Birthright

I hadn’t gone after her.”
    “I’m not arguing with that. You stopped her; she had to be stopped. We can count on Doug and Lana to give the Charlotte cops the picture. We’ve got more pieces, and we’ll put them together until we have the whole picture.”
    “She ate meals with us. She cried over Bill, and after the trailer went up, she worked harder than anyone to clear the site.”
    “And she’d have killed you if she could.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Now she’s going to work all the angles. So we’ve got to be—”
    “Calm and focused,” she finished. “I need to get up, move around before I’m stiff as a plank. Give me a hand?”
    He helped her up, watched her take a few limping steps.“Babe, you need a soak in hot water, a rubdown and some good drugs.”
    “Oh boy, do I. But it can wait. Maybe you could call the troops in Charlotte, let them know we’ve got Dory under wraps.”
    “Yeah, I’ll take care of it. Stay away from her, Cal.” He noted the direction of her stone-cold gaze. “I mean it. The less you say to her, the less she knows. And the more you’ll have to give the cops.”
    “I hate when you’re logical, rational and right.”
    “Wow. I bet that hurt, too, didn’t it?”
    It made her smile, and curse as her lip throbbed. Then she squared her shoulders as she saw the sheriff’s cruiser pull up. “Well, here we go.”
    S heriff Hewitt folded a piece of gum into his mouth. He kept his attention on the deputy who helped Dory into another cruiser for transportation to the ER.
    “It’s an interesting story, Dr. Dunbrook, but I can’t arrest a woman for murder on your say-so.”
    “It’s more than my say-so. The dots are all there. You just have to connect them. She’s Marcus Carlyle’s daughter, by Dorothy McLain Spencer, who was his secretary. She lied about who she was.”
    “Well now, she says not. Isn’t denying the blood kin, just saying that she’s who she says she is.”
    “And didn’t bother to mention it when Lana’s office went up, when Bill was killed, when she knew that I was looking for Carlyle and anyone linked to him.”
    He blew out a breath. “Says she didn’t know about that.”
    “That’s just bullshit. Are you going to believe that she just happened to show up on this project? The daughter of the man who’s responsible for kidnapping me just happens to join my team?”
    “Fact is, you just happened to show up on this project. But I’m not saying I believe her.” He held up a hand beforeCallie could explode. “There’s a few too many coincidences to suit me, and she’s one of them. That’s a long way from charging her with killing that boy, or Ron Dolan. Can’t even prove she was here when Dolan was killed. I’m going to be talking to her further. I’m going to be talking to the Charlotte police and the FBI. I’m going to do my job.”
    He shifted his attention, studied her bruised face. “Might be a good idea if you let me do it, instead of trying to do it for me.”
    “She was running.”
    “I’m not saying she wasn’t. She claims she was just stretching her legs when you jumped her. And your witnesses have conflicting observations on that. You ought to consider the fact I’m not charging you with assault.”
    “You ought to consider the fact she decided to stretch her legs when her mother called from Charlotte to warn her she’d been found.”
    “I’m going to check that out. Dr. Dunbrook, I don’t tell you how to dig up this field. Don’t tell me how to investigate a case. Best thing for you to do is go on back to the house, put some ice on that cheekbone there. Looks painful. I want everybody to stay where I can find them while I’m sorting this out.”
    “Maybe you should find out if Dorothy Spencer’s taken any trips to Woodsboro lately, because Dory didn’t do all this alone.”
    He pointed a finger at her. “Go on home, Dr. Dunbrook. I’ll be in touch when there’s something you need to know.”
    She kicked a stone as he walked away. “Calm and focused, my ass.”
    S he soaked a symphony of bruises in the tub, took a Percocet and stewed. There had to be more that could be done, and she intended to do it.
    She pulled on her baggiest pants and shirt, and though she cast a longing glance at the bed, she limped her way downstairs.
    Conversation shut off like a turned tap when she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator for a drink.
    “Maybe you should have some tea. Ah, some