Violet looked at Elias and signaled for him to get into the truck.
Nope. Not happening. The last thing he wanted to explain to the officers was his gunshot wound, and they didn’t like unexplained events. He shook his head slightly.
The medic glared at him, but thankfully remained silent.
Twenty quiet minutes later, a plain sedan turned into Merriweather’s driveway and parked behind the motorcycles and truck. Two men climbed out of the vehicle and tugged theirjackets and ties into place. Unlike the dress pants or khakis Elias and his teammates wore on the job in Ardmore, the detectives here could wear jeans and boots.
Man, that would have been useful on some of those calls where they’d tramped through woods and fields with waist-high weeds and grass. Sure would have saved them all from battling so many ticks, chiggers, and snakes.
The detectives walked up to the uniformed officers and asked a couple of questions. The answers had them staring at Elias and the other operatives. This would be fun. No doubt the detectives would run the fake identities to check for priors and warrants. Elias hoped Zane had been at the top of his game in creating their backgrounds. If he’d missed anything, it would raise a flag in the minds of the detectives, and the likelihood of the operatives spending time behind bars rose dramatically.
Finally, the two men motioned to Grizzled who, after a hard stare at the operatives, led the detectives into the farmhouse.
Young cop fingered his holster nervously as he watched the men of Echo unit. Not once did he consider the women to be dangerous. He needed to wise up fast, or he might lose his life to a woman without the honor of the Artemis team.
Ten minutes later, the detectives approached the operatives. The taller detective said, “I’m Detective Jason Darby. This is my partner, Detective Mark Caldwell.”
Seth said, “I’m Seth Dawson.” He introduced each operative to the detectives.
Darby nodded toward the porch. “We can’t go inside the house, but we can at least let the ladies sit on the porch while we talk.”
“Good idea.” Seth motioned for the teams to do as suggested. He nudged Teagan ahead with Violet so that he and Noah put themselves between the detectives and their wives.
Feeling like a wuss, Elias sat on the porch with the women. His shoulder ached fiercely, but he wouldn’t give in to his need to support or massage the muscles near the injury. To do so would bring questions he didn’t want to answer.
Darby glanced at him, then turned his body so he could keep Elias in his sight.
Nice. He’d captured the detective’s interest, anyway. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He wondered if there was a big hole in the yard where he could disappear for a while.
Step by slow step, Grant acted as though he was restless so he could maneuver in front of Elias to give him some respite from the detective’s observation.
Iona turned her back to the detectives and wrapped her arms around him, careful to not put pressure on his injured shoulder.
Yep, he was an official, card-carrying wuss, but he couldn’t deny enjoying the comfort of her touch, either. More importantly, he knew what that move had cost her. Iona never turned her back on cops or potential enemies.
Elias wished they were at home, not locked into Red Rock as witnesses who might be suspects. This wasn’t a beneficial situation for him and the team to be caught in. For their own safety, they should leave at the first chance they had. However, Merriweather’s murder complicated everything.
In answer to a question from Darby, Seth said, “Elias and Iona were the ones who discovered Mr. Merriweather’s body.”
The detectives turned toward them. They glanced at each other, then headed in Elias’ direction.
He loosened his hold on Iona and nudged her to his side, where she could face the detectives.
Darby pulled out his notepad and pen and said to Elias, “Tell us what happened.”
“We rolled up to the farmhouse about eight and knocked on the front door. Mr. Merriweather didn’t answer, and the doorwas open, so we went inside and called out. That’s also when we noticed the damage in the living room, like there’d been a fight.”
Iona rested her hand against Elias’ back. “We didn’t think anyone would leave his house unlocked, so we were worried that Mr. Merriweather was inside the house somewhere, hurt.”
“We searched the house and found Mr. Merriweather lying on the kitchen floor, just as you saw him.”
“Did you touch the body?”
“I checked for a pulse.”
“Did you touch anything else?”
“No, sir.”
