Renegade (Tin Star K9 Series Book 1) by Jodi Burnett (literature books to read .txt) 📗

grateful she would be that he saved her from being falsely convicted of a crime. In his imagination, she jumped into his arms and kissed him. Tempted to allow that fantasy to swirl down a sultry path, Colt grinned and reminded himself he was driving. But surely, his actions would redeem him in her eyes. Catie would be so relieved he rescued her, that she would have to let his past mistakes go, and if he was lucky, they would have a lifelong future together.

It was midafternoon, and most people were inside or at work. So, it struck him as odd when he saw Jim Hague standing in Eleanor Smooter’s front yard. The man was gesturing wildly and when Colt got closer; he realized Jim was yelling at a young pregnant woman who was standing on the lawn in front of him. Colt slowed his Jeep and rolled down his window. He started to ask if everything was all right, when the woman hauled off and smacked Hague in the arm with her purse. Colt did a double take when he heard the man yowl in pain. Jim clutched his shoulder and fell to his knees.

Colt was about to pull over when the woman marched up the front porch steps and Jim remained seated on the lawn. It looked to him like the minor spat had ended and it was far more important to get the lab documents to the jail. Besides, it appeared the woman handled the situation fine on her own. Colt would force Sheriff Tackett to release Caitlyn, and then, after he basked in the joy of her gratitude, he would return to check on Jim.

27

Caitlyn and her attorney had the Sheriff’s office to themselves. They ate sandwiches her mom had brought in as they went over every detail of the case that Caitlyn was aware of. She also shared the timeline of events she had compiled. “The one thing I couldn’t figure out, was how my gun could possibly be the murder weapon.”

Mr. Vanderbilt, the attorney Logan had recommended, took notes on a yellow legal pad. He scratched a few more words on the lined paper before looking up at her. “You’re certain no one knows your gun safe combination, or that your safe wasn’t tampered with in any way?”

“My dad has the combo, but he’d never give it to anyone.”

“Was it written down? Perhaps someone found the combination?”

“I suppose that’s possible, but whoever that might be still had to get inside my truck. None of this made any sense to me until the deputy brought out the evidence bags yesterday morning.” Caitlyn stood and shook the tension out of her arms. “The sheriff didn’t send the slug or casing to the crime lab until after Deputy Branson confiscated all the guns from my family’s ranch. Shouldn’t he have sent those in right away?”

“That will certainly be in my line of questioning. I’m wondering why he removed that evidence from the crime scene in the first place. It should have remained where it was for the CSI team to gather. The sheriff never should have separated it from the evidence they found at the scene. He’s going to have to answer for that.”

“Exactly, but even more interesting than that is the only piece of evidence Sheriff Tackett found and removed was a bullet casing. Deputy Branson told me the CSI found the bullet that passed through Wendy’s skull and she took it with all the other evidence to the lab.”

“Are you saying there are two bullets in evidence?”

“There are two bullets, but only one of them is in evidence.” Caitlyn waited for the implication of what she said to filter into her attorney’s mind.

“You have proof of this?” A sly gleam sparkled in his eye.

“I hope to as soon as Deputy Branson gets back from the state crime lab.” Caitlyn chewed on her lip. “This mishandling of evidence should get me out of jail, right?”

“It will when—”

The front door of the Sheriff’s Office flew open and crashed against the wall behind it, causing both Caitlyn and her attorney to jump.

“Catie!” Colt ran into the room waving some papers. “I took the slug and casing down to the crime lab in Cheyenne like you asked. I had them re-run the blood trace tests, and you won’t believe what they found!”

“There are two different slugs, right?” Caitlyn’s pulse surged with such force when she gripped the bars she felt as though she might bend them.

Colt blinked at her, momentarily stunned and slightly deflated. “Yeah. The slug that came from your gun didn’t kill anyone at all. In fact, it has never come in contact with blood of any kind. There is no trace of blood or tissue to be found on it at all. But how did you know?”

Caitlyn stared at him, her mind churning. “It’s the only thing that made sense.” She paced the small cell before remembering to introduce Colt to her lawyer. The men shook hands. “Did you find out anything in Sundance?”

“Yes. I figured out which motel Wendy rented a room from. The guy at the desk remembered her and thinks she arrived in a white car with a man driving. At one point, he noticed another small dark car parked in front of her room. But when he got off work at four in the morning, neither car was in the lot.”

“Did he describe the man? Or see anyone else?”

“No. I showed him pictures of both Jim and Dylan, but he said he didn’t see anyone clearly.”

Caitlyn’s attorney gestured to the cell door. “Given the new evidence, can you—”

“Yeah.” Colt rushed to the cell with his keys and unlocked the door. “That bullet may have come from your gun, but it didn’t kill Wendy. We don’t have the evidence to keep you in jail, so I’m letting you go.”

Caitlyn wanted to speculate as to what the sheriff’s motive was behind his mishandling of the evidence, but she put that aside for the