It was time to wrap this up . . . she had what she wanted. “Do you think we might give her some time? After all, there’s been a lot of drama in her life.”
“I think that’s reasonable. No one could argue she’s been through a lot.” And he would look like a caring father if he didn’t push at this point. All he really wanted was the divorce and good standing with his family. After the American Fugitive program, he probably realized that sympathy would lie in her court. He really wasn’t stupid.
An asshole, but not stupid.
“They have a lead, by the way.”
“A what?”
She placed the strap of her purse over her shoulder, knowing he cared about the case of finding their daughter’s attacker about as much as he cared to buy pizza from a burger joint.
“Yeah . . . apparently the fight Wyatt and Luke got into at the bar wasn’t an accident.”
Nathan sat silent.
“You know about the fight. That social worker you sicced on me told you, I’m sure.”
“I heard about the fight. What do you mean it wasn’t an accident?”
Good, he wasn’t playing stupid. She hated when he did that.
“One of the guys involved came into the station after he saw the footage on TV.”
Nathan’s face turned white.
“Which one?”
“Which who?”
She saw his white face start to turn red. Something he never did control when he got mad. She used to tease him that he’d make a terrible attorney if his parents ever convinced him to finish law school because he had a horrible poker face. “Which guy came in?”
“Buddy. Jo said it was Buddy.”
Nathan’s shoulders slumped, the smile reappeared. “So they are still looking for Ty.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, they think they have a lead . . .” Her palms started to itch. “How did you know his name?”
Nathan removed his phone from his pocket and appeared to check the time. “Whose name?”
“Ty.”
He hesitated, looked down. “You told me.”
“No. No, I didn’t.”
“Just now. You told me Buddy and Ty watched the footage . . .”
“No, Nathan, I didn’t say their names.”
And suddenly his body language made sense. Shock, surprise, unease . . . poker face fully disengaged.
“Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t send anyone into that bar to fight your boyfriend.”
It was time to call in a little help. “Jeez, you give me a headache. Was it just to make Wyatt look bad? To make me look like a bad mom?”
He reached across the table and grabbed her arm. “I didn’t do anything.”
She yanked free. “Is that what Ty is going to say when they pick him up?”
Again, his face lost color.
“It’s kinda hard to practice law when you’re behind bars.”
He reached for her again, and a hand came down on his. “No touching.” Luke offered a deadly stare.
Nathan scrambled out of Luke’s grip and glared. “You’re both crazy.” He pointed at Melanie. “I’ll see you in court.”
“Look forward to it.”
They both watched as he walked out and stormed to his car.
“Did we get all that?”
Luke smiled. “Every word.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
They’d been gone for over an hour and the rain was pelting the side of the inn like an unrelenting hammering from a bad neighbor on a Sunday morning.
Wyatt jumped for the phone when it rang. “Yeah?”
“It’s me.” Hearing Melanie’s voice sounded so sweet.
“Hey, darlin’. How did it go?”
“I definitely got what I came for.”
“He told you about the marriage certificate?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think we’ll need it.”
“Really, why?”
“Put your dad on the other line.”
Wyatt walked to the foyer phone and handed the receiver to his father.
“What did you find out?” William asked once they were both listening.
“I think Nathan hired the guys to pull Wyatt into the bar fight.”
“Are you sure?” Wyatt asked.
“Luke came to the same conclusion and he didn’t even see the reaction on Nathan’s face when he was trying hard to hold back his thoughts. Bottom line, he knew the names of the guys who fought you both. Luke didn’t even know and he was there. When I told Nathan that Ty was getting picked up for questioning, he—”
“Started to get rough!” Wyatt heard Luke yell from what sounded like the inside of the truck.
“He did what?”
“He grabbed my arm. I’m fine. But yeah, he was pissed. Then Luke came in and Nathan stormed off.”
“And you have that all on tape?” William asked.
“Every word.”
“We need to call Jo.”
“Already done,” Melanie informed him.
“Are you on your way home?”
“Yeah, pulling onto the main road now. Raining like crazy. I didn’t want you to worry.”
Wyatt placed a hand over his chest. “I’ll worry until you’re back. But take your time, I don’t want a delay due to an accident.”
It was hard to hang up, but he did anyway.
It took a few minutes for the gravity of Melanie’s words to sink in.