Page 104 of Fatal Witness

Ben’s voice ... a brief memory ... Dani turned to him. “Were you friends with my parents?”

He shifted his gaze to her. “I knew them, of course. I mean, in a town this small, you tend to know everyone. Your mom was a great cook.”

“How about my dad?”

The mayor shrugged. “I hate to admit it, but back then I hung out at the pool hall a little too much, so I knew him. I wouldn’t say we were friends, though.” He checked his watch. “It’s getting late. I have an appointment with a client.”

“I need to leave as well,” Morgan said. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you, Alex.”

“I’ll let you know something later this afternoon.”

Alex would agree. Dani knew it. And it was a mistake—she felt it in her bones.

51

The next morning, traffic was light on the main road out of Pearl Springs. Even so, Dani noticed as Mark kept checking his rearview mirror. She glanced over her shoulder at Gem buckled into a harness in the backseat. “Will Gem be okay like that?”

“Yeah. But I’ll be glad to get the Expedition back with her crate.”

“Do you know how long it’ll take to repair it?”

“Depends on how long they have to wait on the parts. One of the bullets took out the radiator.” He snapped his fingers. “Look in the console. I have something there for you.”

“What is it?”

“Look and see.”

She opened the console and took out a package. A flip phone? “Oh! Thank you!”

“I remember you saying you hated the smartphone. This is actually a burner. You have to buy minutes, but at least it’s not something new for you to learn right now.”

The phone was just like the one she’d had before Keith gave her the smartphone. Dani turned toward him in the passenger seat. “What do you think about Morgan’s idea?”

“I’m against it. You?”

Mark had taken patrol yesterday afternoon and evening, and they hadn’t had a chance to discuss the subject. “I have a bad feeling about it. This person plays for keeps.”

“I agree.” He checked his mirrors again.

She glanced in the side mirror. Alex followed in her SUV, and Hayes and another deputy were behind her—they looked like a caravan.

“Morgan will be at the briefing this afternoon.”

“Alex told me.” Sweat bloomed on Dani’s palms as Mark turned off the main road onto a road barely wide enough for two cars to meet. Going to the place where she grew up was harder than she expected.

On her side of the road, a narrow shoulder gave way to steep drop-offs. On Mark’s side, huge oaks and hickories butted up to the gravel. If they met another car, someone would have to back up.

“I haven’t been over this way in a while,” Mark said. “I’m glad to see the county is keeping the road passable. I think the house is only about a mile away.”

The image of a neat, white plank house popped into her mind. “Is my parents’ house the only one on the road?”

He shook his head. “There are several cabins beyond their place that people rent, usually in the summer and fall.”

“That’s probably why the road is this good.”

“Yeah.”

Dani stared out the window, looking for anything that seemed like it didn’t belong. She didn’t think the shooter would attempt an attack with four deputies present, but after Saturday’s encounter, she couldn’t keep from being a little nervous.

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