Ryan’s jaw tightened. “You saw her legit reaction to the hand, bro. Move on. Mia’s not involved in this.”
She came to her feet. “He’s right, and I can prove it.”
“I’m listening,” Russ said, cocking a brow.
She reached across the counter and thrust the will and threat into Russ’s hand. “Here’s the will. Once you read it, you’ll know I don’t gain anything until the year is up. And in the envelope is a letter that was waiting for me at the post office yesterday.”
Russ tucked the will under his arm then opened the envelope and scanned the letter. “Okay, so how does this prove you aren’t involved? You could’ve sent it to yourself.”
“Look at the postmark. I was in Atlanta when it was sent.”
Russ rolled his eyes. “So the guy you hired to start the fire mailed the letter.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Ryan snapped. “Can’t you at least acknowledge you could be wrong and someone is threatening Mia?”
“Despite what you both think about me,” Russ paused and looked at them in turn, “I have an open mind. I’m more than willing to entertain another suspect, but so far there’s no evidence to point to anyone else.”
“You can get prints and DNA from the letter I just gave you, right?” Mia asked. “That could give you that other suspect.”
“Yes, but since you’ve been handling it without gloves, yours will be on it as well.”
“I touched it too,” Ryan said. “Does that make me a suspect?”
“Not a strong one, but yes. Anyone who touched this letter except me is a suspect.”
Ryan advanced on his brother. “How about Mia’s father or David for that matter? You could at least look into them.”
“And why would I do that?”
Mia held her hand in front of Ryan. “Ryan, don’t.”
“I’m sorry, Mia, but he needs to hear this.” Ryan explained her father and David’s motive.
Russ fixed a hard stare on her. “Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?”
“She hopes to one day reconcile with her father, and she doesn’t want people in town to gossip about her like they did back in high school,” Ryan answered for her. “Accusing Dr. Blackburn of these crimes would only make him more angry.”
“Can’t be helped. They both sound like viable suspects.”
“But I…”
“You can’t have it both ways, Mia,” Russ straightened to full height. “Either I consider them suspects or that leaves only you for now.”
“I don’t want to believe they could do this,” she said.
“And that’s admirable,” Russ said. “Especially given the things your dad has done.”
A compliment from Russ? She appreciated it, and yet her stomach was knotted over ratting out her own family to law enforcement.
Russ tucked the letter into the envelope. “I’ll talk with your dad and brother about this. If I have additional questions, I’ll get back to you.”
She watched him leave and dug deep to find the confident woman who bolted for cover as she always did when her father was involved.
“You don’t look so good,” Ryan said.
Her head shot up. “It hurts to think my father might hate me this much. Plus you’ve probably started the ball rolling for the news to be spread all over town.”
“I’m sorry, but the stolen guns are most worrisome. Even if I don’t think your family is behind this, I had to tell Russ about your dad and David. He has to realize they could be threatening you and stop wasting time trying to prove your guilt.”
