Page 109 of Deadly Revenge

Before she could ask why he was using two trackers, he said, “I’m using Chief to train Watson, and I want to watch and see if they’re staying together.”

Jenna never would have thought of that, but then she’d never trained hunting dogs. She smiled as the dogs danced around, barking to be let free, then she frowned and looked toward the road. It wasn’t like her dad to miss a training run.

Sam hooked a leash on all three dogs and then handed one off to Max and another to Junior. When they reached their usual release spot, he cut them loose. “Go get ’em, boys!”

The other men did the same with their dogs. Sam sat on a downed tree the wind had toppled and took out his handheld receiver. After a few minutes, he said, “Watson is sticking right with Chief.”

Max peered at the receiver. “Think they’ll find a raccoon?”

Sam laughed. “They always find one.”

The other men agreed. “What we don’t want,” Gordon Marsden said soberly, “is for Jenna to find another body.”

“Hey—I didn’t find that one. The dogs did, but don’t worry.Finding another body isn’t on the agenda tonight.” She picked up a stick and poked it around a tree trunk to make sure no critters were burrowed under the leaves. Then she slapped at a mosquito feasting on her neck.

Sudden bugle-like barking grabbed everyone’s attention. “They’ve already got the scent,” her uncle said.

The men listened to the clamor, identifying which bark belonged to which dog. Once the men settled back to wait, Max nodded at her.

He wanted her to take point. Jenna cleared her throat, and they all looked toward her.

“All of you knew the Slaters and Paul Nelson,” she said and scanned the group. “Any of you know who might’ve had it in for them?”

Deadly silence filled the night air. She didn’t rush to fill it. A minute passed. Gordon cleared his throat. “Is that why you’re here? You think it was one of us who killed Nelson?”

She jerked her head around to Gordon. “What?”

“Why would she think that?” Max asked quietly.

“Well,” Todd spoke up, “every one of us thinks the Pearl Springs city council and mayor stole our family land. Me included.”

“Same here,” Junior said. “I mean, nobody died, but my daddy never was the same after they had to move off the land.”

“Losing land that’s been in the family for generations does something to a man,” Gordon said quietly.

“But you fought the case,” Jenna said to Gordon.

“I did, for all the good it did me. By the time I paid my lawyer, I didn’t end up with as much as the government offered the first time.”

“Why do you say the mayor and city council stole your land?” Max said.

“Because they’re the ones who came up with this dam and reservoir idea, and once the land was bought, Slater and Nelsonsuddenly had money to buy expensive cars and clothes,” Sam said, his voice flat.

“How about Carter?” Max asked.

Junior laughed. “He had sense enough not to start spending money. But we all knew he had it.”

“Have any of you ever heard of TerraQuest?” Max asked.

“That was the company that bought up a whole lot of our neighbors’ land before word got out that there was going to be a dam and reservoir,” Gordon said. “I heard they got top dollar from the government for their acreage—more than twice what any of us got.”

“Do you know who owns TerraQuest?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t,” Junior said.

Before anyone else could answer, excited barking captured the men’s attention, and they all jumped up, whooping.

“They found one!” Sam chortled. “And according to the tracker, it looked like Watson was the lead. Come on, let’s go see how big this raccoon is.” He elbowed Max. “Told you he was a good dog!”

---