Page 101 of Crosshairs

“No, ma’am.” Linc held up his hand. “Just trying to look at all the options.”

“Well, that’s not one of them.”

Her voice shook, and Linc didn’t know if it was from anger or fear.

“Can you think ofanyreason someone might take a shot at you?” Ainsley asked, recovering her composure.

“Like I said, I don’t think they were shooting at me.” Shestopped and took a deep breath. “Wish they hadn’t taken the oxygen away already.”

“Do we need to call the nurse?” Linc asked.

“No. Probably wouldn’t come anyway. Waited an hour for pain meds last night before anyone showed up.” She shifted in the chair and winced. “I’m tired. I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“One more question and we’ll go,” Ainsley said. “Have you thought of anyone who might have wanted to harm your daughter?”

“We went over this Friday night. Drew Kingston was with her that night. Have you talked to him?”

Connie hadn’t heard about Drew? “No. Someone tried to kill him yesterday morning,” Ainsley said.

Her hand flew to her mouth, and then she fumbled for a red-and-white box that had been hiding under her leg. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Someone shot him.”

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry.” She took a cigarette from the pack and rolled it between her thumb and finger. “Why?”

“The case is still under investigation,” Linc replied.

Connie turned and stared out the window. “I always thought he was using Hannah, but I never wanted him to get hurt.”

“Can you give us the names of some of her friends?” Ainsley asked. “It would help a lot.”

She turned to face Ainsley. “Like I told you Friday night, Hannah never brought her friends around.” She put the cigarette to her lips and seemed to remember where she was and carefully returned it to the box. “There was this other boy she helped with math. Hannah was real good with numbers.” She lifted her gaze toward the ceiling. “Peyton, that was his name.”

“Does he have a last name?” Linc asked.

“I don’t remember.”

“Phone number?”

Connie shook her head.

“Do you know who his parents are?” he asked. Another headshake. Linc took out one of his business cards and wrote Ainsley’s number on the back, then handed it to her. “If you remember his last name, give one of us a call.”

“I doubt I’ll remember anything.”

Linc stood. “Would you like help getting back into bed?”

She lifted her chin. “I can manage.”

“We don’t mind helping you.” Ainsley’s voice was soft.

“I don’t need your help. I got to get out of here and plan a funeral.”

52

Ainsley followed Linc out into the hallway, closing Connie Hanover’s door behind her. “That went over worse than I expected.”

He nodded. “At least she’s stronger than I thought she’d be. The bullet must not have hit anything major.”

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