Page 11 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

Eden was silently cursing right along with the profanity Rory was muttering. This wasn’t just a setback to the case they were building against Ike, it could be the kiss the death.

She snapped back toward the observation window when she heard a phone ring. Not Rory’s, but one of Ike’s lawyers, Stephen Arnette. Livvy hadn’t yet gotten started with the questions, but the lawyer took one look at his phone and stood.

“I need to take this,” Arnette insisted. “So hold off on the interview until I get back.” With that, he stepped out of the room.

It was tempting to try to listen in on the conversation, but Eden didn’t want to do anything that Ike’s lawyers could legally use against them, and Arnette could argue the call fell under the umbrella of client-attorney privilege.

Instead, Rory used the time to text Livvy and let her know what was going on.

And, of course, Livvy’s reaction wasn’t good.

She tipped her eyes to the ceiling for a moment, and Eden figured she was doing some silent cursing as well.

It didn’t take long—less than two minutes—before the lawyer came back in the room. Arnette certainly hadn’t bothered to plaster on a poker face, and unlike Livvy, he was practically gloating.

He sank back down into his chair, and the other lawyers and Ike huddled around Arnette while they had a brief, whispered conversation before he turned his attention back to Livvy.

“I demand my client’s immediate release,” Arnette said. “I’ve just learned information that proves his innocence.”

Sweet heaven. Did Arnette know about the burner phone or the bugs? Or maybe he knew about both? If so, there was a serious leak at either SAPD or among the CSIs.

“Really?” Livvy asked in a discussing-the-weather tone. “And what info would that be?”

“Unless you’re completely out of touch with this investigation, Deputy,” Arnette stated, “then you’re aware that someone planted three listening devices in his home.

” His tone was both scolding and condescending.

“Clearly, the real killer did that to obtain knowledge of my client’s whereabouts so he could then be set up to take the blame for those poor murdered women. ”

“Uh-huh,” Livvy countered, managing some condescension of her own. “And how exactly did you come by this information?”

Arnette didn’t quite smile, but it was close enough. “I got it through an anonymous tip.”

“So you have no idea if the tip is true,” Livvy retorted.

That wiped some of the smugness off Arnette’s face. “It is. I have confirmation from someone I trust. And, no, I’m not required to give you that name.”

There were some situations in which a lawyer could be compelled to do just that as long as it didn’t violate the attorney-client privilege, but this wasn’t a fight worth taking on.

The cat was out of the bag, and they’d have to deal with it.

That, and the burner phone that’d been found at Brenda’s house.

That phone implied she had been the one to create Ike’s hit list of enemies.

Implied.

But Eden also knew it could have been planted. Perhaps by the same person who’d planted those listening devices at Ike’s.

“You have no actual proof that I killed those women,” Ike stated, leaning forward and looking Livvy straight in the eyes.

“Because I didn’t do it. Someone is playing you, Deputy Walsh.

” He fanned his hand around. “Playing you and the whole damn police force, and whoever it is, they’re making you all look like fools. ”

Eden wished she could say for sure that wasn’t happening, but there were certainly a lot of pieces that didn’t fit.

“Is my client free to go?” Arnette snapped.

“Not quite yet. Just a few more questions.” Livvy managed a relaxed pose despite this interview having been derailed. “When was the last time you were in Brenda Watford’s house?”

“Eight months ago,” Ike said without hesitation.

“Wow, you seem so sure,” she commented, and she didn’t wait for him or his lawyers to respond. “So if we study the traffic-cam feed in and around Brenda’s office, we won’t see you.”

Ike pulled back his shoulders. “I might be on them. I often go to San Antonio to visit friends and to eat out.”

“Were any of those friends or restaurants near Brenda’s house?” she continued.

“I don’t think so.” Ike’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking that?”

“Because it’s possible something was planted inside her house.

” Livvy slid a look at Arnette. “Guess your anonymous tipster didn’t come through on that one for you.

Or that person you rely on to confirm things.

” She shook her head, shifted her attention back to Ike.

“Shoddy work on your lawyers’ part. As much as you’re paying this crew, you’d think they would be more on top of things. ”

Arnette muttered something under his breath that Eden didn’t catch, but she figured he’d just cursed. He stood and went back into the hall, no doubt to make a call to find out what Livvy was talking about.

