Page 57 of Counter Attack

Gram didn’t respond right away. Instead, she poured herself a cup of coffee and joined Alex at the table. “You’re thinking about the girl who was killed yesterday?”

“And all the others. What I read this morning said that God would direct me, so why doesn’t he show me who the killer is?”

Her grandmother stared down into her coffee, then she raised her gaze to Alex’s. “Have you asked him for help?”

The question took Alex’s breath. “No ... but why would I have to? If he knows everything—”

Gram raised her hand. “I wish I had an answer to your question. It’s a question that’s been asked since Eve ate the apple. Job, David, Solomon ... But there are a few things I do know. God hates it when someone is murdered. And he wants justice for that person. Next time you’re looking at the evidence, ask him for his help. And then pay attention.”

“It’s what I always did.” Her grandfather’s walker bumped the door as he slowly entered the kitchen.

Gram stood. “I didn’t hear you. Sit down, and I’ll bring your coffee.”

It surprised Alex that he was using the walker since he hadn’t used it last night.

“I hate using this thing, but I woke up kind of dizzy.”

“I hope it wasn’t because of what happened last night.”

He gripped the walker. “It would have been my fault if something had happened to you last night. Not once, but twice.”

Alex froze. She hadn’t told him about someone taking control of her SUV. “How—”

“Harvey called me when it happened.”

She would have a talk with Harvey. Her grandfather didn’t need to know every little thing that happened.

“Don’t be too hard on him.”

Alex had to work on her poker face. “I don’t need him running to you every time something happens.”

“That’s neither here nor there. Right now we need to focus on catching whoever is responsible, not just for that, but yesterday’s murder as well.”

That she agreed with. “I don’t know what I’m missing.”

“It’s obvious the killer has a grudge against you. Maybe I’ll find something in one of your cases.”

“I’ve never arrested anyone for something that would arouse this kind of anger.”

She took a sip of coffee and made a face. Alex did not like cold coffee even when it was supposed to be cold. She took her mug to the microwave to nuke the liquid.

“I’ll call Chattanooga PD this morning and ask them to email you the files on all my cases,” she said when she returned to her seat across from her grandfather.

“Good.” He tapped his finger on the table. “Before I wentto sleep, I thought about the man you shot and killed a couple of years ago.”

“Phillip Denton? As far as I know, the detectives who handled the case never found any family connected to him, and that was true as of last night when I asked Madden about him.” She checked her watch. “If I don’t leave right now, I’ll be late for my first briefing.”

An hour later, Alex faced her deputies. It would be a full briefing with Gina Norman’s murder, the issue with her SUV, and the shooting. She dispensed with the SUV issue by asking Dylan and Taylor to meet with her privately at one thirty to discuss what they’d learned. Alex started with the shooting at her grandfather’s house, leaving Gina Norman’s murder to last.

“Taylor, what do you have?” As soon as it was daylight, the CSI had returned to the house to search for more evidence.

Taylor gave her report, which consisted of digging a badly misshapen slug from the wooden column on the patio outside Alex’s bedroom.

“Did you find any casings?”

Taylor nodded. “This morning I found three—.308 and probably fired from a Winchester rifle, which unfortunately around here is as common as pickup trucks. And you were right about the location where the shooter’s vehicle had been parked,” she said. “Fresh tire marks were laid down on the next street over. When I left, a couple of deputies were canvassing the neighborhood to talk to the people we missed last night.”

One of the deputies who’d been at the house spoke up. “I went door-to-door last night, and one person said they looked out when the vehicle scratched off, but it was too dark to see what kind of car or truck it was. I’m going back to the neighborhood to knock on doors again.”

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