ll know their sexual orientation by morning,” Gunny offered, pushing off of the wall and heading toward the door. “I’ll go and grab us some more coffee.”

“What about this Cody and Justin you keep mentioning?” Doc asked, draining the rest of his mug’s contents. He wasn’t accusing anyone so much as sorting out the individuals who could be a suspect. “Do either one of them have any reason to hold a grudge against the basketball team?”

Trigger thought back to his high school years. Cody was a year ahead of him, but if memory served him right, the man had played on the basketball team. He’d already graduated when Joey’s team won state. Could he have harbored resentment this entire time? It was highly unlikely, but it wasn’t as if they had any other leads. Trigger shared his thoughts with Doc.

“But you don’t think he’s good for it?” Doc asked, finally lowering his chair so that it was positioned on all fours. “I can tell by your tone.”

“I’ve known Cody my whole life and I don’t think he has what it takes to have pulled off one murder, let alone three separate homicides,” Trigger exclaimed honestly as he glanced over Doc’s shoulder at Gunny’s entrance. He had a carafe in his hand, most likely courtesy of Isaac since the man had arrived early to check on Devyn, and immediately filled up the two empty mugs being held up for sustenance. “Justin would be a better bet, but there isn’t any reason for him to have any bitterness toward a basketball team back when we were teenagers. He played football and ran track. His family is still a pretty big part of this community and he’s got his life on track after some initial trouble. Why jeopardize that? There’s no motive that I can see.”

“Hey,” Devyn called out softly as she entered the office. She was wearing a pair of white pants with a red shirt that had thick bows on either strap. It was rare she dressed in her nice clothes, which promptly alerted him to the fact that she was leaving the premises. It also made him want to take her back to bed. She was stunning, especially with the way she’d pulled her hair back at the sides, exposing the graceful lines of her cheekbones. “The bank called and there’s a problem with one of the checking accounts.”

“Did you try calling Dad first?” Trigger asked, reaching for her hand when she was close enough. He pulled her forward while he stood, not caring that Gunny and Doc were watching attentively. He didn’t feel comfortable with her going out alone, so it appeared he was going with her. “Is it something he can take care of?”

“It wasn’t your father who called,” Devyn informed him as she seemed more comfortable around Gunny and Doc given that she leaned into Trigger as she answered. “And I don’t use the fact that I know your father to influence the way my accounts are handled at the bank. That wouldn’t be fair to him, now would it?”

Devyn had removed the bandages from the palms of her hands and it was easy to see the raw scratches on her skin. She stepped around Trigger and opened one of the desk drawers, pulling out a manila folder and ignoring any pain she was most likely experiencing. She was a tough one and he admired that.

“I don’t like exposing you to the public right now, especially after last night.” Trigger pushed in Devyn’s desk chair after she’d stepped back. “But if you need to take care of business, I understand. Give me around five minutes and then we’ll—”

“Isaac’s going with me,” Devyn informed them, gently taking Trigger’s hand and giving him a squeeze of reassurance with her fingers. She could assume all she wanted, but there wasn’t a chance in hell she was leaving this property without him in tow. “I think Detective Chaisson is stopping by in a bit to talk to you. He was who called earlier. He said he had some files to give you in hopes that your contacts would be able to delve a little deeper. Apparently he’s a little jealous of the speed at which you can acquire information with your operations folks.”

“I’m afraid he’ll have to meet with Doc and I,” Gunny offered up, already knowing full well that Trigger was going to remain by Devyn’s side. “Let Isaac get the bar ready for tonight. It’s Saturday and there’s a good chance this perp is going to take another stab at either trying to reach you or the other two men. Trigger will be going with you.”

Devyn arched an eyebrow at the way Gunny had taken control of the situation, but that was his role and it was in his nature. It didn’t bother Trigger and he’d already placed a hand on her lower back, appreciating the sweet fragrance of the lotion she’d used earlier this morning. He should know since he’d been the one to lather the smooth texture on her skin.

“Hey buddy,” Trigger said, releasing his hold on Devyn so he could kneel down to Diesel’s level. The Shepherd had just come into the office through the door Devyn had left ajar, appearing more alert now that the pain medicine was wearing off. “Let’s go get you your antibiotic and those pain killers that old Boyd got for you.”

“Can’t I just—”

“No.”

All three unanimous votes were said in unison.

“Fine,” Devyn exclaimed, spinning on a pair of white sandals as she headed for the door. “I’m going to go and have a cup of coffee while you give Diesel his medicine and then break Isaac’s heart that you don’t trust him for shit.”

Devyn’s light laughter over the men’s objections could be heard as she vacated the office. She was roasting their nuts and they knew it, but Trigger was pleased to see that she hadn’t allowed last night to weigh her down. She was safe for now and he would see to it that any threat was eliminated before any decisions were made regarding their future. The fact of the matter was, he wanted one with her, and he would have to be damned convincing to persuade her that this attraction between them wasn’t a short diversion—he loved her and he wasn’t leaving here without her. She would just have to get used to that fact.

‡

D
evyn lifted her
sunglasses as Trigger held open the passenger side door of his new rental. The black SUV wasn’t nearly as much fun as the Jeep Wrangler had been, but she had to admit she’d felt safer inside this vehicle with its tinted windows and heavier frame. The palms of her hands didn’t hurt nearly as bad as they had last night, although to be fair she had been experiencing more pleasure than she’d ever thought possible in the past few days.

“Are you okay?” Trigger asked, his focus appearing to be solely on her when she was more than aware he’d already scanned their surroundings multiple times as he’d walked in front of the SUV. He lifted his hand and gently placed his index finger underneath her chin. “You look distracted. Whatever the bank needs to discuss with you can’t be that bad.”

“I’m just having trouble categorizing…everything.” Devyn had almost said
feelings
, but she’d caught herself in time. So much had taken place since Joey’s death and she’d been on a roller coaster ride ever since. She’d been questioned in connection with her brother’s murder, two other men she’d known had been killed by the same serial killer, she’d been attacked with a large hunting knife, and through it all she’d rekindled the flames with an ex-lover who’d carved a place for himself into her heart that would most likely be very, very empty when he left for his home far away from here. It was as if she were watching her life go by on a big movie screen. “I’ll be fine. Let’s just go inside and get this business finished so that we can be back in time to open with Isaac. At the amount of hours he’s putting in, I’ll definitely be back at this bank and begging for a payroll loan.”