A Lawman's Justice (Sweetwater Ranch Book 8) by Delores Fossen

Bellows. I’ve interviewed them multiple times over the years, and both said they’re innocent.”
    “Lots of guilty people say that. Both were married at the time of the affairs, so they had motive to try to conceal the fact that they’d been in that cabin with Whitt. Also, if Whitt had broken things off with them as well, either of them could be the killer. Or maybe both.”
    Shelby didn’t exactly jump to argue with him about that.
    And that was concern number two. Meredith had a thin alibi for the time of the murder, claiming she’d been recovering from a root canal and was home in bed and heavily sedated. Her dentist had verified that, but people still could kill under the right kind of sedation.
    However, Annette’s alibi was worse than thin. She, too, claimed to be at home all day, alone. And her car had never left the driveway. But she could have used another vehicle to get out to the cabin. One that she’d taken from her garage, and she could have driven the back roads to get from her house to the cabin.
    Which brought him to concern number three.
    “These are just the two women that we know about,” he said. “Your father wasn’t exactly a saint when it came to keeping his jeans zipped.”
    “I acknowledge all of that in the blog,” Shelby admitted, her tone frostier than usual. “But neither Meredith nor Annette’s DNA was found in the cabin.”
    Seth lifted his shoulder. “Then, why do the blog?”
    “Because I wanted everyone to know that I was still after the truth. If there was any truth left to be discovered, that is.”
    Hell. And that was what
traitor
was all about. “You rattled somebody’s cage. The killer’s cage,” Seth corrected.
    Shelby practically leaped to her feet. “Don’t go there. It was just a
what if
kind of post.” She stopped, squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “But someone could have taken it the wrong way. Someone who cared for my father and wants Jewell convicted.”
    Or someone who didn’t want to face murder charges.
    Seth took out his phone. “I want Annette and Meredith brought back in for questioning.”
    However, Seth didn’t even get a chance to text Austin again because he heard the sound of an approaching car. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and drew his gun while he hurried to the window. Maybe this was Austin arriving with the things Seth needed.
    But no such luck.
    It definitely wasn’t Austin who stepped from the black two-door car that came to a stop in front of the house. But it was someone Seth instantly recognized.
    What the hell was
he
doing here?
    * * *
    O NE LOOK AT their visitor and Shelby could have sworn her heart dropped to her knees.
    It was Marvin Hance.
    She wanted to be brave and not feel that punch of fear at just seeing his face. But she failed.
    Shelby felt the fear, all right. She remembered every one of his threats. All the run-ins with him. Each of the times he’d made her feel as if he could crush her skull for speaking the truth about him getting off scot-free for murdering his wife.
    “Did you know he was coming?” Seth asked her.
    “No.” Shelby couldn’t say that fast enough. “I still have a restraining order on him.”
    Cursing, Seth handed her his borrowed phone. “Call Cooper and tell him we have a situation. I want him out here to arrest Hance. I’d do it myself, but this could be a trap to lure us out so the kidnappers can get to us.”
    Good grief. She hadn’t even thought of that, which caused Shelby to silently curse. She couldn’t let the fear cloud her thoughts when dealing with a dangerous man such as Hance, because he could indeed be the one who’d hired those kidnappers. That gave her the burst of anger and focus she needed.
    “Shelby?” Hance called out. “We have to talk.”
    “Disarm the security system,” Seth ordered her.
    She did, but she caught on to Seth’s arm when he went for the door. “Remember, this could be a trap to get us outside.”
    “I’m not going outside.