by Lynn Shannon
He dropped his hand from Luke’s shoulder and climbed the porch steps to the foreman’s house.
“Oh, and one more thing, Luke. It might be a good idea for Megan to go back home. Now that June’s house is gone and her business along with it, she might want to join her niece in Houston.” Heath opened the screen door. “I’m sure once both women leave town, they’ll be safe.”
The man disappeared inside. Luke marched to his vehicle and got in, glancing at the house through his windshield. A curtain in the kitchen window fluttered. A pale face appeared, the sunlight winking off a silver necklace.
Karen Dickerson, Franny’s mother.
Luke raised a hand, but before he got it halfway up, the curtain fluttered again, and she was gone.
Thirteen
Two days later, Megan tapped a marker against the palm of her hand and studied the whiteboard in Luke’s home office. She’d made notes about Franny’s murder, her aunt’s accident, and the fire. Photographs of the scenes were held in place by magnets. A list of questions she couldn’t answer were written on the far right side.
“I have a theory about how Franny’s killer arranged to frame Wade,” Megan said. “But not a lot of evidence to support it.”
Luke frowned and leaned back in his chair. “Let me hear it anyway.”
“At some point during the party, the killer stole Wade’s phone and hid it. We know from Kyle that someone was with Franny. Either the killer returned to the house—like Wade did—or he never left.”
She pointed to a photo of the lake house. “There’s a back road that runs along the lake. If the killer thought ahead, he would’ve parked on this dirt path hidden in the woods. That way, it looks like everyone has left, but actually hasn’t.”
“Investigators looked at that road, but there had been a heavy downpour, so any tires tracks would’ve been washed away.” He nodded. “Okay, I’m with you so far.”
“He’s someone Franny knows. Maybe even trusts. He offers to help her clean up since the party left a mess.”
Megan pointed to the crime-scene photos. Several trash bags were open and placed in strategic areas around the downstairs. Paper plates and plastic cups spilled out.
“While picking up, the killer finds”—she used air quotes around finds—“Wade’s cell phone in the couch and Franny calls Kyle. Arrangements are made for my brother to get his phone. At this point, the killer knows he’s on his way, and he shoots Franny.”
She paused, gripping the whiteboard marker tighter in her hand. Franny hadn’t deserved what happened to her. Lord, help me bring her killer to justice.
She took a deep breath. “Wade comes into the house and sees Franny on the living room floor. He grabs his cell phone from the table in the entryway and bolts. My suspicion is the killer hadn’t anticipated him doing that. I believe he thought Wade would call the police and therefore become the number-one suspect.”
“When that doesn’t happen, the blackmail starts.” Luke was quiet for a long moment, his gaze flickering over the whiteboard. “It’s a good theory, except it doesn’t fit with the one motive we have. Neither Heath nor Chad were at the party that night. If Franny was killed over her relationship with Skeeter by one of her family members, then how did they arrange for Wade’s cell phone to be taken?”
Megan bit her lip. “Maybe we’re dealing with two people? Or our motive is wrong. Franny’s death may have nothing to do with Skeeter at all. It would help if we could figure out what evidence June had uncovered.”
Her hand drifted to the key hanging on a chain around her neck. Luke had made copies of the unidentified key from June’s key ring, and they each had one. They still had no idea what it went to.
“Franny’s missing journal is important,” she continued. “Her friends confirmed she was tight-lipped about any problems she was going through, just as Wade told us. It makes sense she would use the journal as an outlet, but if that’s what my aunt uncovered, I have no idea how.”
“It’s possible the evidence isn’t something tangible, but it’s a person. Like the woman who called you.”
“Do you still think it could be Karen Dickerson?”
He shrugged. “The alibis Heath and Chad provided are weak. The foreman and a couple of ranch hands saw them on the days in question but were vague about the time.”
“Even if they had a solid alibi, it doesn’t rule them out since we could be looking at two people.” She eyed the whiteboard. “And what about the missing evidence? It can’t be a coincidence the box that disappeared contained several important interviews.”
He smacked the table. “It’s been days, and I feel like we are right where we started with this investigation.”
“You’re doing everything you can.” She slid into the chair next to him and placed a hand on his arm. “That’s all anyone can ask.”
“It doesn’t feel like enough. I want to catch this guy, Megs.”
Something twisted perilously close to her heart. Hadn’t she had a very similar conversation with Grace?
Luke’s gaze lifted to meet hers. The sunlight coming in through the window played with his chiseled features, and her breath caught. There was pain swimming in the deep blue of his eyes, one she’d helped put there with her words and her actions.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Luke. I shouldn’t have blamed you for Wade’s conviction. None of this is your fault. Or mine. It’s not even my brother’s, although he made some big mistakes. It was easier to be angry with you than to accept it wasn’t any one person’s fault. It was a perfect storm of decisions and choices that led us here.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“One hundred percent. There’s only one person to blame for Franny’s murder and that’s her killer.”
His hand slid over hers and warmth replaced the worry in his eyes. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
“Thank you, Megs. I needed the reminder.” Luke rose and tugged on her hand to encourage her out of the chair. “Come on. We’ve been at this nonstop for hours. Let’s take a break and clear our heads with a horseback ride.”
