Page 15 of Outlaw Ridge: Shaw (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #5)

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For once Shaw was glad of the adrenaline crash from hell. He was exhausted, and that meant he couldn’t feed the rage that was no doubt inside him. Rage because Ava had come damn close to being killed.

And he still didn’t know why.

Yeah, rage and frustration. Not a good mix. But the fatigue was keeping him leveled out enough to sit and listen to all the info that was pouring in.

Next to him, Ava seemed to be doing pretty much the same thing. Sitting in Owen’s office while Owen was finishing up yet another phone call. This time, to the CSIs who were on scene at the depot.

So far in the forty-five minutes since Ava and he had returned to the station, they didn’t have a lot of useful info, and every bit they got seemed only led to more questions.

Like Molly, for instance.

She’d definitely been the shooter, the one who’d tried to kill Ava and him, but they had no idea why. And wouldn’t be getting that from her since she was dead. That meant piecing together whatever the hell that could be found to try to figure out why Molly had done this.

Another big assed question was the identity of the body beneath the platform.

Once the responders had arrived on the scene, Shaw had crawled back to it, only to realize that the entire face had been covered with tape.

Since removing it would destroy potential evidence and since the person was clearly dead, Shaw had left it for the CSIs and climbed back out.

On the drive to the station, Shaw had called Grant, demanding that he come in for questioning since he might have some insight into Molly’s actions. Grant hadn’t answered though so Shaw had had to leave a voicemail.

Owen had had to leave a voicemail as well for Molly’s ex-husband, Taylor, who also hadn’t answered the call.

That’d prompted Owen to send a pair of deputies to the man’s residence to check on him and Molly’s and his five-year-old daughter, Shayla.

The deputies could do the death notification and question the man, along with scheduling an official interview with him.

That was yet another round of information they were waiting on.

Shaw was hoping that since it was the weekend that father and daughter were off somewhere having fun and that was the reason Taylor hadn’t answered. He didn’t want them caught up in what Molly had done.

“Is your head hurting?” Ava murmured.

“No,” he answered without even knowing if it was true. That exhaustion likely helped there, too, because if there was pain, he wasn’t feeling it.

When he looked at her, Shaw saw that she was staring at the fresh bandage on his head.

Something the EMT had slapped on after he’d cleaned the cut at the scene and advised Shaw to get a tetanus booster.

Owen had jumped right on that and had arranged for the shot to be administered at the station, and he’d promptly driven Ava and him straight there so the CSIs could get to work.

Shaw also suspected the hasty exit had something to do with Owen’s concern that Molly hadn’t been working alone. That there could be an accomplice nearby ready to take up where Molly had left off.

And that was certainly a possibility.

Even though Shaw had only run a deep dive check through Sentry on Molly when they’d gotten back to the station, he hadn’t been able to see any red flags to indicate why she would turn killer.

Hell, the woman hadn’t had as much as a speeding ticket so it was a huge leap to go from being a trusty assistant to a district attorney to a cold-blooded killer.

But that led Shaw’s thoughts back to Grant.

Had Molly been the one to abduct him, too? And Donovan? If so, then how the hell did all of that connect? Molly hadn’t been one of Dell’s victims, but as Grant’s assistant she might have had some part in ensuring Dell’s conviction. Had Molly had doubts about that?

Maybe.

But a double murder and three cases of attempted murder seemed like an extreme reaction to doubts about a convicted killer.

Owen finished his latest call, but unlike with the others, he wasn’t quick to blurt out anything. “The dead guy under the platform is Nathan Belmont.”

Shaw froze for a moment before his hands tightened into fists. “They’re sure?” he asked, but then waved off that question.

Of course, they were sure this was the man they’d been looking for. The very one who’d survived an attack from Dell seven years ago only to die here today in Outlaw Ridge.

“Damn it, we should have found him sooner,” Shaw muttered, and groaning, he pressed his fists to the sides of his head.

“We looked for him,” Owen reminded him.

Yeah, they had, but they’d obviously failed big time since the killer had found him. And that thought caused Shaw to throttle back on his frustration and try to piece together how the killer, Molly, had gotten to him.

Better yet, why had she gotten to him?

“The CSIs believe Nathan was alive when he went under that platform,” Owen added a moment later. “There was dirt on his hands and on the knees of his pants, indicating he crawled to that point where he was then taped up and enclosed in the sleeping bag with those hand warmers.”

So, Molly could have forced him in there at gunpoint. Again though, that came with a why?

“How did Nathan die?” Ava asked.

“Likely suffocation. The tape was placed directly over his nose and mouth with no gaps so there was no way for him to breathe.”

“Considering the killer brought hand warmers, it’s my guess that suffocation was the plan all along,” Ava said.

And Shaw had to agree. Which made this one different from the other riddle murders. In those, Ava and he had at least stood a chance to get to the victim in time but not in this case.

