Page 19 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

Eden woke, slowly, parts of her seemingly protesting the mere opening of her eyes. But other parts alerted her to the warm, solid man pressed against her.

Rory.

She knew his scent and the feel of him. And those certain parts of her suddenly wanted more.

Eden looked at him, to see if he was awake.

He was, and her gaze collided with his intense brown eyes.

They didn’t move toward each other, but Eden was certainly thinking about doing that when she heard two sounds.

“Mama, Dada,” Tyler babbled. He had pulled himself to a standing position in the crib and was smiling at them.

Eden automatically smiled back, and then she realized there was another sound. Rory’s phone was vibrating and was practically dancing across the end table. She glanced at the time. Barely 7:00 a.m., which meant this almost certainly wasn’t good news.

“It’s Bennie,” Rory revealed, groaning. “I’ll take the call if you want to see to Tyler.”

She definitely wanted to go to their son, and Eden understood why Rory didn’t put the call on speaker. There was no telling what gruesome details of the investigation Bennie might mention.

Tyler gave her a sloppy kiss, and he tightened his arms around her neck when she picked him up. Just that slight pressure caused some discomfort, but no way would she loosen his grip. She needed this contact. This moment with him.

Eden held Tyler, and he babbled his way to the changing table, where there were plenty of supplies. Not just diapers and wipes, but extra clothes for their son, too.

While she changed him, she looked back at Rory. One glimpse at his expression, and she got confirmation that something bad had happened.

Please, not another murder.

But with the killer unidentified and therefore at large, it was possible he’d struck again.

She finished changing Tyler just as Rory ended the call. “Let’s take Tyler to Leslie,” he said, giving the baby a kiss, “and then we can talk.”

Eden didn’t press him for info. She stepped into the hall and practically ran right into Leslie.

“Me,” Tyler squealed, which was as close as he’d come to saying the nanny’s name. When he reached for her, Leslie took him into her arms. She also studied Eden’s face for a moment.

“Rory just got a work call,” Eden explained.

Leslie nodded, and even though she must have noticed Eden’s dour expression, she managed to smile at Tyler. “Let’s go downstairs and get some oatmeal,” she offered.

“Me, me, me,” Tyler gushed, using a slightly different inflection from what he’d called Leslie.

Eden sneaked in another quick kiss to Tyler’s cheek, and then she went back into the nursery. Rory had already put on his boots and was in the process of strapping on his shoulder holster.

“About an hour ago, Dispatch received an anonymous call saying there was a body by the welcome sign for town. Judson and Garrison responded,” he said, referring to their fellow deputies, Judson Docherty and Garrison Zimmer, who was a rookie.

“And they did indeed find a body.” He paused. “It’s Carter.”

Eden had to do a mental double take, and she shook her head. “Carter?” she repeated. “Does Ike even know him?”

“We’ll soon find out because when Judson and Garrison got to the scene, Ike was there,” Rory explained.

Oh, mercy. “Did Ike kill him?”

Rory groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. “To be determined. I’m going out there now, but if you’d rather stay here—”

“I’ll get dressed and go with you.” Yes, part of her did want to stay with Tyler, but this was their investigation, and she also wanted a chance to talk to Ike.

Especially since Ike might be on the verge of being arrested.

Eden tried not to speculate as to what had happened.

Instead, she hurried to the bathroom to get dressed while Rory made his way downstairs.

When she joined him less than five minutes later, she found him in the kitchen with Dutton, Grace, Nash, Leslie and Tyler.

Tyler was in a high chair and was making a mess with his oatmeal.

“Rory told us,” Grace said, and even though she had her baby cuddled in her arms, it was obvious she was champing at the bit to be involved with the case. Thankfully, she didn’t insist, though. “Bennie dropped off a cruiser about a half hour ago,” she added a moment later.

Rory nodded his thanks and took the keys that Grace motioned to on the table. “We’ll let you know the details as soon as we have them,” Rory assured her, and then he shifted his attention to Dutton. They didn’t say anything to each other, but a look passed between them.

A look of dread, mixed with relief.

Because if Ike was indeed the killer, they could arrest him so he couldn’t harm anyone else. But it wouldn’t be easy for them to grasp that their father had tried to kill his own son.

Dutton handed them to-go cups of coffee and two wrapped breakfast sandwiches. Eden took them, knowing she’d need the coffee but no way would she risk eating with her stomach churning the way it was.

