Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (reading women .txt) 📕

To Knox's brother's credit, he flushed a deep shade of crimson. Roman opened his mouth to speak but only a few sounds of gibberish came out before he snapped it shut again.

Sighing, Jenna shook her head. "You did warn me."

"Told you so."

Randy elbowed Roman out of the way. "Christ, I can't leave you alone for a second. Ms. Waters, I'm so sorry about my big brother. He often talks without actually engaging his brain first. We're used to it but you're a guest. Please accept our apologies."

"It's fine. And please call me Jenna."

Roman finally found his voice.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like your sister...I mean...I'm sure your sister is...what I'm saying–"

"What are you saying?" Knox said, cutting off his brother. "Because you're not helping yourself here."

"Roman, your wife is looking for you," a deep voice said from outside the kitchen area. Knox recognized it immediately. Cal. He joined them in the kitchen and gave his brother a glare that had Roman turning on his heel and muttering under his breath as he walked away.

"Ms. Waters," Cal said, turning his attention to Jenna. "It’s nice to see you again. Maybe it's time for you and I to talk. What do you think?"

Knox didn't know what Jenna was going to say but he thought it was shitty idea. Cal was going to try and charm his way out of this. Fuck that.

"I think that's a good idea," Jenna replied before Knox could tell his brother to go pound sand.

"Jenna, you don't have to–"

"I want to." She placed her hand on his arm and looked up at him. Her expression was serene and composed but there was a look in her eyes that he couldn't ignore. She wanted him to trust her. He did. He just didn't trust Cal. "We won't be long. If I need you, I'll call for you. I promise."

With a kitchen full of people staring at him he could only give in gracefully, nodding his grudging agreement. Leaning down, he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and whispered in her ear.

"Don't take any of his shit."

She gave him a cheeky grin. "That's the plan."

"You can use my office," Randy said. "If you'd like to. Lots of privacy. No one will bother you there."

Randy led Jenna and Cal out of the kitchen leaving Knox, Roman, and Julia.

"I guess I'll go check on the kids," Julia said far too brightly. "If I leave, can you promise that you won't come to blows? This is a family party."

It wouldn't be the first time fists were thrown at an Owens family get-together, but Knox wasn't going to be the one to do it today. Unless someone else threw the first punch. Then all bets were off.

"We're okay," Roman said. "In fact, how about we go outside and get some fresh air? It might do us both some good."

"I could go for some fresh air," Knox agreed, following his brother through the garage and out to the back deck. There were some kids playing soccer in the yard and a group of men gathered around the picnic table. Almost magically, the crowd of about eight or so parted to reveal the one person that Knox didn't want to see.

Benjamin Owens.

And he was walking toward Knox.

Unless Knox was planning to run away, it looked like he and his dad were going to have that talk after all. Roman had known exactly what he was doing. So had Randy.

25

"I didn't have anything to do with Lori's disappearance. I liked your sister. She was a nice person."

Cal had opened the conversation pretty much as Jenna had expected. He'd smiled at her as if he had nothing in the world to hide. And that might be true. She didn't know for sure. But that's why Knox was working on this investigation. She needed to find out the truth.

"That's not what you told the Douglas police detective. You told him that Lori was kind of crazy and was capable of doing weird things."

She wasn't planning to make it easy for him. Knox had warned her that his brother had at most a casual relationship with the truth, and Lori had talked quite a bit about her troublesome boyfriend. Michelle hadn’t anything good to say either.

Cal's throat bobbed and he squirmed in his seat. He'd tried to take the "power position" behind the desk but she'd been immediately on to him, and instead suggested that they sit on the small loveseat against wall. From there she could watch his expressions and body language closely. She was a psychology major and had learned a thing or two about how a person reacts when telling a big fat lie. She'd be watching for those tells.

"I don't remember saying that," Cal finally replied after a long pause. "I think maybe the cop was taking what I said out of context."

"He said you used the word crazy to describe Lori. How could that be taken out of context?"

"I just don't know that I even used that word. Maybe that's his interpretation. He seemed kind of cynical if you know what I mean." Cal leaned forward, his gaze on Jenna's face. "You look so much like your sister. It's uncanny. She was always the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous."

So if Jenna looked like Lori, then she was beautiful too? She had a feeling that Cal didn't get called on his shit very often. He probably sailed through life fairly smoothly, making people feel special. In