Page 6 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #6)

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Hallie read some incoming reports on her phone while Reed drove toward San Antonio. Her mind was whirling. Every muscle in her body, tight. And the bruises on her back were making themselves known since they were pressed against the cruiser seat.

She certainly hadn’t expected her first day on the job to be so eventful . Two dead bodies. A critically injured deputy. A near death escape for Reed and her from an exploding house.

And way too many questions for which she didn’t have answers.

It was possible this trip to see Corman Pierce might lead to getting her some answers, but it wouldn’t be a pleasant visit. The last time Hallie had seen the man, he’d tried to spit in her face and had called her an accomplice to the murders that her parents had committed.

The attempt to spit in her face had landed him in jail for the night, followed by a couple of months of community service and mandatory anger management counseling. Hallie was certain those things hadn’t lessened the venom that he felt for her but had likely only added to it.

Still, unlike Jay, Corman hadn’t been a thorn in her side over the years. Just the opposite. She’d had no contact with him. And that made her think of the old saying of revenge best being served up cold. Was Corman out for revenge because she hadn’t been able to prevent his mother’s murder?

Maybe.

But she seriously doubted he would just confess to that even if it were indeed true.

“Anything in those reports that could help us?” Reed asked, yanking her out of her thoughts.

Good thing, too, since all those thoughts were just circling in her head. That kind of mental hamster wheel was never helpful. Just frustration. But then, the reports also fell into that frustration zone.

“Nothing yet from the bomb squad or the CSIs,” she let him know. “And we still don’t know how Elenore got into Walt’s house. There’s no record of any Uber or taxis taking her there, and her car was still in her garage at her house in San Antonio.”

That pointed to abduction, but there were no eyewitness accounts about that either. Still, it meant focusing on traffic camera feed to try to pick up something useful.

“There’s maybe something here in the background check on Elenore,” Hallie continued.

“Maybe,” she emphasized. She started with a quick snapshot of the woman.

“She was 41, divorced, no criminal record. The reason her prints were in the system was because five years ago, she started working as a counselor in a prison.”

Reed jumped right on that. “The prisons where your parents are?”

“No. And there isn’t a record of Elenore ever visiting either of them. She worked at a women’s correctional facility that houses mainly low-risk inmates. And, yes, there are plenty of prisoners there who were in abusive or controlling relationships that likely contributed to their crimes.”

“So, Elenore might have sympathized with Tami,” he said.

“Possibly,” Hallie admitted, though it twisted at her to think that anyone would believe Tami’s BS. Added to that, it was a stretch to consider the woman might have any compassion whatsoever for the person who’d been convicted of murdering her own mother.

Still, it was possible.

That’s why Hallie added, “And if Elenore had become a Tami supporter, it could have been the reason she was targeted and killed.”

Reed made a sound of agreement. “Then, that would point to someone like Jay. Can’t believe he’d want anyone around who’d be willing to help Tami get that appeal.”

Hallie couldn’t see Jay wanting that either, but so far, there was diddly squat to prove he was behind the murders.

“I don’t recall seeing Elenore at your parents’ trials. Do you?” Reed asked as he took the turn into the San Antonio subdivision where Corman lived and worked.

“No.” And Hallie had been mentally going over that, too, in her hamster wheel thoughts. “But the courtrooms were packed each day so I could have missed her. If she was there, she certainly didn’t confront me like her brother did.”

Reed made another sound. Not of agreement this time.

But a mix of disgust and anger, and she recalled he’d been furious and on the verge of losing control when Corman had tried to spit in her face.

Reed had lunged for the man, and she’d somehow managed to block Reed from throwing a punch before the other cops present had rushed in to restrain and arrest Corman.

“The history between Corman and us will no doubt play into this visit,” Hallie reminded him.

Reed’s shoulders went tense for a second and then he surprised her by flashing a smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t hit the asshole.”

