Cowboy Famous: Book 4 (Cowboy Justice Association) (24 page)

Jazz slapped her forehead at his underhanded yet ingenious moves. “It wasn’t enough that you sent them off to find someone with a motive for Sandy’s murder. You also tricked them.”

“Are you taking their side?” he asked with a widening grin and she shook her head. “I don’t need them sticking their nose into my case. All of these men might be innocent and I don’t want their lives torn apart by an overzealous reporter.”

“As I said, you are really starting to scare me.”

“I take that as a compliment.” He touched the brim of his hat in a mock salute. “Can you order some lunch from the diner? Just call there, they know the drill. Add whatever you want too. I’m going to be hungry when I’m done.”

Jazz decided she never wanted to tangle with Griffin when it came to the law. She’d stick to answering the phones.

He was too smart, too devious, and way too sexy.

Chapter Nineteen

G
riffin’s interrogation with Danny had been boring but fruitful. With hardly any pressure, the young man had finally admitted to where he was midday yesterday. He’d been locked in his hotel room with one of the waitresses from the diner and they hadn’t been playing board games or watching television. Adam had been dispatched to the restaurant to bring the confused female to the station.

Griffin personally questioned her in his own office away from Danny. The trembling and crying girl admitted the deed and fearfully asked if anyone needed to know. It was a good question as the waitress was dating a young man over in Harper and had been for quite awhile. When Griffin asked why she’d put her relationship in danger, she’d said she simply wanted a “brush with fame” as she’d phrased it.

Acknowledging the situation she was in, Griffin told her he’d try and keep it out of the press but it would go in the official case file. Hopefully none of the reporters would care what Danny’s actual alibi was, only that he had one.

Wayne was the next one brought into the room. Drinking a cup of coffee, the man sat across the table from Griffin, his expression one of extreme annoyance. Apparently he’d been in the middle of something when he’d been called to the station.

Too fucking bad.

“Do you have any objections to this interview being taped and then transcribed?” Griffin asked.

“No, let’s just get this over with. I have things to do.” Wayne’s fingers were drumming on the table top in a testy manner.

“I’ll try to be as expeditious as possible.” Griffin pressed the record button on the laptop. “For the record, state your name, please.”

“Wayne Larker.”

“Do you want to stick with that answer?” Griffin leaned forward and made sure their gazes met. After a long moment, Wayne looked down at the table.

“My name is Wayne LaDuke but it seems you already knew that. Not bad for a small town sheriff.”

“I do what I can,” Griffin answered, keeping his own words brief. This wasn’t about him and all about Wayne. “Tell me where you were and what you were doing between eleven and one yesterday.”

Some internal struggle crossed the man’s face but he finally blew out a long breath and slumped in his chair. “I was filing a story with my magazine over in Springwood. The coffee shop there has Wi-Fi.”

“Was it another story about me and Jazz?” Ice dripped from his voice and Wayne winced before answering.

“No, this one was about Danny and the waitress he was seeing,” he said, still staring at the table but at least the tapping of his fingers on the wood had ceased. Anger churned up Griffin’s stomach acid and he had to swallow down the rising bile in his throat.

“That young girl is going to be in your rag tomorrow?” he asked, keeping the pressure up with a hard tone to his voice. This man didn’t give a shit about the lives he played with, only caring about the payday at the end.

Shifting uncomfortably in the chair, Wayne nodded. “That and the murder. Shit, it’s my job, Sheriff.”

Every cell in Griffin’s body wanted to tell this man how sickening his actions were, how selfish and self-centered he was. But Griffin had too many years of practicing control to let it out. Instead he pushed away his disgust and continued the interview. His personal emotions were a luxury he couldn’t afford right now.

“Do you have anyone who can verify your whereabouts?”

Wayne looked up and nodded vigorously. “Absolutely. My editor and several people in the coffee shop. I ate there too. Cheesecake.”

“How did you even get there and what phone did you use? Tony took all of your phones.”

“I borrowed one of the crew trucks. They were all hanging out in the diner and no one was using any of them. All the keys were just sitting out on the production table in the office after they filmed Sandy’s departure.”

“The office? You mean the hotel room they’re using as a center of operations?”

“Yes, that one. No one was in there so it was easy, really.”

Wayne tugged at his collar as if it was too tight. Good, he should be uncomfortable considering what he’d pulled.

“And the phone?” Griffin asked, trying to keep the man focused.

“The box of phones he took from us are in that office unguarded. I slipped in, got the keys and my phone, went to Springwood because I heard it’s the biggest town around this area, filed my story, then slipped everything back before anyone noticed. Everyone was upset about Sandy so no one noticed me.”

Incompetence reigned. So much for keeping the competitors isolated and all that shit. Jazz hadn’t needed to steal Griffin’s phone. She could have stolen her own.

“I’ll check out your story,” Griffin nodded. “Now tell me what you know about Sandy and don’t leave anything out.”

Wayne heaved a put-upon sigh but began to speak. “According to what I’ve been able to find out, which isn’t much, is that Sandy is a college dropout who picked up her life and moved to New York to become a famous actress on Broadway. She’s never had an actual part and from what I’ve heard has no discernible acting, singing, or dancing talent.”

“Then what does she have?” Griffin asked, giving Wayne a hard look but silently cursing Tony. This didn’t sound like the cheery, sunshine filled bio that Griffin had read.

