That didn’t mean hearing it didn’t sting, though. It did. Because Leeroy was right. Still, that much hurt and anger was a red flag to a lawman.
“I gotta ask,” Egan said to him. “Where were you tonight?”
The jolt of surprise seemed to make Leeroy’s muscles even tighter. “Oh, no. You’re not going to try to pin this on me.”
“It was a simple question,” Egan pointed out. “Usually it’s simple to answer for someone who isn’t hiding anything.”
If looks could have killed, Leeroy would have ended Egan’s life right there. “Like I said, I was at the ER with my wife. If you don’t believe me, just ask the nurses.”
Oh, he would. But Egan wouldn’t like doing it. Plain and simple, he felt guilty when it came to Leeroy. He hadn’t protected Shanna, and part of Egan would always believe that he deserved every bit of hatred and venom that Leeroy sent his way.
“Tell that cop friend to stay away from me,” Leeroy growled to Jordan before he turned and stormed out.
“I’ll call Christian,” she said, taking out her phone.
She wasn’t scowling exactly, but Egan knew from her tone that this wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation. However, it was one he wanted to hear. He didn’t get to do that because his own phone rang, and Egan knew he had to take the call when he saw Court’s name on the screen.
“No ID yet on the Jane Doe,” Court volunteered the moment Egan answered. “But when the ME and his crew were moving the body, something fell out of the blanket. I bagged it, but I thought you might want to see it before I send it to the crime lab.”
“Why? What is it?”
Egan thought he heard his brother mumble some curse words. “It’s a note,” Court finally said. “It’s not good, Egan. And it’s addressed to Jordan and you.”
Jordan had no trouble hearing what Court had just said to Egan, and it caused everything inside her to go still. For a couple of seconds anyway. Then the new wave of panic came. And pain. But the pain was because she’d bunched up her forehead, the motion pulling at the stitches.
It was a reminder she didn’t need of just how close she’d come to dying tonight. The note was perhaps going to be another of those unnecessary prompts.
Since the note was addressed to Egan and her, that meant the attack and the woman’s death weren’t just some fluke, that they did indeed have something to do with them. Of course, she hadn’t actually believed that it was a sick coincidence, but she’d held on to the hope like a lifeline.
Well, that lifeline was gone now.
And Jordan just sat there, trying to gather what little of her composure she had left so she could listen to the rest of what Court had to say. Judging from Egan’s grimace and his muttered profanity, he was trying to do the same thing.
“The note’s handwritten,” Court went on. “It’s scrawled as if the person wrote it in a hurry. It says, ‘Want to put an end to the killings? Meet me. I’ll be calling you soon.’ And there’s no signature.”
That last part definitely wasn’t a surprise. No way would the person who’d written that note want them to know who he or she was. Because if they did know, Egan could make an arrest for attempted murder. Maybe even murder. But the jury was still out on who’d killed that woman who’d been dumped from the truck.
“I’ll be calling you soon,” Court repeated. “You think this could be a situation where this clown is going to demand payment so the killings will stop?”
“Maybe.” Though Egan didn’t sound especially hopeful about that.
Neither was Jordan, but it was sadly the best-case scenario here. If the person could be paid off, then the motive was simply money. Not that she had money, but Egan did, and plenty of people knew that. Still, this didn’t feel like something that simple. It would be a lot harder for them to stop this guy if the motive was revenge because their attacker might not be satisfied until Egan and she were dead.
She stood and started walking, just to give herself something to do with the slam of fresh adrenaline she got. Egan’s office wasn’t that big so she soon ended up in front of the bookcase and filing cabinet, where there were framed pictures of his family.
And Shanna, of course.
Every detail of Shanna’s features was etched in Jordan’s memory, but it was even more painful seeing that face. That smile. Jordan went back to the chair so the photos would be out of sight and hopefully out of mind. For a couple of seconds anyway. She needed to regain her footing, and she didn’t stand a chance of doing that if she was looking at Shanna’s face.
“Are you okay?” Court pressed when neither of them said anything.
“Fine,” Egan snapped, but all three of them knew that wasn’t the truth. “Have the handwriting on the note analyzed. Also check the paper for prints or trace.”
“I will,” Court assured him. “But I think this makes it pretty clear that Jordan and you are the targets. Please tell me you won’t go to a meeting with this snake if he or she actually calls.”
A muscle flickered in Egan’s jaw. “If there is a call, I’ll see what he wants and take things from there.”
Judging from Court’s huff, he didn’t like that answer, but Jordan felt the same way as Egan. If a meeting truly would put a stop to the killings, then she would go for it. Well, if she could figure out a way for Egan and her to come out of it alive.
“It’s late, and I’m sure you’re both exhausted. Are you taking Jordan to the ranch?” Court asked a moment later.
There was more of that muscle flickering from Egan. “Maybe. But if that’s where we go, it would be just for tonight.”
Jordan was shaking her head before he even finished, and she got to her feet. “I don’t want to go there,” she protested.
Egan didn’t even acknowledge that. He just kept talking to his brother. “Call me the minute you get anything back from the ME, CSIs or the lab. Are there any safety measures you want me to take for Rayna?”
“Rayna and I have already worked that out.” And Court proceeded to tell Egan about some hands standing guard and an armed security system.
Jordan knew that Rayna was a local horse trainer who was also engaged to Court. That likely meant the woman had already moved to the ranch, and Jordan figured she could use that to win the argument she was about to have with Egan. An argument that started the moment he finished the call with Court.
“I don’t want to go to the McCall Ranch,” she repeated. “Your family will be there. Your father, your sister and apparently Rayna, too. My being there could put them in danger. Not to mention that none of them will want me there after what happened to Shanna.”
“No, my family won’t be there. Court and Rayna have their own place on the back of
