Free Iron Goddess by Dharma Kelleher

she could hear Terrance telling her he told her so—that the meeting with Oscar would come back and bite her. Guess he got that one right.
    Edelman continued. “My guess is you’ve been using your business as a front to sell heroin for the Jaguars. Maybe a deal went sour, so when someone robbed your shop and shot your guy, you suspected the Jaguars. You retaliated by killing Ms. Ortega.”
    “Really?” asked Justin, arms crossed, looking rather unimpressed with Edelman’s theory. “And the missing girl?”
    Edelman shrugged. “We’re still investigating that. Maybe the child’s father does have her.”
    Shea stood up. “That’s nuts. I got no idea who killed that woman. And I couldn’t’ve kidnapped my niece. I was in the house when y’all arrested me.”
    Buzzkill pointed at her. “You sit down, missy, or I will cuff you again.”
    Rios smiled with a look of concern in her eyes. “Shea, we get it. You were in a tight spot. Economy’s bad, making it harder to make ends meet. So you made deals with the Jags to keep the doors open. Anybody in your situation would have done the same thing. We just need you to tell us what happened.”
    “That’s horseshit. I already told you what happened.”
    “Everybody, relax.” Justin pulled her back down in her chair. “Sheriff, have you checked my client for gunshot residue?”
    Buzzkill squirmed. “We did, but the results were inconclusive.”
    “You mean the results came back negative.”
    “Don’t mean nothing.” Buzzkill sat back and crossed his arms. “She coulda been wearing gloves or washed her hands.”
    “Had the gun you found on my client been fired recently?”
    “Again, inconclusive.”
    “I see. So the only thing you do know is my client was in the house with no motive and no evidence of having fired the weapon she was holding. Is that the case?”
    The sheriff frowned. “We’re still investigating.”
    “You sound like a broken record, Sheriff.” Justin stood up. “Let me suggest an alternative theory, if I may. Hunter gets wind that Wendy is leaving him and staying with someone with family ties to the Jaguars. Believing his wife has betrayed him and the club to the enemy, he and his fellow outlaw bikers grab the girl and kill the Mexican woman. Doesn’t that seem much more likely given the evidence?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Well then, unless you plan to arrest my client, this interview is over.”
    Buzzkill sat there fuming. It pleased Shea to watch Justin put him in his place.
    He closed the folder and stood up. “Detective, please release this woman. For now.”

Chapter 12
    Half an hour later, Shea and Justin walked out of the police station.
    “I guess your meeting with that Reyes fella must’ve slipped your mind,” he said with a sour expression on his face as they approached his car.
    “Look, I didn’t think it was relevant. Thought he might know who broke into Iron Goddess. Things got a little heated.”
    He opened the passenger door for her. “Do yourself a favor, kiddo. Stay away from the Jaguars.”
    “Trust me, I intend to. Where’s my sister?”
    He climbed into the car. “I didn’t see her in there. They probably questioned her and let her go. Want me to make some phone calls and find out?”
    “Naw, I’m more worried about her daughter, Annie. Hunter’s a violent son of a bitch.”
    “The Sheriff’s Office put out an AMBER Alert. I’m sure they’ll do everything they can to get her back to your sister safe and sound.”
    “You think they’ll try to pin this murder on me?”
    “They don’t have much of a case. Hunter is the more likely suspect, anyway. All they have on you is wrong place/wrong time.”
    “I wouldn’t put it past Buzzkill to frame me. He’s still bitter about the time I boosted three of his patrol cars.”
    Justin laughed while he drove them back to the shop. “That was eighteen years ago. Not even Sheriff Keeler holds a grudge that long. He just wants to see justice served. As long as