Family Sins(33)
“Translate that to sniper in the war and, yes, I knew that, too.”
Leigh shrugged.
“War is war, and I’m at war right now with my blood kin.”
“I know, Mama, and if Riordan knows what’s good for him, he’ll be at the Wayne estate today.”
She sighed and wiped her hands on the front of her apron.
“I’m starting the pancakes now. If Jesse’s not awake already, just tell him what I’m making.”
Bowie grinned. “And then stand back?”
Leigh chuckled.
“Yes. It’s proceed at your own risk, if you get between Jesse and his food.”
Bowie left the kitchen in a hurry. He wasn’t going to admit it, but he felt like Jesse when it came to Mama’s cooking.
*
Constable Riordan left the precinct just after eight-thirty with Brady Griffin, the head of his crime scene team, riding shotgun. Two deputies escorted them in a second car. They were on their way to Eden.
Riordan had called Chief Clayton that morning and asked him to send an officer to meet them at the Wayne residence at nine, and then Riordan had called the Wayne estate. When the maid answered the phone, he identified himself and asked to speak to Jackson Wayne. He heard her gasp, and then she asked him to wait. Moments later he heard someone pick up on an extension, and then Mad Jack’s voice was blasting in his ear.
“Do you know what time it is? I do not take calls before breakfast!”
Riordan held firm to his intent. He wasn’t going to be bulldozed by the Wayne family or anyone else when he had a murder to solve.
“I called early to tell you that I’m on my way over. Please, inform the rest of your family that I expect them all to be there to discuss Stanton Youngblood’s murder. If they are not, I will be visiting them at their places of business.”
Jack Wayne cursed. “You do not threaten me or mine!” he shouted.
“No, Mr. Wayne, you do not threaten me or my authority. I am investigating a murder in which someone from your family was named as the killer. The fact that one of you was involved in the death of a good man is not my problem. It’s yours. Do we understand each other?”
“I have connections and will not allow—”
“If you’re referring to our illustrious governor, know that I have already replied to his request regarding you, and once it was pointed out to his office that he might want to distance himself from protecting a murderer, he understood the situation so much better. We will be there around 9:00 a.m.”
“Our lawyer will be here,” Jack fired back.
“This is strictly an interview to get everyone’s statement regarding the day of the murder, but maybe you know something I don’t. So am I to take your insistence on legal representation as an admission of your family’s guilt?” Riordan asked.
Silence.
Riordan guessed Jack was thinking that over.
“No, of course not,” Jack finally said.
“Then we will see you soon.”
“We? Who’s ‘we’?”
“My team and I,” Riordan said, and hung up.
It wasn’t that Riordan was afraid of the Wayne family, but he was afraid of what they might do, and the more witnesses he had to their behavior, the better this interrogation would go.
What he regretted was that he’d hesitated to do the right thing, and if it hadn’t been for Bowie Youngblood’s angry call, he probably still wouldn’t be doing this, which was his fault. If he’d done this to begin with, he wouldn’t be starting on the wrong foot.
But after Bowie’s second call and the news that Stanton had paid off the loans belonging to his brother and sister, meaning that the land the developers needed for the resort was no longer available, Clayton’s call about the picketers had suddenly made a lot more sense.
At that point Riordan had called the bank to confirm the information with the president of the bank in Eden, who’d told him that, yes, they’d sold the loans to East Coast Lenders, Inc. He said when they began foreclosures on some of the notes, he was surprised, but had no say in the matter. He’d also confirmed that Stanton Youngblood had paid off his siblings’ loans on several pieces of property, which he only knew because Stanton had mentioned it to him when he cashed in some IRAs to cover the loans. Those properties were in the same area as the planned resort.Riordan knew if that had delayed or even stopped the developers from building, then he had the motive that he’d been missing.
At that point he’d called in and had one of his officers research the ownership of East Coast Lenders, Inc., as well as the names of the investors on the property at the lake. When he got the call back with information, he wasn’t surprised to learn Wayne Industries was an investor in the resort development and also owned East Coast Lenders.
The ride to Eden was mostly silent, with both men lost in thought. The magnitude of what they were about to do wasn’t lost on either one of them, because they both knew the Wayne family had the power and pull to make their lives miserable as hell if they so chose.
By the time they reached the city limits, Riordan’s gut was in a knot. CSI Griffin had been reading over his notes from the crime scene, so that it was all firmly in his mind. If anyone said anything incriminating, Griffin would know.
*
When Jack realized Riordan had just hung up on him, he was livid. Furious, he left the library, yelling loudly for everyone to get the hell out there and listen to him. One by one, the family emerged from their rooms to rush to the head of the stairs.