Page 135 of Crosshairs

She raised her hand just as the door creaked open.

“My goodness, whatever is wrong? Do I know you?”

“It’s Ainsley Beaumont. Can you tell me where Sarah is?”

“I remember you. Such a beautiful voice,” he said.

“Sarah. Where is she?”

He smiled broadly. “She’s on a picnic with my son’s best friend. Do you remember Blake?”

“Yes, sir. Do you know where they went for their picnic?”

He rubbed above his eye. “She told me ... if I can just remember. I think it was at Natchez Lake ... no, she changed it...”

She clenched and unclenched her hands, waiting.

“Oh, of course. They went to my brother’s cabin that borders Natchez Lake.”

“Do you have an address?”

“Oh my ... I suppose it has an address, but I have no idea what it is.”

“How do I get to it?”

“You take the road like you were going to the lake, but when you come to the turnoff, you go straight. Keep going until you come to a gravel crossroad and turn back toward the lake.” He paused for her to type the directions into her phone. “When you get to the cabin, you’ll see a wooden sign nailed to a post with the name Tolliver on it.”

“Is the property in your brother’s name?”

He nodded. “Kenneth Tolliver. But I don’t understand why it’s so important to reach her. She’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“It just is. Thank you,” she said and hurried to her car, then entered Kenneth Tolliver into the app. Just like she figured—no address for a cabin near Natchez Lake.

She put Natchez Lake in her GPS. She’d have to rely on Mr. Tolliver’s directions once she reached the lake, and she hoped they were right. As she pulled away from the house, she phoned Sam Ryker and then added the sheriff to the call.

“I need your help,” she said. “Sarah Tolliver is Drew Kingston’s shooter, and I think she’s going to kill Linc.”

69

They passed the turnoff for Natchez Lake. “We’re not going to the lake?” Linc asked.

Sarah shook her head. “I thought I told you. My uncle has a private lake and cabin on the other side. It’s a much nicer spot to picnic, and there won’t be a lot of people around to bother us.”

After a few miles Sarah turned onto a gravel road. Private meant isolated, and he didn’t like it that no one knew where they were. He took out his phone to text Ainsley. “No signal,” he said. “Does anyone know where we’ll be?”

“Oh, Dad does. Why?”

“I like to plan for contingencies.”

“There won’t be any, you’ll see.” She looked over at him and smiled.

“Watch the road,” he said sharply.

“Oh, you’re just like Blake. Bossy.”

Linc gripped the armrest. “He was a good guy, and I didn’t mean to be bossy.”

“I haven’t been out here since Blake and I came.”

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