Page 132 of Deadly Revenge

Jenna reached to take his arm, and the older man pulled away. “I can make it on my own.”

Max hid a grin. He was an independent old cuss. They sat around the table, Darby taking the seat Max usually sat at—against the wall where he could see if anyone came through the doors.

Jenna yawned. “Would anyone like coffee?”

“Appreciate it,” Darby repeated.

While she made a pot of coffee, Max filled a bowl with water and set it on the floor.

Bear looked up at Darby, and after he nodded, the dog cautiously approached the bowl and looked back at his owner. “Go ahead,” he said. “That’s why he ain’t dead.”

Max watched as the dog lapped the water. “Tell us exactly what happened.”

“Mind if I wait on the coffee? That’ll give me time to straighten out my mind.”

His story, his timing. “Sure.”

When Jenna handed him a steaming mug, Darby’s brow wrinkled. “Your dad ... have you found him?”

“We have, and he’ll be all right.”

“Good.” His forehead smoothed, then he sipped the brown liquid and nodded. “That’s good—tastes almost as good as my perked.”

Max locked his fingers on the table and leaned forward. “What happened, Mr. Darby?”

The older man took a deep breath and released it. “Like I said,Bear was barking, and after he quit, I waited a bit and watched out the window to make sure nobody was there. When I finally walked around the house, I found a pack of ground beef at the side of the house.”

He took another sip of coffee and stared into space, the muscle in his jaw working furiously. “The sorry no-goods had put poison in it.”

“How do you know?”

Darby looked at Max like he’d lost his mind. “You find a bunch of ground beef on your property with white powder all over it—what are you going to think?”

He hadn’t mentioned the white substance. “Did you bring it?”

“It’s in my truck.”

“Good. I’ll have it analyzed.” He turned to Jenna. “Unless you have someone local who can run the test.”

She shook her head. “TBI would be quicker.”

“Be surprised if it isn’t rat poison.” Darby’s jaw clenched as he rubbed Bear’s head. “If they’d killed him ...”

“Why is someone targeting you?”

He dropped his gaze to the coffee mug gripped in his hands. Neither Jenna nor Max spoke, letting the silence weigh on the old man. When he raised his head, tears glistened in his eyes. “I overheard something I shouldn’t have.”

When he didn’t continue, Max said, “What was it?”

Darby cleared his throat. “Slater and Nelson were talking to Carter in the mayor’s office. One of them, not sure who, said, ‘We have a problem—Donelson says he’s coming clean about the dam.’”

Darby turned to Max. “You two probably don’t know but Earl Donelson, Todd’s father, was on the city council back when this dam project was hatched. His grandfather had a farm in the valley, and Earl was supposed to talk him into selling.

“But the old man refused and he was influencing a whole slewof others. He threatened to take the case to the Supreme Court if he had to. He meant to block the building of the dam.”

Max frowned. “Why was that such a big deal—people can’t stop a project like that—the state just condemns the land and takes it.”

“’Cause Earl was going to testify that the dam wasn’t needed.”

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