Page 28 of Obsession

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The Natchez police arrived first, followed by Nate, and Sam helped them secure the area.

“Any sign of your attacker?” Nate asked.

“I never saw him. It’s like he was a ghost.” Sam nodded toward the huge live oaks that lined the street. “He could’ve hidden anywhere. The doorframe is so splintered I can’t even tell the direction the bullet came from.”

The dry wood had fragmented into a hundred pieces and would have to be put back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Nate shined a light on the frame, then used his knife to dig the bullet out. He held it up. The bullet had mushroomed on impact.

“It looks bigger than the bullet from last night,” Sam said. A text beeped in, and he checked his phone. Clayton.

Do you know if Trey is coming?

He hasn’t arrived? I saw him less than an hour ago and he was on his way to the site.

He’s not here yet.

Sam turned to the sheriff. “Have you heard from Trey? He hasn’t arrived at the site yet.”

“Sorry, I meant to tell you he had to run by the nursing home to check on his dad.”

“How is Carter?” he asked as he texted his ranger the information.

“The Alzheimer’s is getting worse. Half the time he doesn’t even know Trey, and when he does, he’s abusive.”

“It’s a terrible disease,” Sam said. He’d seen it take brilliant people down.

Nate agreed with him and then said, “Fill me in, starting with when you left Mount Locust.”

Sam started with the visit to the walk-in clinic and ended with their drive from the restaurant. Nate rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you notice anyone following you?”

“No, and I checked. We didn’t have a tail. I figure whoever fired the rifle—and it definitely was a rifle—was waiting for her to come home.”

“Show me exactly where each of you were standing when it happened,” Nate said.

Sam retraced their steps in his mind. “I was here.” He pointed to the left of the door. “Emma was in front, ready to unlock it. If we both hadn’t tried to catch her key when she dropped it...” Each time he thought about how close Emma had come to being hit, his stomach churned.

Nate frowned. “So, you weren’t right behind her?”

Sam shook his head. “I was standing a little to her left.”

The door opened from the left and he’d stood almost in front of the doorframe. His breath caught in his chest as he stared at the bullet hole that was level with his eyesight. If he hadn’t bent over to catch the key ... “The shooter was aiming at me?”

“That or he was a bad shot.”

“We keep sayinghe, but there’s nothing that keeps the shooter from being a woman,” Sam said. He scratched his chin. “But why me? I haven’t been back in Natchez long enough to make enemies.”

“Good question.”

Nate had to be wrong, at least about Sam being the target. “Maybe the shooter was just trying to scare her again,” he said.

“From what?” Before Sam could answer, both men’s attention shifted as a car turned into the drive and one of the Natchez officers stopped it. The officer questioned the driver and then allowed the man to proceed to the back of the house.

“If that’s one of Emma’s neighbors, I’d like to question him,” Sam said. A hallway ran the length of the house. “I bet he’ll come in the back way.”

“I’ll stay here in case he comes around front.”

Sam was waiting when a man who had the lean look of a runner came in the back door. His eyes widened when he saw Sam. “Who are you? And what’s going on? That policeman wouldn’t tell me anything.”

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