Landon. Delores Fossen
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“Will do. I did manage to get Tessa to let a nurse hold the baby so I could get an X-ray of her neck,” the doctor continued, but he stopped, obviously noticing the renewed surprise on Landon’s face.
“What’s wrong with Tessa’s neck?” Landon asked.
“She’s got a small lesion.” The doctor pointed to the area where his neck and shoulders met. “It’s too big for it to be an injection site for the drugs she was given. Besides, I found the needle mark for that. Or rather the needle marks. There are two of them on her arm. One is at least a couple of days old, and there was bruising involved.”
“Bruising that probably happened around the same time she was hit on the head?” Landon asked.
“Yes. The other is more recent. I’d say an injection given to her within the last couple of hours.”
So she’d been drugged twice. “Then what’s with the lesion?”
The doctor shrugged. “I might know once I’ve had a chance to look at the X-ray. For now, though, I need to get an OB in here to examine Tessa.”
Landon heard something in the doc’s voice. Concern maybe? “You think something’s wrong?”
“She doesn’t trust me, so I’m thinking she might not trust an OB to do an exam, either. But an exam is a must since we have to rule out problems other than just the head injury.” The doctor patted Landon’s arm. “Talk to her. Convince her we’re the good guys.”
He’d have an easier time convincing Tessa that the sun was green. Still, he’d try. Plus, the doctor didn’t give him much of a choice. He headed out, no doubt to round up the OB and pediatrician, leaving Landon alone with Tessa and the baby.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Tessa demanded.
Since that was what Landon wanted to ask her, they were at an impasse. One that he hoped they could work through fast. While he was hoping, he needed those drugs to wear off—now.
“Tell me,” she snapped when he didn’t jump to answer.
He didn’t jump because Landon wasn’t sure where to start. The beginning seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Stop me at any point if this is old news,” he began. “A year ago, you moved to Silver Creek to open a private investigations office. We met shortly afterward, had a few dates, and I ran into you again at the Outlaw Bar when I was in town visiting my cousins.”
He paused, waiting for her to process that. “Is that when you were naked in bed with me?” she asked, setting the baby bottle down beside her.
Of course she would remember that. But then, if the baby was his, she probably had it etched in her memory. Landon had it etched in his for a different reason. Because of the white-hot attraction that’d been between them.
But that wasn’t something he needed to remember now. Or ever.
“Yes. The following morning, you told me you couldn’t get involved with me,” Landon continued. “And then your scummy boyfriend showed up. Joel Mercer. Remember him?”
She repeated the name, shook her head. “If I had a boyfriend, why did I sleep with you?”
Landon had asked himself that many, many times. “You said he was an ex, but he sure didn’t act like it.” He stopped, huffed. “Look, are you sure you don’t remember simply because you’d rather not be talking about this with me?”
“I’m not faking or avoiding this conversation. Now, tell me about Joel. Why did you say he’s scummy?”
“Because he is. He’s a cattle broker—at least, that’s what he calls himself, but it’s really a front for assorted felonies, including gunrunning and money laundering. That’s why I was surprised when he showed up and said you two were together.”
Judging from her expression, Tessa was surprised, too. But it wasn’t the same kind of surprise that’d been on her face that morning seven months ago. Landon had seen the shock, and then she’d changed. Or something. She’d become all lovey-dovey with Joel and told Landon to leave.
But Landon hadn’t forgotten the look that’d gone through her eyes.
After he’d walked, or rather stormed, out, he’d gone back to Houston and hadn’t seen her since. And apparently neither had any of his cousins. Tessa had closed her PI office, and while she’d kept her house in Silver Creek, she rarely visited it.
That was maybe why no one had known she was pregnant.
Because if his cousins had known, they would have told Landon. Plenty of people, including a couple of his cousins, had seen him leave the Outlaw Bar with Tessa that night.
“What does Joel have to do with Emmett?” she asked.
Everything inside him went still. Until now he hadn’t considered they could be connected.
But were they?
Landon decided to try something to jog her memory. “Four nights ago, someone murdered Emmett in your house.” Man, it was still hard to say that aloud. Just as hard to think about his cousin dying that way. “Your cleaning lady found his body. He’d been shot three times, and there was a note left on his chest.”
“‘This is for you, Landon,’” she whispered.
“How the hell did you know that?” He hadn’t intended to raise his voice, and the baby reacted. She started to whimper.
“I’m not sure. But I saw your reaction when Dade showed you what was on the boulder. I guessed it must have been something to do with Emmett since the majority of your questions had been about him.” She rocked the baby, kissed her forehead. “And her.”
Yeah. And he would have more questions about her when he was finished with this.
Landon took out his phone, and even though he knew the picture was gruesome, he searched through his pictures and found the one he’d taken at the crime scene.
Emmett’s body in a pool of blood.
There’d been blood on the note, too.
“Does this look familiar?” Landon asked, putting the phone practically in her face.
She gasped, turned her head and closed her eyes for a moment. “No.” And she repeated it in a hoarse sob.
Landon didn’t have a heart of ice. Not completely, anyway, and whether he wanted to or not, he was affected by that look on her face. Affected, but not to the point where he was stopping with the questions.
“Why was Emmett there at your house, and how did you know he was dead?” he pressed.
She shook her head. “I honestly don’t know.” Tessa paused, swallowed hard. “There’s something about that photo that seems familiar, but I don’t know what.”
Good. Because if it was familiar, then it meant she was possibly there and might have seen who had done this.
Landon went to the next picture. A mug shot this time of Quincy Nagel. “Recognize him?”
Tessa moved closer for a long look and gave him another head shake. “Who is he?”
“A person of interest.” Too bad Landon hadn’t been able to find him yet. “A thug I arrested who might have wanted to pay me back by killing my cousin.”
Tessa kept her attention on the baby, but because Landon was watching her so closely, he saw the small change in her. Her mouth tensed. A muscle flexed in her cheek. He hoped that was because she was concerned for the baby rather than because she was withholding something about Quincy. The little girl went beyond the whimpering stage and started to cry.
“So I slept with you, got pregnant.” Tessa stood and rocked the baby. “Or maybe you believe she’s Joel’s daughter? You’re not sure, but you’ll