For several long, tense moments, there was no sound in Wade’s office except the ticking of the old cuckoo clock on the wall. Lucas stared at Wade’s unrevealing expression. Finally he said, “You didn’t read that in Packer’s file.”
“No.”
“Did Emily say something?” Had his sister been more perceptive as a child than he’d realized?
“No. I don’t think she knows.”
“Then what the hell makes you think I was in love with Rachel Jennings?”
“Just a hunch I got, watching the two of you together in the café.”
Hell. What was a cop of this caliber doing in a sleepy little burg like Honoria?
Wade gave him another moment, then prodded, “Roger must have been adamantly opposed to having you involved with his sister. I’d imagine he’d have done just about anything to keep the two of you apart.”
“Are you looking for motives, Chief? Because if you’re trying to close Packer’s old case by pinning it on me...”
“I told you, I have no reason to believe you killed Roger Jennings. I’m just trying to understand what was going on around here fifteen years ago...and why Jennings ended up crumpled at the foot of a bluff on McBride land.”
“I didn’t push him. I didn’t see him fall. As far as I know, it was an accident. It was dark, he took a wrong turn on the path. Maybe he’d been drinking.”
“The autopsy ruled that out. He was sober.”
Lucas nodded. “But it was dark. There was no moon that night. Roger was in a temper. Maybe he wasn’t being careful and just walked off the path and into thin air.”
It was the only explanation Lucas could come up with fifteen years ago...it was still the only one he had now. Nothing he’d seen in Packer’s files even hinted that anyone else could have been involved. Of course, Packer hadn’t bothered to look for other suspects. He’d have been quite happy to lock Lucas up for life...and if it hadn’t been for Lizzie Carpenter, he might well have done so.
“He was in a temper, was he? Something you’d said?”
Lucas didn’t answer.
“Did Roger forbid you and Rachel to see each other?”
“He had no right to ‘forbid’ either Rachel or me to do anything,” Lucas refuted automatically.
“As I’m sure you must have told him.”
“Yes.”
“And Rachel? Did she tell him the same thing?”
“I would assume so.”
“He probably considered himself the head of his household. His father deserted the family years earlier, his mother was known for being moody and depressive, his sister was several years younger. When he found out that something was going on between his kid sister and a man he’d been programmed to hate, he must have tried to put an end to it. I can’t see you meekly agreeing to that.”
“I didn’t push him off that bluff,” Lucas repeated flatly. “No matter what he said, he couldn’t have kept me from seeing Rachel.”
“How did Rachel react to her brother’s interference? Was she as confident as you that Roger couldn’t keep you apart? Or was she afraid that he could?”
“I don’t know what you...”
“I don’t suppose Rachel knew about your involvement with Lizzie Carpenter. Rachel might have thought Roger was the only obstacle between you.”
Lucas stood so abruptly his chair clattered on the uncarpeted floor, teetering precariously on its back legs before steadying. “Are you implying that Rachel...?”
Wade held up his hands and cut in quickly. “I’m not implying anything. Just throwing out a few questions Packer apparently didn’t ask.”
Lucas shook his head. “Packer didn’t know Rachel and I had been seeing each other. No one knew. And if you think Rachel had anything to do with Roger’s death, you’re not nearly as good a cop as I was beginning to think you are.”