It was, and Alexa would no doubt have known the particular layout. Heck, she’d maybe even stayed in that very guest room at one time or another. At least she could have stayed there when she wasn’t sharing Cullen’s bed, but Leigh had heard that Alexa had started visiting the Triple R before Cullen and she had gotten involved. That was definitely something Leigh needed to question Cullen about, but according to the rumor mill, Austin’s fiancée, Kali, and Alexa were close friends, and Kali had brought Alexa there often.
When Jamie reached and then fumbled for the cup of water on the table next to the bed, Cullen helped him with it. Jamie took a small sip and swallowed hard before he continued.
“After I dropped off Alexa, she told me to wait for her, that she’d only be in the house about ten minutes or so and then I could drive her back into town. She was going to get a room at the inn until she could have someone take a look at her car. She said she wouldn’t be driving back to her place tonight because of the bad weather moving in.”
So, Alexa hadn’t planned on staying at the ranch that night. Ten minutes. Not much time for a talk to try to reassure Cullen that she wasn’t going to give him any more trouble.
“Were the patio doors locked?” Leigh asked Jamie.
“No.” But then Jamie stopped and shook his head. “Maybe. I didn’t watch when Alexa was opening the doors so she might have had a key.”
Or she could have picked the lock since Cullen had already told her that he’d changed the locks after he’d ended things with Alexa. But there was a third possibility. Someone had left the doors unlocked for Alexa. Maybe the killer. Maybe someone else she’d sweet-talked on the catering crew or the household staff. The place was so big that there was no telling how long that door had been unsecured.
“Alexa went inside the house, but she didn’t come out after ten minutes,” Jamie went on. “I waited, but then I started to get worried about her.” His mouth trembled, more tears came, and he kept his attention pinned to Cullen. “I thought she might be getting in a row with you. I thought you two might be arguing.” His voice cracked. “But now I know she was dead.”
Leigh didn’t have to guess that Jamie was feeling plenty guilty about that, and he began to sob. It didn’t look as if it was going to be a short cry, either. Still, she had to press him on another point.
“How long did you wait outside before you were hit over the head?” Leigh asked.
“I don’t know,” he answered through the sob. “Maybe twenty minutes or a half hour.”
Not much time for someone to kill Alexa and then go outside to attack Jamie. And that led Leigh to another problem. How had the killer known that Jamie was on the patio waiting for Alexa?
“And you’re sure you didn’t see who hit you?” Cullen pushed.
Jamie shook his head again. “No. I heard the footsteps, like I said, but that was it.”
“Heavy or light footsteps?” Cullen continued. “Fast or slow?”
Since Leigh had been about to ask Jamie variations of those questions, she didn’t object.
Jamie’s forehead bunched up again. “Fast and heavy. Like someone was running at me.”
So, the killer was in a hurry to take care of Jamie. Probably because he or she hadn’t wanted to be seen. That made sense. After all, Jamie was young and fit and could have probably fended off a physical attack had he gotten the chance.
But why kill Jamie at all?
Leigh figured that went back to Alexa, too. It was possible the killer thought she’d told Jamie the real reason she’d come to the house. And Leigh didn’t believe that real reason was to see Cullen. Not solely, anyway. This might indeed go back to the man she’d met with in the café. Maybe she hadn’t trusted him to do the job if she’d actually hired him to hurt Cullen? Or maybe she’d gone there to pay him.
“My head hurts real bad now,” Jamie said. “You think you could ask the doctor to give me some meds?”
“Sure,” Leigh readily agreed. “I’ll be back later today to check on you.” And to see if he remembered anything else. “In the meantime, there’ll be a guard on your door so you’ll be safe.”
Jamie gave an almost absent nod to that along with wincing from the pain. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and headed for the door.
“If you need anything, just let me know,” Cullen assured Jamie, and he walked out with Leigh.
“No one other than medical staff gets near Jamie,” Leigh reminded the guard.
When she only got a grunt of acknowledgment from Harry, she repeated it and stared at him until he verbally answered. “Yes, I got that.”
“I can bring out a couple of my other ranch hands to do security,” Cullen suggested. Clearly, he wasn’t pleased with Harry’s attitude, either.
“I’ll ask Vance to arrange for a reserve deputy,” she said, taking out her phone.
While Leigh fired off the text, she glanced around the ER to locate the doctor. There was no sign of him, but Amber was obviously waiting for them because she moved away from the reception desk and made a beeline toward them.
“Jamie says he’s in pain and needs meds,” Leigh immediately relayed.