Ryker met Titus’s hard gaze. “Jesus, Titus, you can’t believe that Black had anything to do with killing that woman?”
The sheriff shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “Do I think that he did? No, Ryker, I don’t.” Glancing at Tanya, who was sitting next to Ryker, he added, “Tanya will confirm that if he did have anything to do with it, he is a hell of a good actor. When we went to his house, the only thing he was concerned about was if something had happened to Tara. In my mind, his fear that we were coming to tell him that Tara was hurt was sincere. He also seemed genuinely shocked that Jia Yanlin was dead.”
Ryker glanced at Tanya, who nodded in agreement. “Dad is right. Either Black is a hell of an actor or he was genuinely surprised. There was no question. His first and only concern was that we were bringing him bad news about Tara.”
Titus grimaced. “The problem is that we have at least three credible witnesses who heard Griffin accosting the Yanlin woman and verbally threatening her. A couple of them said he was fierce. According to the witnesses, he told Jia that she didn’t know what he was capable of and that she would be sorry. To me, that obviously meant he’d fire her.” He shook his head and then added, “Hell, Ryker, he said the same things to us. He didn’t make any attempt to hide how angry he was. To me, if Griffin had done anything to the dead woman, my sense is he would have couched his anger. As I remember it, he said something to the effect that if he never did another thing, he would make the ‘bitch’ pay for lying to Tara. But I took that to mean that he was as angry with her as he had the right to be.”
At that moment, there was a skirmish in the hallway, and the door burst open. An angry Tara barged into the room. Her face was flushed as she charged up to his desk and confronted her father. “Where is he, Dad? Where is Griffin? I can’t believe this is happening. You arrested him?” As Titus rose to his feet, Tara turned on Tanya as if seeing her for the first time. “You have to be behind this. You’ve never liked him. You . . . you . . . ”
Titus rounded the desk, caught Tara’s arm, and pulled her up next to him. “First of all, Tara, no one arrested Griffin. He came here of his own volition to answer our questions. In addition, you are being unfair to your sister. Tanya is as concerned as we all are about what has happened.”
Tara turned to him, her eyes wide, frightened. “What did happen? All I know is that Magnus Armstrong called me and told me that Jia . . . Jia was killed, strangled, and that you arrested Griffin and brought him to the station. I . . . I can’t believe this, Dad. Why . . . why didn’t you call me? You have to know how frantic I would be!”
Titus wrapped a firm arm around her and led her to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Tara, I understand that you are shocked. And yes, I had hoped to be the one to tell you what happened. I never thought that Armstrong would call you. In fact, I asked Tatiana to go to Tanya’s to get you. I assumed you were still sleeping.” He glanced at his watch and sighed. “Hell, it’s only eight o’clock, as it is.”
When Tara tried to shake free of his grasp, Titus tightened his grip, forcing her to look up at him. “Listen to me. You have every right to be upset. But you need to understand what is happening. To start with, Griffin is not under arrest. Yes—we, Tanya, Gunnar, and I did go to his house early this morning and request that he come with us to the precinct.”
“But why, Dad? Why would you do that? Admit it. That is just a nicer way of saying that he is under arrest. What if he’d said no? Would you just have said, ‘Oh, okay, never mind’? And dammit, where is he? I want to see him. Now!”
“And you shall, but first you need to settle down and listen to me. We asked Griffin to come with us because after we learned that Jia Yanlin had been murdered, no fewer than three people indicated that they heard Griffin threaten her.”
“But, Dad, you know why he did that—if he did. He was upset about what she said to me. The lies that she told me.”
Backing her into a chair, Titus stood beside her, making it clear that she was to stay seated. “Yes, Tara, we all know how upset Griffin was. He made that clear to us and apparently to a number of other people. We had no choice but to bring him here for questioning. I’m sorry that you had to learn all of this from Armstrong. As I said, I fully intended to tell you everything as soon as I could.”
When he seemed confident that she would stay seated, Titus rounded his desk and sank into his chair with an audible sigh. He put up his hand as if knowing what she was going to say. “Yes, you can see him in a few minutes. Armstrong is with him, but I was about to go in and tell him that he could leave for now.”
“What does that mean, for now?” Tara’s tone was sharp.
“It means exactly what I said, Tara. He may leave for now, but we are in the middle of a murder investigation. And please remember, Tara, as nasty a person as Ms. Yanlin apparently was, she did not deserve to be strangled to death.”
Tara swiped at the tears she couldn’t hold back. “I know that, Dad, it’s just that if anyone has to be upset, I know Griffin is. As angry as he was with her, they have worked together for years. And God, as much as I hated her, the last thing I would ever want is for her to be dead. Even worse, murdered.” Tara made a visible effort to control herself, then turned to Tanya. “I’m sorry, Tanya. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I know you were angry with Griffin last night. But I know you were trying to protect me.”