She hesitated, but stealing thirty minutes away was too tempting to turn down. The last couple of days had consisted of reading Franny’s case file and sitting by June’s bedside.
They bundled in jackets, and Luke led Megan across the yard. The sunshine offset the chill in the air, and a flock of birds soared overhead. Inside the barn, a horse stuck her neck out and nickered.
Megan’s mouth dropped open. “Fiona?”
She hurried down the aisle until she was standing in front of the animal. The distinct blaze down the horse’s nose was as familiar to Megan as her own foot.
“It is you.” She lifted her hand for the horse to smell before proceeding to stroke her. “What are you doing here, girl?”
“I bought her,” Luke said. “I have Remnant too. He’s down that way.”
She glanced behind her and caught sight of the beautiful black bay. A warmth spread through her chest.
“I had no idea… I can’t believe my aunt sold them to you.”
“She didn’t know. At least, not till after. I bought them at the rodeo auction.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t stand the thought of them going to strangers.”
His image blurred as tears flooded her eyes. She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him.
“Thank you, Luke.”
Megan’s heart skittered when his hand cupped the back of her head, his fingers dipping into the strands of her hair. His scent and warmth surrounded her, his arm encircling her waist and holding her close. He was hard muscle and rough edges, all masculine, and a direct contrast to her soft curves.
His phone trilled and Megan jumped back. Cold air replaced the heat of his body, and she shivered. Luke pulled the phone from his belt. Creases formed between his brows and he jabbed the reject button.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“It’s fine.”
That funny note was in his voice
again. Luke almost always answered his phone, so why…
Her chest tightened as the most obvious answer popped into her mind. She backed up toward the barn entrance. “Seriously, I can give you a few minutes. I mean, it’s completely fine if you have a girlfriend you need to talk to.”
“Megs.”
“Don’t avoid answering her call on my account… There’s no reason to…”
A blush heated her cheeks, and she was rambling but couldn’t stop. The image of Luke tangled up in another woman’s arms, kissing her, flashed before Megan’s eyes. A small surge of panic sent her heart racing.
He stepped toward her. “Megs—”
“We’re both adults, and it’s been a long time since we broke up. It makes sense that you—”
“Megs, for heaven’s sake, let me talk. It’s not my girlfriend. It’s my dad.”
She froze, certain she’d heard him wrong. “What?”
“The phone calls. The person I keep avoiding. It’s not my girlfriend.” He took a deep breath. “It’s my dad.”
Luke mentally kicked himself the entire time they prepared the horses for riding. He shouldn’t have told her about his dad, but the look on her face when she realized he might have a girlfriend…it’d sucker punched him while he was still reeling from their hug. Things were shifting between them, and he didn’t have the strength to keep fighting it.
Megan brought Fiona next to his horse, Domino, as they rode across the property toward the woods along the outer edge.
“Okay, Luke.” She held the reins with one hand and waved the other in a circular motion. “Let’s have it. What’s going on with your dad?”
“Never mind,” he responded. She had enough problems on her plate without adding his. “Forget I said anything.”
“Uhhh, no. You cannot drop a bombshell like that and then just pretend it didn’t happen. Something is bothering you, so just spill it.” Her mouth quirked up. “Being a sounding board is the least I can do. You did save my life the other day.”
“I didn’t know we were keeping score.”
“Competitiveness is a Hunt family trait, right behind stubbornness and the ridiculously huge gap between our toes.”
He chuckled. They entered the cool confines of the forest. Sunlight dappled on the ground, and the trail was wide enough their horses could walk side by side.
“There isn’t much to tell, Megs. My dad moved nearby about six months ago. He wants to reconcile.”
“And you don’t?”
He shrugged. “I’ve lived a long time without him, and it’s not like I’m a kid anymore. I don’t need him. I consider Hank my real dad, anyway. He’s the one who raised me.”
“The last time you saw Patrick, you were fifteen, right?”
He nodded. Luke had never told Megan the details about his father, preferring to keep it all behind him. But his past was colliding with his present, brought into focus by his father’s appearance in town and his phone calls, and Luke couldn’t keep ignoring it forever.
“Patrick signed the paperwork terminating his parental rights at the lawyer’s office so Hank could adopt me. I refused to see him when that happened, so only my mom and Hank went. But somehow Patrick found out when the adoption was going before the judge and he showed up at the courthouse. He was drunk and said awful things. Stuff about how I’d betrayed him and that he disowned me.”
Domino tossed his head and Luke realized he was gripping the reins. He took a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax.
“I should’ve kept quiet, but I had a lot of anger built up toward him. My dad hadn’t been sober since I was six. I mean, he tried rehab, but it never stuck. There were a lot of promises broken. Times he was supposed to show up and didn’t. Or he would come drunk. Anyway, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I said some bad things, and it got heated. We ended up in a fistfight right there in the courtroom.”