The smile stayed in place a couple of seconds, causing her to silently groan. Why, why, why would a simple facial gesture like that cause her to go all warm and gooey inside?

Of course, she knew the answer.

It was because it was Reed doing the smiling. That interesting face could get a whole lot more interesting, and hot, while sporting that particular expression. Then again the man was interesting and hot no matter what he did.

Like breathing.

Hallie tried not to think of any of that as Reed pulled to a stop in front of the two-story stucco house.

This wasn’t what she would call an upscale, wealthy neighborhood, but the homes were above the average price range for the area and were well-maintained.

Obviously, Corman earned a good living from his job as a software engineer.

“That’s his car in the driveway,” Reed let her know after doing a quick run on the license plates.

Good. Hallie had considered that Corman might try to dodge them.

Before Reed and she had even started the half hour drive, they’d had Shaw contact Corman to check and see if he was home, and he’d verified that he was, that he was working remotely today.

Shaw had then explained that two Outlaw Ridge PD officers would soon be paying him a visit.

Shaw hadn’t mentioned the names of the visitors, but if Corman had read anything about his sister’s death, then he would know that Reed and she had been on scene.

Gathering her breath, Hallie stepped from the cruiser, and Reed and she made their way to the front door. It opened before they even reached it. And she saw Corman with the same sneer and anger-filled eyes that he’d sported a decade ago.

“My sister’s dead, murdered,” he snapped. “Are you responsible for that, too?” He slid narrowed-eyed glances at both of them.

Hallie didn’t take the bait. She merely showed him her badge, and Reed did the same. “We’re here to talk to you about Elenore,” she stated.

Corman muttered something under his breath that she didn’t catch, profanity probably, but then he surprised her by stepping back so they could enter.

What the man didn’t do was lead them to an area where they could sit.

He stayed put in the foyer and folded his arms over his chest. If looks could have killed, Corman’s glare would have sent them straight to their graves.

Hallie didn’t glare back and reminded herself that the man had just lost a family member and could be grieving. Could be. And for now, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and learn everything she could about Elenore and why she might have ended up where she had.

“I understand you were officially notified by SAPD of your sister’s death,” Hallie started.

She’d relinquished that duty to the San Antonio cops since they could come immediately to his place and let him know what’d happened. Hallie hadn’t wanted Corman to hear about her murder on the news. Or from her since that would have no doubt only added to the shock.

“Yeah, they told me,” Corman said, his tone still combative. “Did you kill her?”

“No,” Hallie calmly replied and then moved on with a question. “Why was Elenore in Outlaw Ridge?”

“You tell me,” he fired back.

From the corner of her eye, Hallie saw that Reed was giving Corman a blank I’ll wait you out stare similar to hers. It must have worked because Corman huffed.

“I don’t know,” he finally said. “She’s a counselor, and she has some clients she sees in their homes. Maybe this guy was one of them.”

Not that they could find, but it was possible that Elenore had been working off the books.

Or doing a favor for Walt. But there was no indication whatsoever that Walt had ever sought out counseling, and considering that the man had excellent medical insurance, he likely wouldn’t have done that off the book.

“Had your sister ever mentioned Walt Garner?” Reed asked.

Corman shook his head. “No. But if he was a client, she wouldn’t have. She doesn’t spill the names of people she’s counseling.”

Most counselors didn’t, but Hallie had been hoping that Elenore had broken the rule if Walt had indeed been her client. “When’s the last time you saw Elenore?” she asked, taking a different turn in the questioning.

“A month or two ago. Maybe a little longer. We’ve both been busy,” Corman added in a snap when Hallie lifted an eyebrow. “I’m tied up with a big gaming project, and Elenore’s working… was working ,” he amended, “mainly with that bleeding heart group who helps women in prison.”

“Do you know the name of the group?” Hallie pressed though that was something Reed and she could find out. She just wanted to see how much Corman knew about it.

Apparently, he knew a lot judging from his response, accompanied by some huffs, muttered profanity and eyerolls.