“Balls. Not real ones,” Wayne amended hastily. “She’s got confidence. She’s one of those people who can walk into a room of millionaires and think they’re inferior. That they’d be lucky to know her.”

“So she had rich boyfriends?”

Wayne shrugged. “She’s been photographed with some real estate tycoons. They’ll be in the paper tomorrow.”

“I want those pictures.” Griffin’s fingers tapped on the table. “Here in this office. Have your magazine send them to me. Today.”

“Yeah, whatever. Can I go now? That’s all I really know.” Wayne spread his arms wide as if he was helpless.

“One more question. Were you and Tony in on this together? Did he put you on the show to get publicity?”

“Fuck, no. Tony and my editor do not get along. Don’t know the whole story but they pretty much hate each other’s guts. I had to get on the show just like everyone else.
Now
can I go?”

“I’ll call over to Springwood and confirm your story. Don’t leave Hope Lake in the meantime,” Griffin warned, although he was pretty sure the reporter was telling the truth.

“I won’t,” Wayne laughed. “This is the story of a lifetime.”

Griffin shot the man such a look of dislike his smile immediately disappeared and he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“I mean, I’ll just go back to my hotel room and read,” Wayne said quickly, his skin pale.

“Right. You’ll just read.” Griffin didn’t believe it for a minute but if the man was innocent, and Griffin was pretty sure he was, there was nothing he could legitimately do to stop him from reporting on the happenings in town or on the case.

Griffin stuck his head out of the door and motioned for Adam to escort Wayne out of the back entrance. Three people were sitting on the bench outside of the interrogation room, Tony, Gordon, and someone Griffin had never seen. Wearing an expensive suit and carrying a briefcase, the person could only be a lawyer.

“You’re next,” Griffin said pointing to Tony. “Let’s go.”

Tony stood right along with the man in the suit. Griffin knew where this was going. Tony had lawyered up. The man held out his hand.

“I’m Ambrose Tell, an attorney from Beverly Hills. The network asked me to be here to make sure that Tony and Gordon’s rights weren’t being infringed upon.”

Suuurrre.
Just looking out for their rights.

Griffin shook the attorney’s hand and ushered them both into the office with Gordon trailing behind. Ambrose put his hand on Gordon’s shoulder and smiled. “I’d like my clients to be questioned together, if you don’t mind.”

“I do mind, actually,” Griffin worked to keep his voice even despite the ever growing frustration he was feeling with this case. Every time he thought he’d found a lead the only place it sent him was a dead end. “It’s common practice for each person of interest to be interviewed separately.”

“And they were yesterday, I believe,” the lawyer responded smoothly. It was probably why he was making hundreds of dollars an hour. “But I’m afraid I can’t allow that to happen today. Together or nothing.”

Making sure his features didn’t reveal the argument raging inside of him, Griffin eventually nodded curtly and opened the door wider so they could all enter the room. He needed to talk to Tony and if that meant Gordon had to sit in, so be it.

While the three men settled into their chairs, Griffin stuck his head around the corner and hissed to get Jazz’s attention.

“Pssst.” Jazz looked up, her expression puzzled. “Did anything get delivered for me?”

Her face relaxed into a smile and she picked up a stack of envelopes and handed them over. “Just ten minutes ago. What are they?”

“Leverage,” he said and twisted around, looking through the papers one by one. With a satisfied smile, he re-entered the interrogation room and sat across the table from the three men.

“So,” he began, letting his gaze wander to each man and back again. Tony looked nervous, tugging at his collar, the attorney looked cool and calm, while Gordon looked angry as if he didn’t want to be there. “I haven’t been able to nail down your alibis for yesterday. Tony, according to your own network, you were on the phone from eleven to twelve. That still gives you time to commit the murder.”

“I didn’t kill Sandy,” Tony rasped, sweat popping out on his forehead. “I liked her. She was a good kid.”

“Then tell me where you were after the phone call.” Griffin needed to keep the pressure on Tony, never letting the man relax or feel comfortable.

“He was with me,” Gordon interrupted. “We were in Tony’s room going over the schedule for next week. That’s what I told you yesterday. Stop badgering him.”

The shorter man’s face was red, his hands in fists. It appeared Gordon was very protective of his boss.

“Is that true?” Griffin kept his attention on Tony, barely glancing at Gordon. It would be his turn eventually.

Tony nodded eagerly. “Yes. I just don’t keep track of the time very well. That’s Gordon’s job.”

The attorney stood, his chair making a scraping sound on the worn linoleum. “Are we done now, Sheriff? Both men have iron-clad alibis.”

Griffin looked from one man to the other and smiled. “What they have are each other. Each man is swearing the other was with him without any outside corroboration. That might be a strong alibi in Beverly Hills, but here in Montana it’s just words.”

Ambrose’s cool facade slipped slightly with a tightening of his lips as he sank back down into the chair. “Do you have any more questions?”

“I do indeed. Gordon, did you know that Tony had a sexual relationship with Sandy as recently as yesterday morning?”

The brighter red shade of Gordon’s face answered the question. The assistant had known and had maybe even helped to cover it up.

“I did,” Gordon answered carefully. “It was consensual.”

“Never said it wasn’t.” Griffin turned back to Tony. “Now, can you tell me about your two arrests for domestic battery?”

Tony’s face turned purple and he went to stand, but Ambrose patted him on the shoulder and told him to calm down.