“A woman’s heart is a fickle thing. It can change like the wind.”
“I don’t see that wind blowing in my direction anytime soon,” I drawled, too tired to argue about this.
I was doing better, but I wasn’t ready to put up a fight with anyone about matters I couldn’t change. I already knew where Bailey stood. She made that perfectly clear.
And I knew what I was risking when I took Ellie May home.
“I still think you should talk to her.”
The door opened, saving me from having to discuss this further with her. Not that the man who walked through the door was any better. Maverick had been by every day, hounding me to discuss the case further.
But what was there to say?
“Maverick, my favorite person,” I muttered, trying to decide whichwas worse. Having Caroline bully me about Bailey, or Maverick stalking in here with all of his insight on the fire that I knew would get me nowhere.
Neither sounded appealing at the moment.
“Caroline, it’s nice to see you. Looking beautiful as always,” Mav grinned.
“Don’t pull that crap with me. You won’t get under my nurse’s scrubs with charm.”
“How about wit?”
She pouted at him. “If only you had any.” Turning to me, she pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Take care of yourself. And remember what I said.”
“I’ll lock it away in my memories forever,” I lied.
As she flitted out of the room, the smile slipped from Mav’s lips, setting me on edge.
“Well, I take it this isn’t a friendly visit.”
“I have some news on the fire,” he said, taking a seat next to me. “It started in the kitchen, meant to look like a cooking accident. And it might have worked if there hadn’t been a shit ton of fertilizer on the ground.”
“Fertilizer? Why the hell would anyone think they could get away with starting a fire using fertilizer and there would be no evidence?”
“Austin may be smart, but he’s outdone himself this time. See, this particular fertilizer is organic by a new company in the area. The Callahans were testing it,” he grinned.
“Right, but how can you prove it was from their farm?”
“Well, we can’t exactly, but here’s the thing, the fertilizer isn’t our only link to the Callahan family. Yesterday, Clay showed up at the ER with a gunshot wound to his shoulder. It would seem that while someone was able to get most of the bullet out, they left some fragments behind. One of them was a rather large fragment, and it was causing an infection, hence his trip to the ER.”
Hope glimmered inside me at his words. “Tell me you were able to match it to my gun.”
“We were. So, that’s at least one Callahan out of the way?—”
“No,” I interrupted when I realized it would not have the intended effect.
“What do you mean? We’ve got Clay at the break-in at your house.”
“But Clay’s not the one who’s been causing the trouble, and I can pretty much guarantee he’s not the Callahan who set the fire.
“The evidence against Austin is circumstantial. Without being able to prove that the fertilizer came from the Callahan farm, we can’t prosecute. Furthermore, we can’t actually tie Austin to the scene.”
“Then leverage the evidence against him.”
Mav smirked at me. “Are you asking me to ignore the law for you?”
“Like I have to ask.”