Somewhere overhead a hawk cried out and took flight. The cold air had put color in Megan’s cheeks, and her body moved with Fiona’s, a natural extension of the horse. They’d gone deeper into the forest than Luke realized. He cleared his mind, listening, but the only sounds were the clopping of the horse hooves and the rushing of the water from the nearby creek.
“Shortly after the courthouse fight, my dad was convicted of a second DUI and disappeared. That is, until he showed up in Cardin.”
“No wonder you’re worried about letting him back into your life.” She was quiet for a moment. “Fifteen years is a long time, Luke. Maybe he’s changed. He says he’s sober, right?”
“Yes, but… I dunno, Megs. He hasn’t been a part of my life for a long time. And for most of my childhood, when he was involved, it wasn’t good.”
“True, but you and I are cut from the same cloth. We believe in the goodness of people and in their ability to change. Your dad calls and you don’t answer, but you also don’t tell him to stop. Maybe a part of you is hoping there’s a chance to heal things.”
Luke opened his mouth to deny it but choked on the words. There was a thread of truth to what she’d said. Still, there was so much hurt between him and his father, he couldn’t see a path through it.
There was parting in the trees, revealing a small clearing and the creek. The air was scented faintly with the water, clean and crisp.
“Can we rest for a bit?” Megan pulled her horse to a stop and dismounted. “I haven’t ridden in a long time and my body is reminding me of that.”
“Sure.” He dismounted Domino and let the reins fall to the ground. “Do you miss it? Riding?”
“I do. I didn’t realize how much until now.” Picking up a rock, she sent it skipping over the water. It jumped twice before plopping into the creek. “Work has taken over my life in the last few years. Maybe when everything is settled, I’ll figure out a way to balance things better.”
“What about dating?” He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“Uhhh, no.” She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Dating hasn’t been high on my priority list.”
He let out the breath he was holding. Luke picked up a rock and sent it sailing through the air. It skipped three times across water before landing in the creek.
“Show off.” She pushed him lightly, her face split into a wide grin. “You just can’t let me get a win.”
“You would hate it if I didn’t challenge—”
She put a finger to her lips and pointed into the trees. “Look.”
He followed the line of her finger. Two deer stepped from the camouflage of the forest into the clearing. They paused, but Luke and Megan were downwind. With graceful steps, they approached the creek to drink.
She watched them with an enraptured look on her face. “I’d forgotten how magical this place could be.”
The wind rustled her hair, sending strands of it into her face. Without thinking, Luke reached up and pushed them back. The touch was featherlight, barely more than a brush of his fingers against her face, and yet it quickened his heartbeat.
Their eyes snagged and Megan’s breath hitched. She shifted, the movement nearly indecipherable, except his fingers were still tangled in the strands of her hair, still grazing her cheek, and he felt it. Longing settled in Luke’s gut, making him ache for more than was reasonable.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. He leaned closer.
A red laser light flashed on her cheek. Luke spun, taking Megan with him. A bullet whistled right past his ear and thudded into the dirt where Megan had been just a breath before. The horses bolted as the crack of a rifle shot echoed.
“Run,” Luke yelled.
He pushed Megan toward the trees, using his body to provide cover. His heart pounded in his ears. Megan’s shoes lost traction against the leaves and grass. She stumbled.
Another whistle and a thud as a bullet lodged itself in the ground nearby. Luke wrapped his arm around her waist and dove behind two large pines and an array of bushes.
He pulled
his weapon while scanning her body for possible injuries. “You hit?”
“I’m fine.” Her breaths were coming in pants. “You?”
“Still in one piece.”
Thank you, Lord.
Luke reached down and pulled his clutch piece from a specially sewn pocket in his boot. “Do you still know how to shoot?”
She nodded. “I’ve kept up with the skills June taught me.”
He handed the gun to her before peeking around the tree. Everything had gone still and quiet.
Holding his breath, he scanned the direction the bullets had come from. Bushes rustled on the other side of the creek. He glimpsed someone in camouflage running, heading for the trail leading to the road.
“Stay here and call 911. I’m going after him.”
Luke bolted through the underbrush along the creek bed. His pulse skyrocketed as he left the safety of the trees and sprinted through the water, soaking the bottom of his jeans. The shooter had a decent lead, but Luke knew these woods like the back of his hand. He took a shortcut and spotted a figure in full camouflage up ahead.
“Police! Freeze!”
The shooter didn’t stop. Luke put all his focus into closing the gap between them. His boots skidded on dried pine needles and sweat coated his back.
The man spun, lifting his weapon, and Luke had seconds to dive for cover. Bark exploded as bullets impacted the tree above him. He gritted his teeth, the desire to give chase fighting with his common sense. The shooter had a rifle. Luke only had a handgun, and while he was an excellent shot, he was severely disadvantaged.
The rev of an engine sent him scrambling. He raced toward the sound. A dark pickup truck, dirt obscuring its plates, flew down the main trail to the road. The vehicle disappeared around a corner and was swallowed up by the trees.
Fourteen
Dan flipped his notepad closed and tucked it and a pen back into the front pocket of his uniform. “Sounds like someone was hunting deer out of season.”