Tanya nodded. “It’s okay, sis. I don’t blame you. Damn, we’re all upset. But I have to tell you, when we went to his house this morning, Griffin looked terrified. He thought that we were coming to tell him that something had happened to you. He was desperate to know that you were okay.”
Tara shook her head and appealed to her father. “Please, Dad. I need to see him.”
Titus nodded in agreement. “And you shall. Let’s go. I will take you to him now.”
****
Looking through the glass, Tara saw Griffin in an intense discussion with an animated Magnus. Her heart leapt at the sight of him. She knew how incredibly difficult this had to be. Breaking away from her father, she threw open the door and rushed in.
Griffin was out of his chair in seconds. Rounding the table, he caught her in his arms. Tara cried out as she clung to him. “Oh, Griffin, I’m so sorry. This is horrible. You must be so upset.” When he held her tight against him, she burst into tears, clinging to him, crying uncontrollably.
He held her, murmuring soft words of comfort, telling her that everything was going to be okay. When she seemed to be settling down somewhat, Griffin glanced at Titus, who was standing by the door, a grim expression on his face.
“Any chance this means that you are finished with me for now, Sheriff?”
“Yes, Griffin, you’re free to go. You’ve answered all of our questions, and I presume you have discussed the possible issues with Mr. Armstrong. However, given your professional relationship with the deceased and that both you and Mr. Armstrong were among the last to see Ms. Yanlin alive, we will likely have more questions for both of you as well as other members of your staff.”
Holding Tara by his side, Griffin nodded to the sheriff. “Of course. You know where to find me.” He breathed out a hard sigh and then said bitterly, “Please don’t misunderstand, and I apologize if I seem hard, Sheriff Trouble. But it appears that Jia is capable of causing damage even now. I’m confident that the news of my being questioned in a murder case will throw a bit of a wrench in the custody battle I’m engaged in. I had hoped to learn as early as Monday that the judge would be ruling in my favor. That I would be on my way to New York to bring my children home with me.” He barked a harsh, mirthless laugh. “I assume we all agree that is now unlikely at best.”
Tara looked up at him, horrified. Remembering how she’d refused to go home with him, she was overcome with remorse. “Oh God, Griffin, if I’d only gone home with you like you wanted me to. I’m so sorry.”
Griffin shrugged. “Please, Tara. There’s nothing we can do about it now.” Turning to the sheriff, he said, “All I ask is that you and your whole department turn this goddamn thing upside down and find the person who killed Jia.” Once again, he couldn’t hide his bitterness. “The only problem for you, Sheriff, is that you’re going to have a hard time finding anyone who considered Jia a friend. That doesn’t mean that they would have killed her, but to say that Jia Yanlin was not well liked is an understatement.” He walked to the door, holding Tara next to him, then stopped and faced the sheriff. “Look, Titus, I know that you consider me your number-one suspect. I will only tell you that I didn’t kill Jia. I admit I was angry enough last night to do serious damage to her. But kill her? Christ, strangle her? No, Sheriff Trouble, even as angry as I was, I’m not capable of that.”
Magnus Armstrong spoke from the side in a loud voice, not hiding his concern. “Jesus God, Griffin, shut the fuck up. You’re right when you say that you are their number-one suspect. Don’t give them any more reason to think that you’re guilty.”
Griffin just shook his head. “Relax, Magnus.” Meeting Titus’s gaze, he said quietly, “The sheriff knows I’m not guilty.” Glancing down at Tara, he said softly, “Let’s get the hell out of here, sweetheart. As much as we all need a stiff drink, I think it would be improper for your father to offer the guy who Magnus thinks is his number-one suspect a drink. Given that, let’s you and I head for my house or yours and try to recover from the worst morning I can remember.”
When they got to her car, Tara stopped him. “Griffin, this is my fault. I meant what I said in there. If only I’d gone home with you or let you take me to your house, you wouldn’t be a suspect. But once again, I acted true to form and, dear God, look what’s happened because of it.”
“Tara, stop. None of this is your fault or mine. And yes, I shouldn’t have threatened Jia like I did. But goddammit, I would do it again after what she did to you. You need to understand. Jia behaved horribly last night. But badly enough for someone to kill her? Hardly. There is more to this than any of us now know. But one thing I can tell you is that if anyone can find the hideous person who strangled Jia to death, it’s your intrepid father. I have faith in him, and you should too.”
Turning to Magnus, he added, “I trust you agree.”
Magnus just shook his head. “I hope to Christ you’re right, Griffin. But I agree with you, if anyone is capable of causing grief even from the grave, it’s Jia Yanlin.”