Page 32 of Fatal Witness

On the bright side, if her phone was dead, Keith couldn’t track or call her. She checked her watch. Almost nine. It didn’t get completely dark in Montana until tenish. Couldn’t be that much different in Pearl Springs. Why not scope out where Mae lived? She’d looked up Mae Richmond and had her address.

According to her research, the address was located only about 15 miles from Pearl Springs. What was 15 miles when she’d already driven 350 today? She could drive up on the mountain, find the house, and be back by dark. Dani wouldn’t attempt to contact her. No way would she just drop in without a warning even though she was certain Mae—she still didn’t think of her as her grandmother—was anxious to meet her.

Half an hour later, Dani groaned. For the second time since leaving Cincinnati, she was lost and was beginning to agree with her uncle that she had no sense of direction at all. She’d made awrong turn on one of the little side roads, and by the time she made it back to the main road, the Navigator’s GPS had told her it was “recalculating” at least ten times.

She stared at the dashboard. The GPS map indicated Mae’s house was within three hundred feet. Dani glanced around at the deepening shadows. Night had come faster than she’d anticipated, and it would soon be totally dark. She should head back to the hotel. But three hundred feet? It wouldn’t take five minutes to see if the GPS was lying. Again.

She turned left and inched up the mountain road in the dusky light. These mountains were not like Montana’s where she could see forever. Here she couldn’t see around the bend. And the occasional sign reminding motorists of falling rocks had been a little bit scary.

Her car lights automatically came on and swept across a drive. Could that be it? At the last second, she whipped into the drive just as an outside light illuminated a small plank house in the dusky twilight. A house she’d seen before—she just couldn’t remember where or when.

“I believe this is it,” Dani replied softly. A sense of home settled in her heart. Except ... the house was dark. Either no one was home or it was the wrong house and no one lived here.

She’d plugged her phone in earlier, and once she found Mark’s number, Dani tapped on it. Call failed. Oh, great.No cell reception. She sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel. Lizi whined from the backseat. Might as well get out and at least let the Puli get rid of some of her energy.

When she returned to the hotel, she would do what she should have done in the first place—locate Mark Lassiter and let him handle the details.

If only Dani could remember her grandmother, but when she tried, all she got was the face she’d drawn the other day. Other than that, she drew a blank. Just like when she tried to rememberher parents. Maybe when she came face-to-face with Mae, everything would become clear.

Dani climbed out of the Navigator and opened the back passenger door. Lizi bounded from the SUV and circled it until something in the leaves moved. A squirrel. Dani couldn’t keep from laughing as the chase was on. Why hadn’t she hooked Lizi’s leash to her collar?

“Come,” she called softly so as not to disturb anyone in the house.

The Puli hesitated, and the squirrel made a run for a tree near the house. Lizi dashed after it. With a sigh, Dani grabbed the leash and unplugged her phone from the charger. She stuck it in her back pocket in case she ever got cell service, and hurried up the hill after her dog.

When she reached the tree, she snapped the leash on Lizi. “Maybe another time,” she said, still keeping her voice soft, even though no one appeared to be home.

Just as she reached for a post on the porch to steady herself, a crash came from an outside building a hundred yards away, and she whirled toward it as a growl came from Lizi’s throat. Before she could hide, someone eased from the building.

The intruder stopped when he saw her. She strained to see his face, but in the dim light and distance, his large frame was only a silhouette.

He pulled something from his waist band. Not something. A gun.

The report sent her diving to the ground, taking Lizi with her as a bullet buried into the post. “No,” she whispered when Lizi growled again. “Stay!”

The Puli remained tense but didn’t move. Dani fished her phone from her back pocket and punched in 911. Failed call.

She scanned the area. Another bullet kicked up dirt behindthem. Dani looked for a better place to hide. A line of trees and brush was about fifteen feet away from the corner of the house.

If they could make it to the back of the house, it would block the shooter’s view. Then they could make a run for the trees and disappear into the mountain. But what if they got lost?

Lost was better than dead.

Dani crouched and duck-walked to the back of the house with Lizi by her side. No more shots came. The shooter was probably on the move too.

Dani dashed to the tree line with Lizi on her heels, then they slipped farther into the woods. A hundred yards into the trees, and darkness closed around them. She cocked her ear, listening for their assailant. A twig snapped behind her. Before she could move, a hand covered her mouth.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but be quiet.”

Her first impulse was to fight, but something about the way he spoke made her hesitate. She nodded, and his grip loosened.

“I’m a deputy for the Russell County Sheriff’s Office. Stay here.”

While she’d only heard him speak once, she was certain it was Mark. He didn’t have to tell her twice. But once he was gone, his absence left her shaking. Lizi pressed against her leg. She knelt beside the dog. “It’s going to be okay.”

But would it? Why was someone shooting at her? It had to be because the person had been breaking into her grandmother’s building and she’d seen him, and not because of her past. Still, her uncle’s voice echoed in her head.“Your past is best left alone.”

Resistance stirred in her heart. Keith wasn’t always right. If only she could remember what happened the night her parents died. Buried somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind was another life.

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