And then watched as Rodriguez frowned, took several steps down the hall, away from the door Tessa had entered, and pushed open the next bedroom door. Seconds later, he dropped to the floor in front of the door.
“What happened to him?” Tessa asked.
“I think it’s time you and I had a chat with Ms. Monteith.” Ledbetter pointed to the computer. “My people will need that footage.”
“Of course.”
“You should return to the guests. We encouraged them to stay. Until we know what’s going on, we won’t know if Ms. Monteith had an accomplice.” Ledbetter paused. “For obvious reasons, should Tyson Monteith attempt to leave the premises, he will be detained.”
When they returned to the hall, Ledbetter paused. “Your version of events in thirty seconds. Go.”
Tessa did her best and relayed everything that had happened.
“Your take on Wendy Monteith?”
“She’s neither in shock, nor is she the pampered society diva she attempts to portray herself to be.”
Ledbetter’s response was a grunt. Clearly not the most verbose agent she’d ever worked with. He paused at the door. “I’ll talk, but don’t hesitate to chime in.”
“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to hamper the investigation in any way, but for whatever reason, she’s decided to call me a murderer and accuse me of causing the injuries to both Graham and Rodriguez. And based on that video surveillance, there’s nothing to prove I didn’t do it. It’s my word against hers.”
“Your point?”
“Should I go in there? Or should I stay outside?”
Ledbetter studied her for a moment. “Special Agent Reed, please don’t take this the wrong way, but while I see your point, I don’t have time to make this easy on her. If your presence incites her to violence or fits of temper, I’m okay with that. The more she talks, the more likely she is to give us something we can use.”
“Fair enough.”
They entered the room.
THEY DIDN’T MAKE IT A FOOTinto the room before Wendy Monteith squealed and threw a shoe in Tessa’s direction. Was this woman trying to make herself look unhinged? Because she was doing a decent job of it.
“Ms. Monteith”—Ledbetter stood across from the desk chair Wendy sat in—“we need to ask you a few questions.”
Wendy rocked in the seat. “Scared. So scared. She’s a murderer. She’ll kill me.” Then she straightened in her seat. “Is my daddy downstairs? He is. I need him. He’ll take care of this.”
Ledbetter turned back to Tessa and rolled his eyes. “Maybe youshouldwait outside for a few minutes.”
Tessa left the room without argument. Something was very, very wrong, and Wendy Monteith was up to her pearls in it.
When she stepped into the hall, she spotted the agents standing post at the top of the stairs and Luke, Gil, and Carver located midway down the hall. The three men rushed her.
“What’s going on?” all three asked.
“I have no idea.” She leaned against the wall. “We came up here to look for Wendy. I’d kept an eye on her all night. Rodriguez had too.”
“He said she smelled funny.” Carver shook his head. “Not literally. But she set off his senses.”
“Oh, he wasn’t wrong.” Tessa told them everything. “She’s in there right now ranting about how I’m a murderer, but I think she shot Graham and did something to Rodriguez. And now she’s trying to cover it up by blaming it on me and pretending to be the freaked-out victim. But what I can’t make any sense of is why.”
Luke tapped his phone. “Before Zane left, he sent me a text and said we need to check out the Monteiths. So I put a phone call in to Sabrina. She’s working on it now.” He looked at Carver. “We have access to Dr. Sabrina Campbell-Fleming. You may not have heard of her, but—”
“Oh, I’ve heard of her. She found some teenagers for us when I worked in the Dallas office. Kids were being trafficked, and she did some sort of voodoo with the paint in the hotel room and shadows from the curtains.” Carver’s expression was a mixture of confusion and awe.