“Stephen Arnette exiting the interview,” Livvy said for the benefit of the recording, and she shifted back to Ike. “What about your ex-lover, Diedre Bennington? When’s the last time you’ve been to her place?”

“Months,” Ike snapped. “Why? Did she lie and say I’d been there? Is she the one feeding you lies about me being a killer?”

Livvy shrugged. “She’s indicated she might have some concerns about her safety when it comes to you.”

Ike laughed, but there was no humor in it. “She’s a liar. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

“You scorned her?” Livvy asked.

Ike’s mouth went tight. “I ended a relationship with her that I should have never started.”

Livvy jumped right on that. “Because you were married at the time. And your wife was dying. Yes, probably not a good idea to spend time with your mistress rather than be by your wife’s bedside.”

Oh, Ike didn’t care for that being thrown in his face. And she heard the slight shift in Rory’s breathing. It had touched a nerve for him, too.

“Yeah,” Ike growled. “And being with her was a mistake.”

It was indeed, and that affair had been the final straw for Rory. Before that, he’d more or less tolerated his dad. But afterward, all civility was gone between them.

Ike shook his head in disgust. “Trust me,” he went on, “I’ve paid over and over for that mistake.

Diedre has hounded me for nearly a year, trying to make my life miserable, and she turned my wife’s sister against me.

” He jabbed his index finger at Livvy. “Those are the two you should be questioning right now. Diedre and Helen. You can bet your bottom dollar they’d recently visited Brenda. ”

“Why?” Livvy ventured. “Did they form an I-hate-Ike’s-guts club?”

“Something like that,” Ike grumbled. “I saw the three of them together in a restaurant in San Antonio.”

“When was that?” Livvy persisted.

Ike lifted his shoulder. “A couple of months back. Since you’re so hell-bent, why don’t you check traffic-camera feed for that? It was at the Elm, downtown. That’s a reservations-only place so they might even have a record of it.”

“Interesting,” Eden muttered.

Rory muttered his agreement, and he took out his phone to text a question to Livvy. Ask Ike about the knife he took from Helen.

He watched as Livvy read the text, and then she turned her attention back to Ike. “I understand you were in an altercation with your former sister-in-law, Helen. Tell me about that.”

“Altercation,” Ike spluttered like it was a profanity.

“More like all bark and no bite. Helen threatened me with a knife, and I knocked it out of her hand. I told her to leave or I’d call the cops and have her arrested for attempted assault with a deadly weapon.

Not that you cops would have done anything about it,” he grumbled.

“But the threat worked. She tucked tail and got out of there fast.”

“What did you argue about?” Livvy asked.

“Same ol’, same ol’. You did my sister wrong. Boo-hoo. Helen hasn’t learned how to shake off the past.” But there was something in Ike’s tone that made Eden believe Ike hadn’t quite managed to shake it off, either.

“So you argued. Helen took out the knife, you grabbed it and she left,” Livvy said, summarizing. “What happened then? What did you do with the knife?”

“I was going to throw it away, but then I thought maybe it’d sting for her to see it again. You know, a reminder that I bested her. So I put it in a plastic bag and had my assistant take it to her house. She wasn’t home so he left it by her front door.”

“Where anyone could have taken it,” Eden muttered and then groaned.

“Your assistant will confirm he left it?” Livvy asked.

“Damn right, he will. He even got a picture of it, like delivery drivers do.” Ike took out his phone, and after thumbing through his pictures, he pulled up the shot.

Eden couldn’t see it from where she was standing, but judging from Livvy’s expression, it was exactly what Ike had said it was.

“It was the damndest thing,” Ike went on after Livvy requested that he forward the photo to her. “My assistant said as he was driving out of Helen’s neighborhood he thought he saw Diedre. Not sure what she would have been doing there,” he added in a mutter.

Eden looked at Rory, who was already taking out his phone. “I’m arranging a meeting with Diedre,” he said. “I think it’s time we chatted with her in person.”

Eden thought so, too. Because if Ike was telling the truth, then maybe the unthinkable had happened. Mercy. Had Diedre and Helen created an unholy alliance to go after a man they wanted to destroy?

When Rory finished his call, he turned to her. “Diedre says we can see her now. It’ll take us about twenty-five minutes to get to her place. Are you game?”

“Absolutely.” She glanced in the interview room. “Livvy will have to cut Ike loose soon, anyway, and I’d rather not be around for that.”