Page 84 of Fatal Witness

“I told your K-9 officer what I know.”

“Where does he go when he doesn’t want to be found?”

“He likes to hunt and fish when he’s not at the pool hall or bar.”

“Where does he do that?”

“Pearl Lake for fishing, and any place around here that doesn’t have a ‘No Hunting’ sign.”

“And when he’s not at any of those places?”

“Sometimes he hangs out at the county airport.”

“Why would he hang out there?”

“You’d have to ask him.”

Her cell phone dinged with a text. Nathan. He was leaving his office for the diner, and Peterson was stonewalling her. Her time would be better spent brainstorming with the police chief. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Peterson. I’ll come back later and talk to Kyle.”

“Anytime, Chief Deputy,” the grocer said.

She nodded and walked to the door. Mr. Peterson was hiding something or protecting someone. Alex didn’t know if it was Toby or Kyle. Or both.

40

Mark’s heart hurt for Dani. If she only knew what God could do for her, the peace he could give her. That peace was what got him past Afghanistan and what happened there. He wanted Dani to have the same peace.

But it was more than that. Dani pulled at his heartstrings in a way no other woman had, not since Jolie. Mark brought himself up short. He couldn’t go there with Dani—she was depending on him to protect her. Mark needed to get his head in the game.

He checked his mirror. Where was his backup? “Do you see Hayes?”

“What?”

“The deputy. He was behind us when we went into that last curve.” He handed his phone to Dani. “Call Hayes—he’s in Favorites. See where he is.”

“There’s—”

His side window exploded. Mark barely heard the buzz before cracked glass spiderwebbed across his windshield. He slammed on the brakes.

Dani screamed, and the phone flew from her hand. Another bullet took out their back window, barely missing her. “Get down and stay there!”

They were sitting ducks on the road, and someone was using them for target practice. Mark floored the gas pedal, shooting the SUV forward. The steering wheel jerked to the left when a tire exploded. Another bullet took out a back tire.

With his heart thumping like a kettle drum on steroids, he manhandled the SUV to the side of the road. “Get out and stay near the motor.” Nothing else would stop a bullet.

She scrambled out of the SUV, and he followed on her side. They knelt near the front of the vehicle. He checked out Dani. Ghostly pale as though every drop of blood had drained from her face—probably the same way he looked. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she croaked.

He’d pulled the SUV off the road next to the metal railing that kept motorists from plunging into the deep gorge below. “Where’s my phone?”

“On the floorboard. But there’s no signal—I was trying to tell you when all of this happened.”

He sidled around her, opened the door, and grabbed his phone.Where is the shooter?The bullets had come from the west, and he turned and scanned the mountains. Nothing. No sun glinting off metal, no anything. “Stay here. I’ve got to find a signal.”

“I’d feel safer with you.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Stick close.”

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