Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (psychology books to read .TXT) 📗

the new guy, remember? I'm going with the flow. What about you? Would you prefer Ryan? Because I totally get it if you do. You know him better than you know me. I won't take it personally."

It was true that Knox knew Ryan much better. They'd worked together before and they hadn't had any issues. Ryan was a good guy and a true professional. But honestly, Eli seemed to be that as well. Knox wasn't having any problems and the sooner they got to know one another the better. They'd be working together at some point in the future without a doubt.

"Naw, I'm good. Ryan could use a few days off anyway."

"I doubt he's going to get one," Eli said. "It sounded like Jared was hoping this warrant would wrap up this case soon. We're busy as hell."

Knox was hoping the same thing. Although it brought up a few other questions, such as what he and Jenna were going to do once the investigation was done. She only had a short-term rental and technically, her life was on the road with political campaigns. He traveled a great deal too. Could they make this work? He sure as hell wanted to.

Stepping out onto the back porch, Knox called Jared back.

"I didn't expect to hear from you this early in the afternoon.

"Let's just say that the party didn't go as planned. We left early."

"That's too bad. I won't ask what happened, though," Jared replied, amusement in his tone. "It sounds like it wasn't at all fun. I do have some information for you about Brett Hedgcock, and also your favorite grumpy detective Mike Bauer."

"Bauer? What do you have about him?"

"I have an explanation as to why he hates his job. Turns out he's third generation cop. His dad, granddad, and all of his uncles were cops."

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice. Poor bastard."

"I dug into his background just to be thorough and he applied to art school. I don't think being a detective was his doing."

"That explains a lot."

"As for Brett Hedgcock...Shit, what a mess. He comes from a perfectly normal middle-class family. His dad was an accountant and his mother taught high school history. He has an older sister and a younger brother. They had a cat and a dog and his mother was on the PTA."

"The whole suburban dream?"

"Yes, except that Hedgcock was the weird kid in school and at home. His teachers and classmates said that he lived in a fantasy world. He was nice and a good guy but he was a little peculiar. He was described as socially awkward but sweet."

"That sounds familiar. Did he get any treatment?"

Knox had a strong feeling the answer was going to be no.

"He did, but only intermittently. He was able to function most of the time. He was just different. But he went to school, got okay to decent grades, and managed to get through community college to get an accounting degree just like his dad. He's changed jobs several times, about once every eighteen months or so. From what we can tell from his finances, he's a loner who pretty much keeps to himself other than working. He doesn't have a lot of friends, doesn't go the gym, and he doesn't even go see movies. He eats takeout most of the time, watches Netflix, and reads books from the local library. He likes historical biographies the most. He doesn't date at all, although he's on a few dating sites. Doesn't seem to get past the talking stage. He does have one hobby, which is an online history club that meets once a week. He's described as a World War II history buff. Maybe he got the interest from his mom, but that seems to be his only social outlet."

"A loner, huh?" Knox said with a sigh. "That's cliché as hell."

"As far as we can find, he hasn't hurt anyone. There's no history of violence. Everyone describes him as nice and rather mild-mannered. Just a little out of the normal. No alarm bells. The guy doesn't even have a speeding ticket. He's a model citizen."

"You sound like you believe that."

"What can I say? I didn't find anything that makes me suspicious. Doesn't mean anything, though. He could be damn good at hiding it all. What did you think? You talked to him in person."

"I thought he needed therapy," Knox replied. "He clearly doesn't like the real world. He's built up an entire fantasy around Lori that is really creepy. Even if he didn't kill her, it's not healthy. He needs to get some help. I question if he even knows what's real and what's not."

"Search warrants are real. So if they find something, that's hard evidence. Right now, we only have the story of a very confused individual who may or may not be a violent murderer."

"Can I ask why they're waiting until tomorrow to execute the warrant? Why aren't they going in now?"

"They want him to be out of the house. Tomorrow morning he'll be in the office. They'll serve him there and also search his desk as well. I don't think anyone is going to tip him off about the warrant, but just in case they've got an officer watching the house tonight. If he tries to dig up the backyard, they'll go in."

"So in the meantime, we just wait."

Jared laughed. "You sound surprised. Patience is a virtue when it comes to what we do. Take this opportunity to relax a little bit. Tomorrow might get crazy. Take a rest