However, Rory did start eating one as soon as they were in the cruiser. Maybe because he knew this was going to turn into a hellishly long day and that he’d need the fuel.

They drove away from the ranch and toward the sign that was only a couple of miles away.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t near any houses or businesses, so there probably wouldn’t be any eyewitnesses.

Still, they might be able to get some sort of confession from Ike or info from someone who’d driven past and saw something suspicious going on.

They were still about a half mile from the sign when Rory got a text, and the message from Detective Vernon appeared on the dash.

Search warrant executed. CSIs are going through Diedre Bennington’s home, office and vehicle. She’s not at her residence, but a housekeeper let us in.

Where is she? Rory texted back.

Apparently, at the gym. She’s on her way to the house now. Will let you know if anything turns up.

Rory sent him back a thanks and glanced at her. “I’ll fill him in, too, on Carter’s death once we know what’s going on.”

Yes, because SAPD would need to get involved in that as well since Carter lived in San Antonio.

The moment the sign came into view, Eden saw that the deputies had already blocked off both lanes and put up a detour sign, which would basically mean any through traffic would have to do a U-turn and find another route.

She also saw their cruiser parked behind Ike’s truck, which was on the narrow shoulder of the road.

Ike was sitting on the tailgate, and he was staring at the body.

It was Carter, all right.

The man had been propped up against one of the posts that held the sign, and his head had lolled to one side. Even before she got out of the cruiser and went closer, Eden could see the blood all over his shirt.

Rory parked the cruiser, and they fired glances around them as they made their way to Garrison, who was already walking toward them.

Judson was next to Ike, and it was obvious the deputy was guarding him even though Ike’s hands hadn’t been restrained.

Restraints were the protocol if a suspect was aggressive or likely to attempt escape, but apparently, Judson and Garrison hadn’t felt the need for such measures.

“I didn’t touch him, and the ME and CSIs are on the way, but I’m certain he was stabbed and bled out,” Garrison told them right off.

Like Mellie and Brenda. And they had also been left in a sitting position at the barn. Since the barn no longer existed, the killer must have chosen this spot for the dump.

But, no…

Eden quickly amended that thought when she went closer and saw the blood. Carter hadn’t been dumped here. He’d been killed here.

“I’m pretty sure those are stun-gun marks on his neck,” Garrison went on while all three of them studied the body.

Eden didn’t go closer because she didn’t want to destroy any potential evidence, but she leaned in enough to spot the marks on his neck. Yes, a stun gun.

“Has he confessed to killing Carter?” Rory asked, tipping his head to Ike, who wasn’t being his usual boisterous, obnoxious self. In fact, he seemed to be in shock.

Garrison shook his head. “Nope. Just the opposite. He said someone called him to come here if he wanted to save a person from dying.” His tone let them know that he wasn’t buying it.

But Eden was.

Sort of.

“I don’t see any blood on Ike,” Eden muttered. “Was there anything in his truck? Bloody clothes? Or cleaning supplies?”

“None that I found,” Garrison admitted. “I checked the truck, and there was a handgun in the glove compartment. I took that into custody, and it’s locked up in the back of the cruiser. I got his phone, too, since I figured we’d need to check to see if he did get a call.”

He held up the plastic evidence bag he was holding with the cell inside it, and he passed it to Eden when she motioned for it.

“Ike gave me the password to unlock the phone,” Garrison went on, “and there was a call from an unknown number about thirty minutes ago.”

So Ike could have been telling the truth about that. Or else this was a situation like Brenda’s, with the burner sending the replies being found in her home.

“And did you find a knife on Ike or in the truck?” Eden persisted.

“No,” the deputy answered. “There was a tire iron, but nothing I can see that would have been used to make those stab wounds. There are a lot of them,” he murmured. “This was overkill.”

Yes, it was. It was hard to tell with all the blood now soaking the dead man’s clothes, but Eden could see at least five cut marks in his shirt. Then, there were the two on his neck. Those would have likely been fatal if one of the others hadn’t killed him.

Eden continued to look at the body. “Rigor hasn’t completely set in Carter, so he probably hasn’t been dead more than a couple of hours. Added to that, if he’d been out here for long, someone would have likely spotted him.”

Yes, it was early, but this was ranching country, where some started their day before sunrise.