Page 78 of Fatal Witness

“Ha! He has a weird way of showing it if he does.”

“Trust me,” Gramps said.

“I’ll try him.” She turned to Mark and Dani, who’d been quiet to this point. “When do you two plan to drive to the Bennett place on Eagle Ridge?”

“What?” Mae sat up straighter. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Nonny, I want to go there. Seeing the house might jar loose more memories.”

Mae shook her head. “But will it be safe?”

“I’m sending Deputy Hayes as backup,” Alex said. “And we’ll check Mark’s vehicle for a tracker. That way no one will know where you’re going unless they follow you, and Mark’s good at spotting tails.”

The older woman crossed her arms. “If they’re going, I want to go.”

“No!”

Five nos rang out. Gram’s the most emphatic. “You just had a stroke,” she said. Mae opened her mouth. Gram held up her hand. “Hear me out—I know you think you’ve recovered, but this will be a highly emotional and tiring trip. You don’t need that.”

“But—”

“No buts, Nonny.” Dani turned to Mark. “And I want to stop by this Peterson’s Grocery on the way. There’s something about it that rings a bell.”

“It should,” Judith said. “You kids generally went there every day in the summer.”

Dani’s eyes widened. “The Three Musketeers ... we walked there.” She pointed to Alex. “You, me, and ... Morgan. She has dark hair. Right?”

Alex grinned. “You remembered.”

“Oh!” Mae tapped her hand to her head. “I forgot—Morgan called just before breakfast. She and Ben want to visit later today. I’ll call and let her know to wait until after church tomorrow.”

“Speaking of Ben,” Gramps said, “he and Toby are distantcousins. I remember being surprised that Ben’s dad, Ralph, didn’t take Toby in after his mom died.”

“I don’t know why,” Gram said. “Ralph Tennyson always thought he was better than the Mitchell side. When he discovered Ben was hanging around the pool hall with Toby and Bobby and Keith Bennett, he yanked the whole family up and moved them to Texas.”

Alex jotted notes on her iPad and looked up. “Any chance Ben was involved in the burglary ring?”

“That’s a question that bears looking into,” her grandfather said. “Ralph wouldn’t admit it, but Ben was a little wild back then.”

Alex tapped her pen on the tablet. “I don’t remember any of that.”

“You wouldn’t with Ben being ten years older—he didn’t hang around home much. I’m glad to see he got his priorities straight, though. He’s been a good mayor so far.”

“If Ben was nineteen, Bobby would’ve been eleven years older and Toby even more...” Alex leaned back in her chair. “Why would they let anyone that much younger than them hang around?”

“Good question,” Gramps said.

She looked over her notes and saw one on Ben’s uncle. “How about Craig Tennyson?” Alex turned to Mae. “He was with Ben at the hospital. Do you know him?”

“He was friends with Bobby and Neva, but I probably haven’t seen him more’n ten times since then. As for why he was there, you’ll have to ask Ben that. That day is fuzzy.” She stared down at her hands. “Oh, wait, seems like Ben said they were together when Ben found out I’d had a stroke.”

“Craig moved to Chattanooga about twenty years ago,” her grandfather said. “You say he’s back now?”

Alex nodded. “Opened up a real estate office downtown about three months ago.”

“I’d heard he did real good in real estate in Chattanooga,” he said. “Is this a satellite office?”

“I don’t know. I’ll ask next time I see him.” She put down her pen. “Can you see any of the men we’ve mentioned being involved in the burglary ring? Or even the head of it?”

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