Nate by Delores Fossen

her temper was about to explode, Nate hurried to catch up with her.
    She marched into the room and shot past Grayson, who was standing. Edwin and Adam were seated, and Darcy planted her fists on the metal table that separated them. She leaned in and got right in their faces.
    “Explain to me what proof you think you have that would implicate me in this crime,” she demanded.
    The men exchanged glances but didn’t exactly seem unnerved. Nate decided to do something about that. He, too, moved closer.
    “Ms. Burkhart asked you a question,” Nate clarified. He shut the door, locked it, pretended to turn off the interview camera and then slid his hand over his gun in his shoulder holster.
    That got their eyes widening.
    Nate knew both men. Had interviewed them extensively about Sandra’s death. Edwin was fifty-three and looked pampered and polished in his blue suit. To the best of Nate’s knowledge, the man had never had a job in his life, even though he did get an allowance for managing one of his late wife’s charity foundations.
    Adam was a younger version of his father. There were no threads of gray in his brown hair. No tiny lines around his blue eyes. But there was no mistaking he was his father’s son. Like his father, he also lived off an allowance from his mother’s estate.
    “You’re going to shoot us?” Edwin challenged, eyeing the stance Nate had taken with his gun.
    “Depends,” Nate tossed back. Normally, he didn’t play cop games, but he was almost as pissed off as Darcy was. “Right now, I consider you two my top suspects. I think one or both of you is responsible for endangering my daughter and Ms. Burkhart’s son.”
    Nate adjusted his position and leaned in so that Darcy and he were shoulder to shoulder. “And I’m also thinking you’re both dangerous enough to try to run out of here now that you know you’re suspects. If you do that, I’ll stop you.”
    Adam practically snapped to attention, but the threat didn’t seem to faze Edwin. Except for the slight stirring in his jaw muscles. Because Nate had interviewed him and because he’d cataloged the man’s responses, Nate was guessing that Edwin was also riled to the core. The man was just better at hiding his emotions than his son.
    “Why would you say I had a part in this?” Darcy demanded again.
    Edwin lifted his shoulder, but it was Adam who answered. “Because you stole seventy-five thousand dollars from my mother.”
    Darcy looked at Nate and shook her head. “When, where and how did this supposedly happen?” Nate asked.
    “A week ago at my mother’s estate,” Adam continued. “The money was taken from a safe while Darcy was in the house.”
    Darcy huffed. “I was there,” she admitted. “With two San Antonio police officers who work for Nate. I wanted to see where Sandra had died in case it came up at the trial. But I didn’t go anywhere near a safe, and I didn’t take any money.”
    “Well, it was there before you arrived, and it wasn’t there after you left.” Adam folded his arms over his chest. “We think you used the money to orchestrate this kidnapping.”
    “And why would I do that?” Darcy spaced out each word and glared at Adam.
    “Simple. This makes your client look innocent. He’s not. But the truth doesn’t matter to you. The only thing that matters to you is winning and letting a killer like Dent go free.”
    Since that seemed to eat away at what little fuse Darcy had left, Nate took over. “You have any proof she took it? Security surveillance tapes? Eyewitnesses?”
    “No.” Edwin didn’t glare. He just looked smug. “But who else would have done it? Adam did an inventory of that safe just minutes before she arrived, and when he checked the safe again later that afternoon, the cash was gone. Are you saying your own officers are thieves?”
    “No.” Nate could play the smug game, too. “I’m saying you two are troublemakers or liars. Maybe both. You honestly think Darcy would have done