Boyd didn’t even flinch.“What about him?”
“Kids found his remains by the lake after the tornado.”
“Why should I care?”
“Mom says you buried him, so that’s one reason.”
He leaned back in his chair, lip curled in derision.“You fight her battles now?”
“Maybe I do,” Wade said, meeting his father’s gaze.
“Has the body been identified?”
“Not yet.”
“What’s the cause of death?”
“Undetermined.I was pushing for a homicide ruling until I learned that my own mother bashed him over the head.”
“Any physical evidence?”
“Nothing to connect her to his death, so far.But she’ll be questioned, based on my resemblance to the deceased.I got a forensic sketch.”
Boyd drummed his fingertips against the surface of the desk.He understood the layers of complication involved in the discovery of the remains.Wynona could keep a secret, obviously, but she might buckle under the pressure of a police interrogation.
“What happened to his car?”Wade asked.
“She drove it across the border and walked back.”
“You told her to do that?”
“Someone had to.”
“She said the two of you made a deal,” Wade continued.“You asked her to marry you after getting her drunk and sexually assaulting her, and she only agreed when she needed help getting rid of a body.”
His father’s flush was confirmation enough.“I never used force.”
“Never?You didn’t slap her around sometimes, with an open hand?”
Boyd narrowed his eyes.“Is that what she told you?”
“Is it true?”
“Here’s the truth,” Boyd said.“She was out of her mind on drugs and alcohol.She was a danger to herself, and to you.She tried to put you in the car and drive away when she was falling down drunk.”
Wade couldn’t dispute this account.It sounded accurate.
“Maybe I should have handled it better.I did what I had to do to subdue her.”
“You outweigh her by a hundred pounds,” Wade said quietly.
“I didn’t say it was right,” Boyd admitted.
“It wasn’t.”
“Is this how you think you’re going to get your little girlfriend out of custody?By insulting me in my own office?”
Wade curled his hands into fists and stayed quiet.
