Page 15 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

She made another glance at the spot where she’d seen Carter speeding away.

“Yes, I parked in my driveway in the afternoon, maybe around four o’clock or a little later.

I, uh, had left for the gym for a workout, but I realized I’d forgotten my membership card so I had to go back in my house to get it. ”

“And then what did you do?” Rory continued.

Diedre’s forehead creased. “What did that man tell you?”

Rory ignored that and repeated his question, causing Diedre to huff.

“I went to the gym,” she snapped. “I had a long workout.”

“What’s the name of your gym?” Eden asked.

The alarm went through Diedre’s eyes again. “I didn’t actually work out in the gym. I decided to use the outdoor track. I jogged about four miles, sat for a while and then walked some before I came home.”

It was possible Diedre was telling them she’d done that walking around to cover for time she was gone. Time when she could have been attacking Brenda.

“And you parked in your driveway again,” Rory said. It wasn’t a question.

Diedre nodded. “My garage-door app wasn’t working so, yes, I left my car in the driveway. Why?” she asked.

“Just routine questions.” Of course, that was a lie, and this entire conversation would have to be put in a report with a copy sent to SAPD. “Did you wear your workout clothes home from your walk?”

Again, Diedre took her time answering, and Rory didn’t think it was his imagination that the woman was about to lawyer up. If so, that would put a quick end to his questions. “Yes,” she finally said.

“When did you change? You said you didn’t use the gym,” he reminded her.

This time, it was more than concern in her eyes. It was anger. “I changed in my car,” she growled, “and I left on my workout clothes because I’d spilled a sports drink on my other outfit.”

“And what happened to that outfit?” Rory asked.

Diedre stepped back. “This conversation is over,” she snarled, and she turned and headed back to her house.

“I’ll make another call to SAPD,” Eden said as they watched Diedre storm off. “I’ll see if they can get a search warrant for her house.”

It was a necessary step in the investigation, but it would likely be too late.

If Diedre had stabbed Brenda while wearing those clothes, then the top and pants had probably been destroyed, or trashed.

Still, SAPD might get lucky and find something else they could use to build the case against Diedre.

Against Carter, too.

Because it was possible he was the killer and had given them the photos to toss the blame onto someone else.

Rory raised his window and started driving back toward Renegade Canyon while Eden dealt with getting that search warrant. As expected, it wasn’t a fast process, and they were nearly halfway home before she finished.

“Detective Vernon will get right on the warrant for both Diedre’s house and Jeep,” Eden informed him. “And he’ll make sure Carter comes in. I’ll go ahead and forward Vernon a copy of the photos just in case Carter decides to delay that visit.”

“Good idea.” Because Carter was spooked. Or else just guilty. Rory didn’t know which.

He heard the swooshing sound of her phone to let him know the photos had gone out. “I went ahead and sent them to the lab, too,” she added, and she began to study the pictures.

Rory glanced at her and saw she had enlarged the area around the Jeep windows, no doubt trying to see if anyone was inside. Judging from her sigh, she couldn’t manage that.

“I’m not seeing any blood or tears on either set of clothes,” Eden muttered. “Nothing to indicate she’d had these on during the attack.” She stopped. “But if she managed to drug Brenda, maybe there was no actual struggle.”

Yeah, Rory had gone there, too. “Since Brenda and Diedre had that semifriendship deal, they could have met. Diedre could have given her the drug, and then once it kicked in, she could have led Brenda to her Jeep. And even into the barn. No lifting required.”

Though that did leave them with a huge question. One that Eden voiced.

“Then, if she had Brenda drugged and in her Jeep, why would Diedre have returned to her house around four p.m.?”

Rory could only speculate about that. “Maybe she hadn’t drugged Brenda yet, and Diedre was on the way to meet Brenda when she remembered she had indeed forgotten something at her house.”

Maybe the search warrant could give them something else to work with to confirm or dispel that theory. The search should include a check of Diedre’s GPS so they could track where the woman had been.

Eden muttered an agreement and continued to look at the photos.

Rory made occasional glances at her, but once he was off the highway and onto the rural road that led to Renegade Canyon, he had to keep watch around them.

Eden and he had possibly rattled some cages today with Diedre, Helen and Carter, and that rattling could have made the killer desperate to silence them.

Not a comforting thought.

Eden made a sharp sound of surprise, causing Rory’s attention to zoom in her direction. It wasn’t something she spotted outside the cruiser but rather in one of the photos.

“It’s Frank,” Eden blurted.

She held up the photo that Carter had taken of Diedre’s Jeep speeding away from her house. Eden had enlarged not the Jeep, but the area on the other side of the street. There, tucked in along a cluster of cedar trees, stood Frank.

What the hell was he doing there?

“Should I call him and see if he’s home?” Eden asked. “We could stop by there and have a chat with him.”

“Do that,” Rory agreed even though it was a possibility the picture had been altered to add Frank’s image. But that only led to another question.

Why would Carter have done that?

Frank was a potential victim, not a suspect. At least he hadn’t been until Rory had seen this picture.

Yeah, he definitely wanted to talk to Frank, and then Detective Vernon could do the same with Carter.

“Frank’s not answering his phone,” Eden said, and then she left a voice mail for the man to contact them right away.

Rory would give him an hour, and then he intended to track Frank down. If the man had any connection to these murders, then Rory needed to know.

“I’ll reach out to the lab and light a fire, see if they can get working on the photos sooner rather than later,” Eden said, making that call.

Rory had to slow down as he approached a curve that had earned the nickname of Dead Man’s Bend, since over the years, it had been the site of two fatal car crashes. He came out the steep curve and immediately spotted something on the road.

Hell.

It was a strip of metal spikes stretched across the asphalt. A strip meant to take out the tires of a vehicle and bring it to a stop.

It sure as hell shouldn’t have been there.

Rory slammed on the brakes. But he was too late. He hit the strip, the spikes ripping through the tires and causing him to lose control. It was like having four blowouts at once. He had to fight the steering wheel just to stay on the road.

But even that became impossible.

Because of the second strip of spikes.

The cruiser ran over it, and this time there was the sound of the metal spikes gouging into the tire barrels and rims. The vehicle skidded and another jolt slung them around.

Finally, the cruiser came to a complete stop. And in that blink, Eden and he were now sitting ducks.

Rory drew his gun and waited for the attack.