That led him to another why.

Owen’s phone sounded with a text, and Shaw watched his expression as he read it. Not necessarily more bad news, but Owen seemed confused.

“It’s from Reed,” Owen said. “He got a hit from a traffic cam on Nathan from last night. He was near Valerie’s house again.”

Owen didn’t hesitate. He immediately called Lexa and asked her to have Valerie brought in for questioning.

Good. Because this was an unholy alliance that Shaw could actually see as a possibility.

A slim one anyway. Valerie could have somehow convinced Molly that Dell was innocent, and the two could have cooked up this copycat scheme.

It still seemed way too extreme, but it could have perhaps played out that way.

Shaw turned toward the doorway when he heard the approaching footsteps, and he soon saw Jemma. Not alone either. Grant was with her, and he rushed into the office.

Grant’s face was still a riot of bruises, but he was moving damn fast for someone who’d escaped death less than twenty-four hours ago.

Shaw, Ava, and Owen all got to their feet to face the man. “Did you know that your assistant was doing the copycat murders?” Owen asked before Grant could get out a word.

Grant opened his mouth, closed it and then groaned while he scrubbed his hand over his face. “No, and she wasn’t a willing participant. Molly was forced to do what she did.”

Shaw’s chest tightened like a steel trap, the weight of Grant’s words sinking in hard and fast. Forced .

The word hit him like a sucker punch, knocking the air from his lungs.

His hands curled into fists at his sides as his mind raced, piecing together what this meant.

After all, he’d been the one to shoot and kill Molly.

Had that been a mistake?

No, the woman had clearly been on a mission to kill Ava and him, and he’d done what he’d had to do. Still, it twisted at him to hear there could be some kind of logical explanation for why Molly had launched that attack.

“You’d better explain that. Now,” Owen insisted, glaring at Grant.

Grant belted out another of those groans before he nodded and sank down onto one of the chairs. “On the drive here, I got a call from Molly’s ex-husband, Taylor. He said that three days ago someone abducted him and his daughter.”

Both Owen and Shaw cursed but kept their attention pinned to Grant.

“Taylor said they were held in a fishing cabin near Bulverde,” Grant went on, “and about an hour ago, they were allowed to leave. They’re fine,” he quickly added. “No injuries and they had no contact with their abductor during the three days.”

“Who took them?” Owen asked, and Shaw was certain there’d be plenty of other questions to go along with that.

“Taylor doesn’t know. Three nights ago, someone wearing a balaclava broke into his house and forced him and his daughter at gunpoint to get into a car.

The abductor never spoke but gave Taylor a typed note that said once Molly had followed orders they’d all be released unharmed if the cops didn’t get involved in any of this. ”

“Followed orders?” Ava repeated. “What does that mean?”

Grant shook his head. “Taylor didn’t know, but in hindsight, I think Molly was forced to abduct me, Donovan, and the latest victim. I believe she was forced to play the part of the riddle killer so she could get back her daughter.”

Shaw felt the dread seep into him. Because this actually made sense. There was nothing in Molly’s background to indicate she’d turn killer. But a mother would do plenty of things to ensure the safety of her child.

“Taylor said the abductor drove them to the cabin and locked them in.” Grant continued a moment later. “There were burglar bars on all the windows and the door so they couldn’t escape.”

“How’d he get away?” Owen pressed.

“He said about an hour ago, the person wearing a balaclava returned out of the blue, unlocked the door and left. Taylor took his daughter and walked to the nearest house and called me.”

Of course, Shaw jumped right on that. “Why you and not the cops?”

Grant squeezed his eyes shut a moment. “Because of the typed note. He was terrified to get the cops involved and wouldn’t even tell me where he was going.

He’s scared shitless, especially after I told him that Molly was dead.

And personally, I think it’s wise of him to be scared.

His abductor is still out there, and we know who’s calling the shots here. Dell.”

There was no doubt in Grant’s tone or expression that Dell was indeed the one behind this.

And Shaw couldn’t exactly argue with that.

He knew firsthand that Dell was a sick, twisted bastard, and he could have manipulated someone into putting this plan into motion.

Not only to continue the deadly riddle killer game, but also maybe to shed some doubt on his conviction.

“Did Taylor happen to say if his abductor could be a woman?” Shaw came out and asked.

“I pressed him on that,” Grant said, “and Taylor believed it could have been. But not Molly. He was certain of that because the abductor pushed his daughter into the car. Taylor knew Molly wouldn’t have done that.

” He paused, his gaze drilling into Shaw.

“But you and I both know who would have done that. We know who would do anything for Dell.”

Yeah, they did. And so did Owen because he snatched up his phone.

“Change the request to come in for question to an APB for Valerie Corbin,” Owen ordered. “Arrest her if you have to, but I want her brought in for questioning now.”

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