“Ma’am, would you be more comfortable giving me your statement alone?” Tommy asked. “I’d be happy to clear the room.”
Milton balked at the request. Before he could puff up again, Tommy held out a warning hand.
“It’s part of the job,” he said to Milton. Then he turned his full attention to Jennifer. “Ma’am?”
She looked to be contemplating her answer.
“Why on earth would she want that?” Milton’s cheeks turned a shade of red as he focused on Jennifer.
Her weak smile died on her lips as soon as he turned back to the sheriff and didn’t that make the hair on Tyler’s neck stand at attention. Was she being manipulated? Abused? Milton didn’t seem to want her to speak up for herself.
Tyler ground his back teeth, thinking about a man being physical with the opposite sex.
“No, thanks,” she said to Tommy.
“Were the two of you riding ATVs earlier today?” Tommy asked Milton.
“Yes, and I lost her on the trail so I left and went back to our motel to wait for her,” Milton said.
Tyler’s eyebrow shot up about the same time as Tommy’s. Tyler also noted that she’d deliberately kept the truth from him earlier about being alone on the trail. He’d seen the tracks himself. What was she hiding?
The two of them might have gotten into a fight and it could have gotten physical. He could’ve taken off and then she could’ve chased after him before the crash.
“You decided to leave her unprotected in unfamiliar territory?” Tommy asked.
“We’d had a fight.” James turned toward Jennifer with a stern look.
“I searched everywhere for her once I lost her on the trail. I figured she was mad and needed to blow off steam.”
“Do you realize there are black bears in these parts of Texas?” Tommy asked, incredulous.
“No. I didn’t. I would never...” Milton let that sentence hang in the air. “I searched for her everywhere and couldn’t find her so, like I said, I decided to give myself time to cool off, as well. I went back to my room, got worried, and when she didn’t answer her cell I called around local hospitals.”
“But not the police station?” Tommy asked.
Milton shook his head.
“Did you take off before or after she’d been in an accident?” Tyler asked, since he hadn’t had a chance to brief Tommy on the situation yet.
Milton whirled on Tyler.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“I was just wondering if you knew she’d been in an accident before you took off to ‘cool down’ as you said,” Tyler elaborated.
“If I’d known anything had happened, I’d have stayed with her,” Milton shot back, turning his attention to Jennifer with another overexaggerated look.
That rang more warning bells.
And there was another thing bugging Tyler. If these two were engaged, wouldn’t she be wearing a ring?
“You said the two of you were getting married,” Tyler began. “Set a date yet?”
“We’re working on it,” Milton said. “Why?”
“Just checking to see how far along your plans are,” Tyler said coolly.
“And why would that be any of your business?” Milton asked, not bothering to hide his disdain. He’d been reasonably respectful to Tommy since he was the law, but the man must see Tyler as an inconvenience. A lot could be said about a man who treated people poorly if he saw them as beneath him.
Tyler shrugged, his casual demeanor was clearly getting to the guy. “Thought it was customary for the woman to wear a ring.”
Milton’s gaze shot to Jennifer. “We haven’t made it that far. I just asked her.”
Tyler studied Jennifer’s reaction. Her expression was blank, her eyes dead as she forced a smile.
She was doing exactly what Milton said and yet she feared the man. Had Tyler read this situation wrong? Sure, none of it was adding up and she looked less than thrilled to be around Milton, but no one was forcing her to be with the guy.
Tyler couldn’t figure why anyone would stay in a bad relationship. And yet it happened all the time.
“There are two sets of tracks leading up to the accident. And one left. How do you explain that, Mr. Milton?” Tyler asked.
“I can’t because I wasn’t there,” Milton responded.
“Is that true?” Tommy asked Jennifer.
She glanced up at Milton first, and then nodded.
If she was going to corroborate Milton’s story, then maybe Tyler needed to mind his own business. He’d tried to defend a few buddies who were in the middle of domestic fights and had learned just how quickly tempers could escalate. Tyler wasn’t afraid of Milton; he could handle that jerk. But he couldn’t make Red leave the guy.
If she wouldn’t give him anything to work with, then he had to come at this from another angle.
“Have the two of you had any lifestyle changes lately?” Tommy asked Milton, picking up on Tyler’s tension. “In preparation for the wedding?”
Milton’s face scrunched up. “No.”
“Haven’t taken out any life insurance policies on each other? Named the other as the beneficiary?” Tommy pressed.
“No. Nothing like that.” Milton’s face looked ready to explode from anger. “Am I under arrest, Sheriff?”
Not yet, Tyler wanted to say.
“Can I see you in the hall for a minute?” Tyler asked Tommy.
“I was just about to suggest the same thing,” Tommy said and then turned to Milton. “I’ll be back as soon as I take a statement from the landowner.”
The door had barely closed when Tyler turned around and asked, “How is it that a man could, first, leave his fiancée outside in a strange place alone and, second, not call the police when she’s missing for hours?”
“Good questions,” Tommy said. “He’s a jerk. I just don’t have anything that I can charge him with. I need something solid in order to take him in.”
“Did you notice how scared she looks?” Tyler asked. “Or the fact that he was so concerned about her that he decided to take a shower before he bothered to figure out where she’d gone or what might’ve happened to her?”
Tommy frowned, nodded. “It’s not illegal, though.”
“His story doesn’t add up and he’ll most likely run out of town the minute our backs are turned.” Frustration ate at Tyler.
“You’re right on both counts, but he has every right to go where he pleases for now. As far as I can tell no crime has been committed.”
“He’s hurting her.” Tyler clenched his fists.
“Which is a shame, but not against the law unless someone witnesses it or she steps forward on her own to press charges.”
“It should be.” Tyler knew this guy was up to no good.
“I’ll stay on him. If he so much as makes a wrong turn while he’s in town I’ll question him for it,” Tommy said.
“There has to be more you can do than that,” Tyler said.
“We can scare him,” Tommy said after thinking about it for a minute. “We better