“Just wanted to give you some updates,” Livvy started the moment she was on the line. “Jennifer’s being examined, and she seems to be coming out of the shock. She says she wants to give a statement. All we have to do now is wait for the okay from the doctor and we can take her to the station.”
“Did she say if she killed her mother?” Judson asked, taking the question right out of Addie’s mouth.
“No, and we advised her not to say anything about that, not until she was medically cleared,” Livvy explained. “We didn’t want a confession to be inadmissible if it turned out she wasn’t declared competent to understand her rights.”
Of course, that made sense, but it was still hard to wait. When Jennifer finally was able to be interviewed, maybe she would also spill about the location of Yvette’s body.
“Will the two of you be coming into the station to observe Jennifer’s interview?” Livvy asked.
Until Livvy mentioned that, Addie hadn’t considered it. But she knew it was something she wanted to do. She wanted to hearfirsthand what the woman had to say and maybe even speak to her afterward.
But Addie rethought that when she glanced at the babies. So did Judson, and she saw the concern on his face. She also figured he was champing at the bit to hear that interview.
“I don’t want to risk leaving the twins,” Addie muttered.
“Understood,” Livvy was quick to say. “And I spoke to Grace about that. If Judson and you want to be here, Grace can send two deputies to the Horseshoe to do protective duty while you’re away. Before you answer, I’ll sweeten the offer by letting you know that you’ll also likely be able to observe an interview with Shane.”
“Shane?” Judson questioned. “Why are you bringing him back?”
“That’s the next thing I need to tell you. I got a call about him,” Livvy explained. “Remember when Shane said he’d never been to the Horseshoe as an adult? Well, that was a lie. Or a partial lie, anyway. He might not have actually gone there, but he was damn close. Holly Dennison was on her way into town and spotted a car turning on to the ranch road. A man in a small white car. Shane owns a white Ford Focus.”
Addie knew Holly well since hers was the closest ranch to the Horseshoe. Holly was also observant, so Addie didn’t doubt the validity of what the woman had seen. But why had Shane been here?
And better yet, why had he lied about it?
“Holly said she didn’t think anything of it at the time,” Livvy went on. “She thought it might be someone visiting a foster kid, but after the Amber Alert and APB were issued, the news media ran Yvette’s pictures. One of them put up a photo of Yvette and her kids, and Holly recognized Shane as the man she saw taking the turn to the Horseshoe.”
“When did she see him?” Judson pressed.
“Holly estimates that it was around nine this morning. That would have been before the twins were snatched. Yeah,” Livvy muttered, no doubt anticipating the questions Judson and Addie had about that. “Trust me, I’ll be asking Shane about that when he comes in for an interview. Not sure exactly when that’ll be. He didn’t answer when I tried to call him, but I left a voicemail and told him to come into the station right away.”
Good. Because if Shane had played any part in the abduction, Addie wanted him to pay and pay hard for his actions.
“Hold a sec,” Livvy said. “I have an incoming call from the lab.”
Livvy put them on hold, giving Addie some time to think. Judson was obviously doing that, too, but neither one of them had much thinking time, because it was less than a minute before Livvy came back on the line.
“Well,” Livvy said on a heavy sigh. “We’ve got a problem.” And she continued after both Addie and Judson groaned. “The blood found in Trevor and Yvette’s house doesn’t belong to either of them.”
“What?” Addie blurted. “Then whose is it?”
Livvy sighed again. “We’re not sure. But according to the ME, there was enough to conclude that whoever’s blood it is, that person is almost certainly dead. Now we need to find out who was probably murdered in that house.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Judson watched as Addie gave each of the babies a kiss on the cheek, and while he figured she was trying to keep her nerves in check, he could tell she was worried about leaving them.
So was he.
With Yvette at large, Trevor missing and a possible unidentified dead body, there were a lot of moving parts in this investigation. But Judson was hoping that Jennifer and Shane would be able to fill in enough blanks for Renegade Canyon PD to figure out what the hell was going on.
“The twins will be safe,” Judson heard Addie mutter, trying to reassure herself.
Judson couldn’t promise Addie that nothing bad would happen—even if they stayed by the babies’ sides. But he could promise that his fellow deputies Rory McClennan and Bennie Whitt would protect the girls with their lives. Added to that, Rory’s brother, a wealthy rancher, had sent over two of his ranch hands, who would patrol the grounds.
Again, it wasn’t foolproof, but everything was in place to make the situation as safe as possible.
“I won’t leave this room even for a second while you’re gone,” Etta Jean promised Addie. She was standing by the bassinets, and she had a fierce, determined look on her face. “Go,” the woman added. “Help them find Yvette so we can put all this behind us.”
