Page 117 of Crosshairs

Ainsley brought her attention back to Brent. “But they wouldn’t know anything about the case, and I believe I’m closing in on the murderer.” She didn’t think it was Colton, but he might have seen more than he’d told them. “I’m telling you, I can handle this, and I’ll see the psychologist when the case is finished.”

In the end, he agreed to wait, and she disconnected as Linc walked up.

“That woman has a serious crush on you,” she said.

“I know,” Linc replied. “Not sure what to do about it, but I have to talk to her.”

“Won’t do any good.” With his rugged good looks, she could see why the reporter was so infatuated with him. Today Linc looked especially appealing in the gray and green uniform that looked like it was tailored to fit his body.

She crossed her arms over her chest. Somehow, Linc had slowly but steadily inched his way past the shield she’d erected around her heart. And that would not do. For one thing, he was firmly entrenched in Natchez, and as soon as this case ended, she was out of here.

And the other ... she may have forgiven him for siding with her dad about her music career, but she hadn’t forgotten how his betrayal had hurt. Sure, he’d said it’d been for her own good. Well, he hadn’t exactly said that, more like he’d been afraid she’dget hurt, but that had been her decision to make, not his, and not her dad’s.

Linc nudged her. “Where’d you go?”

“Just thinking.”

He smiled, looking as though he wanted to ask what she was thinking about, but then he sobered. “Any suggestions of how to handle this with Sarah?”

“Just tell her how you feel. It’s up to her what she does with the information.”

“I know, but it’s not easy,” he said.

“I’m sorry, but if you’re not interested in her, the kindest thing you can do is to let her know.”

“In other words, I can’t protect her from hurt, even if it’s coming from me?”

“No, you can’t. You can let her down easy though.” She picked up her backpack. “I’m going to Rocky Springs. I’m afraid Colton snowed us.”

“What do you mean?”

Linc listened as she filled him in, including that Peyton’s parents had confirmed he was home. She finished with the information the boys gave her about Colton. “He gave Hannah the marijuana.”

“You’re kidding. He lied to us.”

“I know it’s hard to believe. I really felt sorry for him.” She picked up her backpack. “I’m going to talk to him.”

“I can go with you, that is, if you want me to,” he said.

“Don’t you have to work?” she asked.

“Emma’s here. She’ll take care of the tours. We can go in my Tahoe and on the way home check on your truck. And you can leave Cora’s car here.”

“That sounds like a winner. Driving that station wagon is like driving a tank.” She would be happy to get her pickup back tomorrow.

Soon they were turning onto the Trace for the forty-five-minutedrive. Neither of them spoke, but it was a comfortable silence. Her cell phone broke the quiet. “It’s Sam.” She swiped the answer button and put the call on speaker. “You got my message?”

“Yeah. I was by Rocky Springs an hour and a half ago, and the Masons’ camper was still there,” he said.

“Good. We just left Natchez headed that way to talk to Colton. Can you meet us at Rocky Springs?”

“Sure. You’ll get there before I do—I’m up near Jackson about fifty minutes away.”

“We’ll wait for you.” Ainsley hung up and leaned against the seat. She was so tired.

“Did you talk to your dad today?”

“No. You?”

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