Page 125 of Fatal Witness

“Nitro pills ... bottle...” Mr. Peterson held out the amber bottle.

Mark grabbed the bottle and shook out a small white pill. While Peterson put it under his tongue, Mark called dispatch and asked for an ambulance to the grocery store. Then he asked for her to send deputies to the Stones’ house.

“Can you go? I’ve dispatched every available deputy we have to a tractor-trailer accident on the highway.”

He stared at the old man. He’d turned ashen, and sweat beaded his face. If Mark left him and he died...

The bell over the door jingled.

“Mr. Peterson?”

Judith Stone’s voice was like an angel’s. Mark looked over her shoulder. Carson and Mae were with her. “Behind the counter. He’s having a heart attack.” Mark stood and ran for the door. “There’s an intruder at your house.”

“Go!” Carson knelt beside Peterson. “We’ll take care of this.”

Mark raced for his SUV. He’d been counting on Carson being at the house. What if he was too late?

60

They were halfway to Pearl Springs when Nathan’s phone rang, then Alex’s. She glanced at the ID on her SUV screen. Marge. She wouldn’t call unless it was important. Alex answered her phone and listened as her dispatcher advised her that she’d dispatched all the available deputies to handle a tractor-trailer accident on the highway. “Good call. I should be at the location soon.”

As the call ended, she overheard Nathan tell his dispatcher the same thing.

“Sounds bad,” he said after he hung up.

She nodded as her phone rang again. Alex answered on the hands-free as she flipped on her flashing lights.

“This is Crystal Davis,” the voice on the other end said. “Is this Alex Stone?”

“Yes,” she responded. “Did you remember something?”

“No ... but I can’t lie anymore ...”

“Go ahead.”

“Okay,” she said and took a deep breath. “The day after his boss called and fired him, Kyle got really angry. He said if this Mitchell guy was involved, that meant somebody named Bobby Bennett was behind it, and they’d set him up to take the fall. Hetore out of my house, said he was going to Pearl Springs and find out what was going on. But then his car had a flat, and he made me let him use my car. He was so angry, I didn’t want him to go, but I couldn’t stop him.

“When he got back, he was scared, kept saying ‘They’re dead.’ Then he told me I had to give him an alibi. I didn’t want to, but he said if I didn’t, he’d file a report to child protective services that I was doing drugs around my daughter. I wasn’t, but social services tend to act first and investigate later. I couldn’t risk losing my daughter.

“And to tell you the truth, I was afraid of Kyle, still am. He’s crazy when he gets mad.”

Alex braked as traffic slowed in front of her, then she pulled off onto the shoulder. “Thank you for telling us now.”

A number beeped in on the call. Mark.

“Crystal, can we talk later? I have another call I need to take.”

Crystal agreed and Alex switched the call over. “Mark, I need you to—”

“Where are you? I need backup. Dani texted there’s an intruder at your house!”

Her heart sank. All of her deputies except the one at the house were tied up. “Everyone’s caught up in an accident on the highway,” Alex said. “Nathan is with me, and we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“I’m almost there. Get here ASAP!”

61

Lizi stood, and a low growl came from her throat. Dani cocked her ear toward the kitchen. She was pretty sure she’d heard the funny noise the back door made when it was opened. She checked her watch. Judith had gotten a call from Mr. Peterson about an unsigned check she’d written, and she and Carson had headed to the store.

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