“New Horizons Initiative,” Corman provided. “She was doing some pro bono counseling for them. Wasting her time if you ask me, but Elenore claimed they needed her help.” He aimed his index finger at them. “Those women need to be punished for what they’ve done, not coddled for fuck’s sake.”

It was a risk for Hallie to bring up anything about her parents since Corman might just shut down, but it was something that had to be asked. “Was Elenore trying to help my mother?”

Well, Corman didn’t shut down, that was for sure. The question lit some fresh anger in his eyes though. “Not directly. Not that I know of anyway. Elenore couldn’t have been that stupid,” he spat out. “But she was stupid enough to listen to the rantings of that asswipe reporter, Luther Crowe.”

Hallie’s stomach clenched, a cold wave washing over her. Her fingers tensed at her sides, but she forced herself to stay calm. “What are you saying?” she asked, her voice steady as her mind raced to piece together the implications of this.

“I’m saying that my sister became fucking brainwashed by that reporter and the piece of shit article he wrote about your piece of shit mother.

” Corman cursed some more and shook his head in disgust. “Elenore started whining about maybe it was true, that maybe the murdering bitch didn’t belong in jail after all.

Well, I told her just where she could shove that notion. ”

“Elenore believed Luther Crowe,” Hallie stated. “And just what did he say in that article to make her think that way?”

He dismissed that with a wave. “How the fuck should I know? Elenore was always gullible, but this went well past that and into pure, blind stupidity.”

“It sounds as if it put a strain on your relationship with your sister,” Reed remarked.

The back of Reed’s hand brushed against hers. A subtle gesture no doubt to try to comfort her. Or maybe rein in that storm of emotions he knew she was feeling. And there was a storm, but there always was whenever she had to talk about her parents.

“Damn straight there was a strain,” he blurted, but then Corman seemed to backpedal when it must have occurred to him that this ranting and anger were motives for him to have murdered his sister.

“I decided to step back from Elenore for a while,” Corman amended several moments later. He was visibly calmer now. “Maybe wait until she came to her senses.” Another pause. “But Elenore didn’t get a chance to come to her senses, did she? Because someone murdered her.”

Since Corman seemed to be gearing up for another tirade, Hallie went ahead with a question that she knew would piss him off. “Where were you in the past twenty-four hours?”

Corman’s response surprised exactly no one. His eyes bulged. His lips pulled back in a snarl, and Hallie thought he looked as if cartoon smoke might actually shoot from his ears. “How dare you—”

“I dare because I intend to find out who murdered your sister,” Hallie interrupted, cutting him off.

“And to do that, I have to rule out suspects. As her next of kin, you know I have to look at you.” Especially with that rift between them.

“So, answer the question, or I’ll assume you have something to hide. ”

Of course, that didn’t improve his mood. “I’ve been home working on a game project for the past three days,” he replied through seriously clenched teeth. So clenched that she was surprised he could actually speak.

“Can anyone verify that?” Reed pressed.

“No. You’ll just have to take my word for it.” He stopped, gave another shake of his head before his narrowed eyes shifted back to Hallie. “You should have worked this hard to uncover your parents’ crimes.”

“She did,” Reed assured him. “And so did I.”

“Right,” Corman spat out, and he went to the front door to open it. “You can leave now, and the only way you’ll get back in is if you have a warrant.”

“I think that can be arranged,” Hallie said as Reed and she stepped out onto the small porch. “I’ll call you to set up a formal interview at Outlaw Ridge PD.”

Corman slammed the door in their faces, and the swooshing sound nearly muffled something else. Nearly. The footsteps hurrying toward them from the side of the house.

Reaching for her gun, Hallie spun around in that direction, but Reed was faster, already moving in front her.

“You bitch,” someone yelled.

It was a blonde haired woman that Hallie didn’t recognize. With a knife clutched in her hand, she charged right toward them.

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