Her dog refused to let go. Zach struggled to sit while lifting a short limb like a club. Mattie shouted for him to stop, got to her feet, and launched herself at the man at the same time that Robo released his leg and went for his arm. Robo had been trained to always go for the arm that held a weapon, and that’s exactly what he was doing.
Just as Mattie landed on the man’s chest, Robo’s mighty jaws clamped down on Zach’s forearm, making him scream and drop the limb. He’d released his foul breath in a loud humph when Mattie dive-bombed him, and the odor of alcohol made her stomach lurch.
Robo tugged backward, dragging Zach out as much as he could, since Mattie’s weight anchored him to the ground. Still the man fought. Knowing that Brody would be busy with the others and this takedown was up to her and her partner alone, Mattie drove her knee into his crotch and went for his other fist at the same time.
When she landed the knee strike, Zach groaned and drew up his legs in the classical pose of groin protection. Mattie threw her entire weight on his free arm and pinned it to the ground. Robo’s growls filled the draw as he took advantage of the fact that Mattie no longer weighed down their captive. He dragged him along the rocky ground, bouncing the man’s head off a rock as they went.
Zach lay stunned, faceup, Robo on one arm and Mattie on the other. She pressed her advantage and shouted into his face. “Don’t move! Stay still and the dog will let go!”
She felt the fight go out of him and swiftly reached for the cuffs she’d taken off Flint earlier. She clicked one onto the wrist she was holding. “Robo, out! Guard!”
Robo dropped Zach’s arm, saliva dripping from his mouth onto Zach as he backed away maybe one whole inch. He loomed over their captive, his black lip elevated in a snarl, exposing his sharp canines.
“On your stomach! Don’t reach for me or this dog will bite your face!”
Zach rolled to his stomach, turning his face away from Robo, while Mattie grabbed his free wrist and snapped the other cuff on it. She stood, her legs shaking with the adrenaline rush. “Robo, out!”
After Robo backed off, keeping his eyes pinned on their captive, she forced herself to settle. She took a few deep breaths and found a voice that sounded much more calm than she felt. “Do you have anything sharp in your pockets? Weapons? Needles?”
Zach grunted. “You have no right to do this to me.”
Mattie patted him down, tipping him from one side to the other as she searched his front pockets. She found only a cell phone. She opened the screen to the call history and found the outgoing call to Wilson’s phone, just as she’d suspected she would.
Zach lay still under Robo’s guard until Mattie told her dog to back away.
“Okay, Zach, you can sit up now.”
With his hands cuffed behind, he struggled to sit. He glared at her with baleful eyes.
“Tell me what you know about Wilson Nichol’s death,” she said.
“Go to hell!”
If I was in his shoes and just got a knee in the nuts, I wouldn’t want to talk to me either. She grabbed the collar of his jacket. “Stand up.”
After helping him to his feet, she pointed toward the steep side of the rocky ravine. “We’ve got some climbing to do to get out of this draw.”
Robo hustled to Zach’s side so he could escort their captive up the incline.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Robo escorted Zach Irving out of the draw while Mattie followed. Her dog held his head high and waved his tail, so proud to be completing this last duty of fugitive apprehension. Life seemed so simple for Robo: rest and relax when you can, take pleasure in a job well done. He didn’t lie awake at night wondering if he’d done the right thing. She loved him for it.
While they walked to where Brody was waiting with his two captives, Mattie hoped a little time would give Zach Irving a cooling-off period. She still wanted to question him about his connection to Wilson Nichol’s murder and see if she could uncover a link to Nate Fletcher’s. Even though the evidence pointed to him as the killer in both homicides, his motive remained murky.
Why would Zach kill Nate Fletcher right before a hunting trip he’d paid good money for? And if Wilson Nichol had presented a business deal to Zach that would benefit them both, why would he kill Wilson? The puzzle pieces seemed misshapen and didn’t quite fit.
Brody studied her as she approached, and she gave him a thumbs-up to let him know all was well. Tyler and Ben Underwood sat on a log, their hands cuffed in front. Under his billed cap, Tyler was red in the face, his eyebrows gathered into a pained expression. If Flint’s information had been correct, Mattie guessed that Tyler regretted ever agreeing to lead this tiger hunt for Kasey. If so, maybe she could get him to talk.
On the other hand, Ben sat with his shoulders back, observing everything around him with an air of confidence. His face still wore that friendly mask she’d begun to associate with him. He would be one cool customer in a poker game. She remembered how the two had acted when she’d first met them—Ben had acted open and friendly, while Zach had been shut down and nervous. At the time, both had been guilty of preparing to participate in illegal wildlife activity. But had one or both of them already committed Nate’s murder? Was Ben just better at hiding it?
Her cell phone pinged with an incoming text, and she took it out of her pocket to check. It was from Stella, and it read, Z. IRVING WAS IN COURTHOUSE MONDAY AM ASKING ABOUT TAX STATUS OF REDMAN RANCH. TAXES ARE DELINQUENT. WILSON NICHOL WENT THERE GETTING THE SAME INFO THREE WEEKS AGO.
That was interesting. It not only confirmed what Flint had said earlier about foreclosure but indicated that both Wilson and Zach knew the ranch was floundering, too. She slipped her cell phone back into her pocket.
Zach’s horse was nowhere in sight, but Brody and his two prisoners mounted up and began a slow plod downhill to join the others. Mattie and Zach followed behind on foot.
Robo was still escorting Zach on his left side, and Mattie moved up to walk on his right. “I have something I’m curious about, Mr. Irving.”
“I won’t talk to you about this hunt without the advice of an attorney,” he said, closing his lips in a thin line.
“I’d like to talk to you about a completely different subject.”
He sent her a sidelong glance. “What’s that?”
“What’s your interest in the Redman Ranch?”
He jutted out his chin. “I heard it’s a nice piece of property that the owners might want to sell.”
But as far as she knew, the owners weren’t at all interested in selling the land. “Are you looking to move here, Mr. Irving?”
“Hardly.” He smirked. “I’m a residential real estate developer. Nothing illegal about that.”
“Agreed, but I’m wondering how you learned about this particular property.”
“Wilson Nichol contacted me about it. I decided to come to Timber Creek to see it.” He threw Mattie a hard look. “That’s why I came here.”
She wanted to keep him talking, so she didn’t mention the illegal game issues.
“What exactly did Mr. Nichol tell you about the Redman property?”
He shrugged. “He thought I might be interested in subdividing the property to sell for building sites. He was pretty excited about its potential, and I told him I’d see if the project would be feasible.”
“And when did you speak with Tyler Redman about it?” Mattie asked, testing a theory.
He shook his head. “I didn’t speak with Tyler. Wilson said he didn’t want me to discuss it with the family yet.”
That was odd. Wouldn’t a developer speak to the landowners first? “Why not?”