she supposed that was what it was. She’d never quite managed to have a relationship like that with Hadley.
“SAPD will want to talk to Laney tomorrow,” Kellan said to Owen. He checked his watch. “But it’s late. Why don’t you go ahead and take Laney to the ranch so you two can try to get some rest?”
Laney practically jumped to her feet. “No. I can’t go there. It could put Addie in danger.”
“We’re taking precautions,” Kellan assured her. “And I didn’t say to take you to Owen’s but rather the ranch. You can’t go back to Owen’s place because the CSIs are there processing the scene, but our grandparents’ house is in the center of the property. No one lives there on a regular basis, so it’s been kept up for company, seasonal ranch hands and such. Plus, it has a good security system. Addie, Francine, Gunnar and Jack are headed there now.”
Jack was Kellan and Owen’s brother. And he was also a marshal. Another lawman. But that didn’t mean Laney could trust him.
“What about your fiancée?” she asked Kellan. Laney knew her name was Gemma, and she’d met her several times. “She shouldn’t be alone at your place.”
“She won’t be. She’ll be going to my grandparents’ house, too. Eli’s taking her there.”
Eli was yet another brother and a Texas Ranger. So, she would be surrounded by Slater lawmen. Not exactly a comforting thought, but it could be worse. As Addie’s uncles, they’d do whatever it took to protect the baby.
“I’ll have two reserve deputies drive Owen and you, and once Eli and Jack are in place at the ranch, I can have them come back here to help with the investigation,” Kellan told them. “With Owen at our grandparents’ house, Addie won’t have to be away from her dad.”
Until he’d added that last part, Laney had been ready to outright refuse. She hadn’t wanted to do anything to put the child in more danger, or to separate father from child. Still, this was dangerous.
“There’s a gunman at large,” she reminded him. “If he comes after me again, I shouldn’t be anywhere near Addie, Gemma or Francine.”
Owen stared at her a moment. “Whoever sent that gunman could try to use Addie to get to you. They would have seen the way you reacted, the way you tried to protect her. They would know she’s your weak spot.”
Addie was indeed that. It had crushed Laney to think of the baby being hurt.
Owen dragged in a weary breath before he continued, “It’ll be easier to protect you both at the same time, and it’ll tie up fewer resources for Kellan. He needs all the help he can get here in the office to work the investigation and try to get a confession out of Rohan Gilley.”
She mentally went through what he was saying and hated that it made sense. Hated even more that she didn’t have a reasonable counterargument. She was exhausted, and it felt as if someone had clamped a fist around her heart. Still, Laney didn’t want to do anything else to hurt Owen’s precious little girl.
“I’m a PI,” Laney reminded Owen. Reminded herself, too. “I can arrange for my own security. I’ll be okay.”
She saw the anger flash in Owen’s eyes, which were the color of a fierce storm cloud. “I don’t need to remind you that your assistant is dead. Or that you’re in danger. So I’d rather you not add to this miserable night by lying to yourself. Or to me—again. When it comes to me, you’ve already met your quota of lies.”
This was more than a swipe like the one Emerson had given her. Much more. Not just because it was true but especially because it was coming from Owen. It drained what little fight she had left in her and that was why Laney didn’t argue any more when Owen gathered up his things and led her out the front door to a waiting cruiser.
Obviously, Kellan and Owen had been certain they could talk her into this. Which they had.
“This is Manuel Garcia and Amos Turner, the reserve deputies,” Owen said when he hurried Laney into the back seat with him. The deputies were in the front.
Laney recognized both of them. That was because whenever she was in town or dealing with the other ranchers, she’d kept her eyes and ears open. For all the good it’d done. Owen’s ranch had been attacked, Joe was dead and she was no closer to the truth than she had been when she’d lied her way into getting a job with Owen.
It would have been so easy to slip right into the grief, fear and regret. The trifecta of raw emotions was like a perfect storm closing in on her. But giving in to it would only lead to tears and a pity party, neither of which would help.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Owen. That might not help, either, but she had to start somewhere. “Believe me when I say I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
The interior of the cruiser was dimly lit, yet she could clearly see Owen’s eyes when he looked at her. Still storm gray. It was a different kind of intensity than what was usually there. When he’d looked at her before—before he’d known who she was and the lies she’d told him—there’d been...well, heat. Though he might not admit it, she’d certainly seen it.
And felt it.
Laney had dismissed it. Or rather she had just accepted it. After all, Owen was from the superior Slater gene pool, and the DNA had given him a face that hadn’t skimped on the good looks. The thick black hair, those piercing eyes, that mouth that looked capable of doing many pleasurable things.
She dismissed those looks again now and silently cursed herself for allowing them to even play into this. She had no right to see him as anything but a former boss who had zero trust in her. Maybe if she mentally repeated that enough, her body would start to accept it.
“Believe me when I say I’m sorry,” she repeated in a whisper, forcing her attention away from him and to the window.
Some long moments crawled by before he said anything. “You were close to your assistant, Joe Henshaw?”
The question threw her. Of course, she hadn’t forgotten about Joe, but she’d figured that learning more about the man hadn’t been on the top of Owen’s to-do list. Plus, he hadn’t even mentioned whether or not he would start to accept her apology.
“We were close enough, I suppose,” she answered. “He worked for me about a year, and I trusted him to do the jobs I assigned him to do.”
“Did he ever come to my ranch?” Owen fired back as soon as she’d answered.
Oh, she got it then. Laney knew the reason he’d brought up the subject. He wanted to measure the depth of her lies. “No. I only had phone contact with Joe when I worked for you. I didn’t bring anyone to the ranch,” she added.
From his reflection in the mirror, she could see that he was staring at her as if waiting for her to say more. Exactly what, she didn’t know. When she turned back to him, Laney still didn’t have a clue.
“I just want to know who and what I’m dealing with,” Owen clarified. “Joe was your lover?”
“No.” She couldn’t say that fast enough and shook her head, not able to connect the dots on this one. “He worked for me, period.”
Now it was Owen who looked away. “Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t dealing with something more personal here.”
“You mean like a lover’s spat gone wrong,” she muttered. The fact he had even considered that twisted away at her almost as much as the regret over lying to him.
“No. Like Terrance McCoy killing your assistant as a way of getting back at you.”
Everything inside Laney stilled. Only for a moment, though. Before the chill came again. Mercy. She hadn’t even considered that. But she should have. She was so tied up in knots over Emerson having killed Hadley that she hadn’t looked at this through a cop’s eyes. Something she’d always prided herself on being able to do. She’d never