Page 29 of Peril in Piney Woods

ALL MORNING GRIFF hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. That overwhelming sense of doom just lingered and lingered. Especially after Meg had left.

When he spotted Ernie’s SUV rolling along his driveway, he understood his instincts had been right. Whatever news his friend was here to deliver, Griff suspected it was not good.

He waited on the porch, one shoulder propped against the post on the right of the steps. “Morning,” he said as his friend climbed out of his SUV.

“Morning.” Ernie glanced around. “Is Meg here?”

Griff shook his head. “She had to drop off that rescued beagle at Lonnie’s, and then she was going to check in at Pampered Paws. What’s up?”

“Good. I was hoping I could speak to you alone,” Ernie admitted. “There’s something you need to know about Meg.”

“All right. Come on in.”

Ernie followed him inside. “Do we need something stronger than coffee to do this?” Griff asked, bracing for what he feared was going to be the bad he’d sensed coming. He wasn’t usually one to drink in the middle of the morning, but his entire being was poised on the edge of panic.

“Another time maybe,” Ernie suggested.

“I’m guessing we should sit.”

Ernie nodded. “Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

Griff took the few steps to the living room and dropped into his favorite chair. It was an old one, had belonged to his daddy. At some point, he needed to consider getting it recovered.

Ernie picked a spot on the sofa. “I did something I wouldn’t generally do after the scene at Meg’s shop yesterday.”

“What’s that?” However hard he tried to relax, Griff’s gut just tied in bigger knots.

“Truth is,” Ernie went on, “that video in the Gas and Go just kept eating at me. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It...” He shook his head. “It didn’t feel right.”

“Meg said she’d been attacked before,” Griff countered. “She took her self-defense classes very seriously. That seems pretty reasonable.”

Ernie nodded slowly. “Maybe. But then when I walked into her shop and saw those two men on the floor, I realized I couldn’t ignore what my gut was telling me. Something was off. This was way more than self-defense classes. This was professional.”

“I can see how it looked that way,” Griff admitted—he’d been a little stunned himself. “But she didn’t do anything wrong. Meg is a good person, and she had every right to do what she did.”

Ernie held up a hand. “I’m not trying to say she did anything wrong. I’m just... I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I was worried she wasn’t telling me the whole story. That maybe there was something she didn’t want me to know.”

Griff stood and braced his hands on his hips. “Just say whatever it is you gotta say, Ernie. This conversation isn’t going to get any easier.”

Again, Ernie held up a hand. “Just sit down, Griff. Don’t get all riled up until you hear me out.”

Griff took a breath. His friend was right. He swallowed his pride and dropped back into his seat. “So, what did you do?”

“I ran her prints.”

Anger pierced Griff. “Like a criminal or a suspect of some sort?”

“I felt it was my duty,” Ernie argued. “And I was right to believe something was off.”

Griff’s anger wilted a bit. “What do you mean?”

“Meg’s real name is Angela Hamilton, better known as Angel—as in the Angel of Death. The reports I got back says she’s a contract killer, Griff. She worked for this ruthless drug lord out in LA. Apparently, he did something she didn’t like, and she killed his son. That’s why she went into hiding—which I suppose is what she’s doing here—hiding. If those people find her, she’s dead. Maybe anyone around her too.”

For a couple of beats Griff couldn’t speak. Then he snapped out of it. “That can’t be right.” He shook his head. He knew Meg. She was too kind and too caring to be a cold-blooded killer. Even as his mind insisted that he knew this, the video from the Gas and Go played in his head like one of those social media reels stuck on a loop, then the images from the scene at her shop.

“Man,” Ernie said, “I’m sorry as hell to bring this to your door, I know you like her, but this is scary stuff. Dangerous stuff.”

Griff thought of the backpack she’d carried when she left and how she’d looked at him after that kiss with such regret. Dread welled in his throat, and he fought to swallow it down.

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