Page 133 of Crosshairs

Wait, there should be thirteen—he’d often teased Blake about the unlucky number. An empty space caught his eye, and Linc used the crutches to hobble in front of the guns.

“What are you doing in here?” Sarah demanded.

“Looking around for old times’ sake.” He turned around. Her face was flushed. “Which one of Blake’s guns is missing?”

“Don’t have a clue. I haven’t been in this room in months. Are you ready? Don’t want the potato salad to spoil.”

With one last look, Linc followed her out of the room and to her car. As he settled himself in the passenger seat, he remembered one of the missing guns. “Blake’s service pistol is missing,” he said.

“You mean his Glock?” she asked. “Pop is probably cleaning it.”

68

Ainsley swung into the hospital parking lot and found a parking space. Cora had been moved to a room in the step-down unit late yesterday and Gran had spent the night with her. She would probably be released in a day or two, barring an unforeseen complication.

As soon as she checked on Cora and Gran, Ainsley planned to interview Drew Kingston, who was on the floor. She wanted to get his statement and wrap up his part in the investigation. She’d tried to interview Drew yesterday, but his dad blocked her. Austin’s argument was the boy needed his rest and didn’t remember anything anyway.

Cora was in a chair by the window facing the wooded area.

“How’s everyone today?” Ainsley asked.

“I’m ready to go home,” Cora grumbled.

“What does the doctor say?”

Gran spoke up. “Maybe later this week, if all her blood work and CT scans are good.”

“They’ll find something wrong with it,” Cora snapped back with a sniff.

Ainsley slipped three leather-bound diaries from her backpack and presented them to Cora. “I believe you’ve been searching for these?”

Her aunt gasped. “Charlotte’s diaries? How? When?”

Ainsley laughed. “One came from your safe—it’s the one with the information you’ve been looking for. Sonny had the other two.”

Her thin fingers caressed the leather. “Have you read them?”

Ainsley nodded. “They have all the information you need to prove Robert Chamberlain didn’t kill his brother-in-law.”

“You’re not going to tell me what it says?”

She smiled. “No, ma’am. I might leave something out.”

Cora turned to Gran. “You’ll have to read to me since I don’t have my glasses, and I can’t see that well anyway since the surgery.”

Ainsley walked to the door. “I need to check on someone. I’ll see you two later.”

Out in the hallway, she took out her phone to call Linc. She’d been meaning to check in with him to see what time she could stop by his house. Her heart thudded in her chest as thoughts of what she wanted to talk about crossed her mind. What if he’d changed his mind about them? After all, the way she’d left it between them hadn’t been encouraging.

She opened her phone and frowned. He’d sent her a text. She hadn’t heard it come in. After she read it, a shadow crossed her heart. It had only been two days since he’d been shot. What was he doing going on a picnic with Sarah Tolliver?

Ainsley was tempted to forget interviewing Drew. A sense of urgency told her to find Linc. No. She was here at the hospital. Get this done and then she could find him.

Drew’s room was around the corner from Cora’s, and she quickly walked to it. The door was partially open, and she knocked before she walked in. The boy was alone and looked as though he was sleeping. She cleared her throat.

His eyes popped open, and he shrank back when he saw someone was in the room.

“Drew, do you remember me? Ainsley Beaumont—I’m a law enforcement ranger.”

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