Page 118 of Fatal Witness

“Yeah. Coming.” He hopped back in the SUV. “Wish I’d asked you to drive through,” he said as he pulled through the gate and stopped.

“I’ll get the gate this time,” she said.

“Wait!”

But it was too late—she’d hopped out before he could stop her.He scrambled out, scanning the area again. And again, everything seemed fine.

Dani frowned when she saw he’d gotten out of the truck. “Did you think I couldn’t do it?”

“Didn’t think that at all.” He couldn’t shake the anxiousness that had settled on his shoulders.

“Then why are you checking the lock?”

“Sometimes it doesn’t catch.”

Once they were back in his SUV, he relaxed a little and drove to the far side of his uncle’s land. “One day I hope my uncle gets an automatic gate.”

“Do you come out here often?”

“Not really. When I do, it’s usually to see my aunt and uncle. The entrance to their house is about a quarter mile up the road—don’t have to go through the gate for that.”

He wound around the pasture road to the river and was surprised to see saplings growing where only grass had been in the past. “My uncle must’ve quit bush hogging along the riverbank.”

“How long has it been since you’ve been down here?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “A couple of years, or five.”

“A place can change in that length of time.”

His uncle was getting older. Mark made a mental note to check and see if he needed help with the farm. He parked the SUV at the edge of the trees and let Gem out of her harness after they got out. She sat and looked expectantly at Mark. “Free,” he said, and she bounded toward the trees and river. “She remembers being here,” he said, laughing. “Let’s see if we can catch up with her.”

The sun was warm, and the scent of damp earth and green grass floated on a breeze out of the south.

“It’s so peaceful here,” Dani said when they’d been walking a few minutes. “Thank you.”

“Maybe you can enjoy a little bit of tranquility since it doesn’t look like there’ll be any rock skipping.” He swept his hand tothe left. “There used to be a sandy beach here. We’d bring our girlfriends and have picnics, spend the day, maybe even have a bonfire after it got dark.”

“So, you haven’t always been anti-dating?”

Mark bristled. “I’m not—” The twinkle in her eye stopped him short, and he chuckled. “You like to push my buttons, don’t you?”

“Hmm. Maybe. What do we do here?” she asked when they came to a ditch with water.

“This.” He jumped it, then held out his hand.

“No way. You’d probably let go and I’d fall in.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.” She laughed and jumped it as well. Then she looked around. “How do you get to the river? There’s water everywhere.”

He hadn’t realized that the recent rains had overflowed the banks of the river, leaving ponds of water. “We probably should go back to the SUV.”

“We can walk the log.” She pointed to a tree that had fallen across the water in front of them. “Last one across is a rotten egg.”

Dani hopped up on the fallen tree, and using her arms for balance, she practically flew to the other side of the water. “Coming?” she asked, looking back at him.

Mark followed suit, and when he reached her, she asked, “Where’s the river?”

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