Free Outlaw Lawman by Delores Fossen

sure, but I’m betting it has something to do with the Webb investigation.”
    Yeah, it almost certainly did. “But I didn’t send any emails. In fact, the only reason I tried to contact Sherry was because of the threats I’d received.”
    “And I haven’t been in touch with her at all,” Harlan confirmed. “In fact, I didn’t even know she was missing until Caitlyn showed up at my house in the middle of the night.”
    “I’ll get someone on the emails,” Slade explained. “And disproving those two eyewitnesses. Still, I think you should both lie low—away from the Rangers— because someone’s clearly trying to frame you, and it’s my guess they’re doing that to take you out of commission.”
    So they couldn’t investigate whatever the heck was happening to them.
    She looked at Harlan to see what his take was, but his phone buzzed before he could say anything. “It’s Sergeant Tinsley from Cross Creek.”
    Caitlyn immediately shifted her attention to the call, and she hoped like the devil that it was good news. Maybe they’d even managed to catch the ski-masked guy who’d shot at them.
    “Marshal McKinney,” Harlan answered, and she could hear the hope in his voice, too. They so needed a break.
    But it wasn’t exactly relief or good news that she saw in Harlan’s body language. Caitlyn couldn’t hear what Tinsley had said to make Harlan’s forehead bunch up, but she figured it meant their attacker was still at large.
    “Thanks for letting me know,” Harlan said to Tinsley. “And call me the minute you find him.” He ended the call and looked at her. “They got a print off the threatening note that was left on the steering wheel of the truck.”
    That was the last thing Caitlyn had expected, especially since Tinsley had already told them the cab of the truck was clean—no sign of anything they could use to confirm the identity of their attacker.
    “The print belonged to Billy Webb,” Harlan added.
    Caitlyn didn’t even try to stop the sound of surprise she made. Billy—Sarah and Jonah Webb’s son. And a prime suspect as his mother’s accomplice in the murder. Better yet, he was the one suspect the Rangers hadn’t been able to find or interview.
    “Billy,” Slade repeated. “This is the first time he’s surfaced since his father’s body was found.”
    “First time he’s surfaced in years,” Harlan agreed. “He hasn’t been using a credit card or bank account. No current driver’s license either. Even his own mother claims she hasn’t heard from him. The guy’s been off the grid for years—so long in fact that I thought he might be dead.”
    Yes, and that was why the attack and the threats didn’t make sense. “Why would he come after Harlan and me—especially like this?”
    All three of them stayed quiet a moment, obviously giving that some thought. “Maybe he wants revenge,” Slade finally suggested.
    Harlan’s gaze connected with hers, and she saw his bingo! moment.
    “Maybe Billy didn’t want his father dead,” Harlan continued. “Maybe he’s going after people he thinks could have helped his mother. Sarah’s in a guarded room at the hospital,” he quickly added.
    Probably because he saw the alarm in her eyes. If this theory about Billy was true, then he would want his mother dead—and Sarah was in a coma, unable to protect herself.
    There was no love lost between Caitlyn and Sarah. The woman had never lifted a finger to stop her husband from beating the kids at Rocky Creek. Caitlyn included. But truth was, Caitlyn owed Sarah a huge favor. If she hadn’t knifed her own husband to death, then Harlan, his brothers and all the rest might have had to spend even more time in that hellhole.
    “Why would Billy go after Sherry and Tiffany?” Slade asked—the very question that was on Caitlyn’s mind. “They both had decent alibis for the night of the murder.”
    Decent but maybe not enough. “Billy might know something we don’t,” Caitlyn concluded.