Jamie stepped between the two men, glaring at Finn. At five-nine, she was a tall woman, and nearly at eye level with her friend. “Finn, tell me what’s going on.”
Finn glanced at Cole, then at Jamie. With a sigh, he edged backward and gestured for her to follow him. “Give us a second, Donovan.”
Jamie battled confusion as Finn led her over to his Jeep, where he crossed his arms over his broad chest and lowered his voice. “We found the gun, Jamie. The murder weapon.”
“What? When did this happen?”
“About an hour ago. The operator at the town dump found a forty-five caliber Smith & Wesson by a pile of construction debris.”
“So?”
“So the bullet the coroner fished out of Teresa came from a forty-five. The ballistics guy just tested the gun and determined it was the one that fired that bullet.”
Jamie frowned. “What does this have to do with Cole?”
“Anna got the logs from the dump—there’s a record of everyone who goes there, the trash is weighed, recorded, the whole deal.” Finn gave a reluctant pause. “Cole was there, Jamie. Three days after Teresa died.”
Shock slammed into her. “Finn…so what if he went to the dump? That doesn’t mean he tossed the gun.”
“Maybe not, but I still need to bring him in.”
Anxiety swam in her belly. “Cole didn’t kill his ex-wife. You have to believe that.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore. But do you honestly expect me to ignore this? You’re a federal agent, damn it. You know I need to bring him in for questioning. You would do the same thing in my place.”
As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Forcing herself to forget her personal involvement with Cole, she thought about what she would do in Finn’s position, if she’d discovered that Cole could be linked to the place where the murder weapon had been found.
What would she do?
“Okay. Okay.” She sighed. “You’re right. Just let me talk to him for a moment.”
“Convince him to come in without a fight, Jamie. I don’t want a scene here, not in front of my guys.”
Drawing in an unsteady breath, she walked back to the porch where Cole stood with a stoic expression. “Cole,” she started. “You need to—”
“No,” he cut in. “Don’t tell me to cooperate. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not going anywhere with that man.”
“You have to,” she said sadly.
His eyes flashed with anger.
“He’ll arrest if you don’t. So please,” she pleaded, “go to the station. I’m sure this will all be cleared up in no time.”
“What will get cleared up?” Frustration thickened his voice. “What the hell is happening?”
“Go to the station, Cole. Finn will explain everything.”
“Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Because I can’t. I can’t get involved in this.” She was frustrated too now, and she could feel Finn’s unhappy gaze burning a hole in her back. “Please, do what he says. I’ll get dressed and meet you there, okay?”
After a second of obvious reluctance, Cole gave a bleak nod. “Fine. But only because you asked, Jamie.”
Relieved, she glanced at Finn and nodded imperceptibly.
He took that as his cue to advance, and when he reached them, she met his tense blue eyes and said, “Can you ask your deputies to stay while I put some clothes on? I’d like to meet you at the station. I’d drive Cole’s pickup but the painkillers are still in my system.”
Finn’s face softened. “No problem.” He quickly instructed Anna and Max to stick around, then turned to Cole. “You ready, Donovan?”
“What the hell do you think?” Cole muttered, but he didn’t put up another fight as he followed Finn down the porch steps.
Jamie had never felt so helpless as she watched Cole get into the passenger seat of Finn’s Jeep. She waited until they drove off, then flew into the house and bounded upstairs. She threw on one of her sleek black suits, left the jacket unbuttoned, and hurried back downstairs to slip into a pair of comfortable black flats.
Neither Anna nor Max spoke to her during the drive to the station, but she noticed the sympathy in Anna’s brown eyes and knew the younger woman felt bad about this new development. Jamie still couldn’t wrap her head around it. Cole might have visited the place where the murder weapon had been stashed, but that didn’t make him a killer. Lots of other people had probably been to that dump. Someone else must have planted the gun at the dump, and Cole’s visit was just a coincidence. There was no other explanation. “We’re here.”
Anna’s soft voice drew Jamie from her thoughts. She was surprised to see that they’d reached the station. Without waiting for the deputies, she jumped out of the backseat and raced into the building through the rear door. She figured Finn would be in one of the interrogation rooms with Cole, but instead she found him in the hallway, rubbing his forehead and looking utterly frazzled.
“Is everything all right?” she demanded.
Finn looked ready to tear his hair out. “No, everything is not all right. He lawyered up.”