“That sounds like someone I know.”
“Hey.”The chatter around them continued.“Hey!”The chatter quieted.Smokey leaned forward, Tania assumed so he could see Hawkeye.“Can you find a picture if we give you a name?”
“Depends on the name, how common it is, and a lot of other things, but let’s try it.”
Smokey tapped her leg, prompting her to give the tech sergeant the name.
“Elmer Werner.Would an address help?”
“I’ll take all you got,” Hawkeye said, his fingers flying over the keyboard of the laptop in front of him.
She gave him her father-in-law’s address and hoped she was wrong.He didn’t live close enough to see the house.The only reason Mr.Werner would have come into the house, much less with a weapon, was if Rod had called him and sent him over there.How would he have known to do that?
A moment later, a photo of her father-in-law popped up on the screen behind Raven.Tania held her breath as she looked at David.
He stared at the TV wide-eyed for a couple of seconds before meeting her gaze.
“That’s him.How did you know?”
“The way you described him, I just knew.But that means Rod has to know something is up.That’s the only reason I can think of that Mr.Werner would come over.Rod had to have told him to.He’d been at the house twice since we got married and once since Carter was born.”She looked around wondering if they believed or if they thought she was losing it.
“How often do you typically see your in-laws?”Raven asked.
“It was every Sunday for dinner until Carter was born.Now we go most Sundays, and sometimes in the middle of the week.”
“How do his parents feel about the baby?”The man sitting next to Raven asked, Tania thought his name was Jersey, but she couldn’t be sure.There had been so many new faces and names today.
“They love him,” she said automatically, then tilted her head to one side as she gave it more thought.“Actually, his mom loves Carter.She rarely even lets me hold him while we’re there.Mr.Werner mostly ignores him.”
“You said this was because he figured out the baby wasn’t his.How will his parents feel about that?Do you think he told them already and this is the result?”Raven asked.
Tania stared at Smokey’s president for several seconds.Why hadn’t she thought of that?Her chest ached for what Rod’s mother would feel finding out that the baby she loved wasn’t her grandson.Her father-in-law?She couldn’t imagine he would care enough to do anything like this.
“I don’t know.I don’t think they’re the kind to do this but I never would have guessed that Mr.Werner would shoot anyone.Maybe he was driving by and thought they were intruders robbing the place?”No, that couldn’t be.Rod had insisted they have a gate that kept anyone from being able to see the front of the house from the street.Tania turned back to David.“Did you leave the front gate open while you were there?”
David shook his head.“It closed behind us automatically.We didn’t think anything of it, because we didn’t want anything to look different from the street.We only got out because it opened automatically as I pulled up.I mean I would have rammed it to get out and get Hunter help, but I didn’t have to.”
“So there’s no way he could have seen you there just passing by.”She turned back to Raven.“I don’t know what’s up, but somehow he knew they were there.Whether Rod called him or something else, he knew or he wouldn’t have been there.”
Raven’s gaze scanned the room.She didn’t know what he was looking for, but he didn’t seem to find it.He spoke again as his gaze settled back on her.
“Tell us more about your in-laws.I want everything you can remember.We need to know who we’re dealing with here.”
Tania told them everything she knew about the Werners, though as she started talking she realized that she didn’t know them well.She had basic information, names, address, ages, where they worked, that kind of thing but she had no idea what they did in their free time, at least when she hadn’t been taking Carter to see them.
Her chest ached at the thought of Carter losing Mrs.Werner as a grandmother.She loved him and spoiled him.At the same time, she wondered how Smokey’s parents would react to knowing they had a grandson.
“What else can you tell us about them?Do you know why your father in law wasn’t at work today?”Hawkeye’s voice pulled her from her musings.
Tania shook her head.“I have no clue.I don’t know what his work schedule is.Only that we go over for lunch most Sundays, and I usually take Carter over there for a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoons.Usually both Mr.and Mrs.Werner are there for those, but sometimes he’s not on Wednesdays.Mrs.Werner usually tells me he got called away with work.”
“And you said he works for the same resort where your husband works?”
Tania nodded.She didn’t know what else to say.“How is David?Is he going to be okay?”
“The bullet flattened against the scapula, possibly cracking it but it didn’t go through.I was able to get the bullet out and stitch him up.He needs to keep it immobile for a few days but then he’ll have a sore wing for a while, but he should make a full recovery.”
She nodded, relieved about that at least.She didn’t know how she would have dealt with it if either of the men who had only been there to help her, had been killed.Talk swirled around her but since they weren’t talking to her anymore she let her mind wander.A knock on the door then Carter’s cries and Taylynn’s voice drew her back to what was happening here and now.Taylynn had been keeping an eye on Carter.Now he was on her hip, crying.Without asking if they were through with her, she stood and skirted her way around the room to the door, then went to take care of her son.
