Free Laying Down the Law by Delores Fossen Page A

side. His lawyer, no doubt.
    “Karina,” DeWayne said, smiling. “You came.”
    Oh, man. With just that handful of words and sick smile, he pissed off Cord. Talk about pompous, and Cord wished he could take him down a notch.
    Jericho didn’t seem any more pleased with the man than Cord did. “We can take this to the interview room now.”
    So, DeWayne was waiting on Karina after all. Too bad he hadn’t made a confession or two. Of course, his lawyer probably wasn’t going to let him say much of anything. That’s where some button-pushing came in. Cord was banking on DeWayne’s nasty temper that Karina had told him about. If Cord could get the man riled up enough, he might spill all sorts of secrets.
    Of course, one of those secrets could topple the case against Willie Lee. But that was a bridge Cord would cross if he came to it.
    “I have an alibi for last night,” DeWayne said without any prompting. He strolled into the interview room, hands stuffed into the pockets of his overpriced designer jeans, and he sank down into one of the chairs.
    Cord looked at Jericho to see if he knew anything about that so-called alibi. “He says he was with a friend. I’m having Levi check it out now.”
    “Oh, I was with her, all right,” DeWayne insisted. “And I didn’t leave her place until this morning. She’ll vouch for me.”
    “Or lie for you,” Cord said. He couldn’t help himself.
    No flash of temper, but DeWayne did turn that sickening smile on Karina. “Of course, my lawyer could have handled all these false accusations that you’re making, but I wanted to see you. Did you do something different with your hair?” And he laughed.
    Cord was certain he had his own flash of temper.
    Karina, however, hardly reacted. Which meant she’d likely been on the receiving end of this idiot’s bull way too often.
    “I’d like to talk about Mona,” Karina said, her voice as calm as she was trying to look.
    That’s when Cord realized she had her hands clenched into fists and that her knuckles were turning white. He ushered her to the chair across the table from DeWayne and had her sit down. At least that way DeWayne couldn’t see her hands and the effect he was having on her.
    But Karina also had an effect on DeWayne.
    “Mona,” DeWayne repeated, his eyes narrowing for just a split second. “What about her?”
    “Did you kill her?” Cord asked.
    That had an effect, too. Cord got a dose of those narrowed eyes. Maybe DeWayne hadn’t thought they would discuss the woman, that this chat would be solely about alibis and attacks. But DeWayne was wrong.
    The narrowed eyes went away, but DeWayne huffed, the sort of huff a man might make if he was bored with the subject. “You’ve been talking to Sheriff Ezell over in Comal County. Wouldn’t put much stock into what he’s saying. He’s basing everything on what he heard from a jealous man.”
    “Mona’s husband,” Cord said. “The sheriff doesn’t think it’s just the jealousy talking.”
    “Well, he’s wrong.” Now, there was some temper. A tightening of the mouth. The sharp tone. There was just a glimpse of it before he pulled back his claws. “I’ve already admitted to having an affair with Mona. Plenty of men had affairs with her. I hope you and the sheriff are pestering them as much as you’re pestering me.”
    Karina rolled her eyes. “If you’re just going to rehash what we already know, then why ask me to come here?”
    Cord figured DeWayne would dole out another smart-mouthed answer, but he didn’t. He sat there, his face muscles stirring, before he looked at Karina again.
    “Because I don’t want you thinking I did this to you,” DeWayne finally said. But he said it through clenched teeth. “I have enough legal battles dealing with Sheriff Ezell without you adding this to it. The man’s like a dog with a bone. He won’t let go of this Mona thing.”
    Cord liked the sheriff already, and he hadn’t even met him. “I guess you have