Page 63 of Deadly Revenge

When they reached the bank, she could see that’s what it obviously was. The bank sloped to the sandbar with all sorts of animal tracks.

“Be careful,” she cautioned as Max climbed down on the shelf, then she followed, noticing his shoe prints but no others. She was about to say something when Max pointed to the ground.

“Looks like someone used a branch to sweep the sand,” he said.

Jenna scanned the nearby trees overhanging the bank and noticed a birch tree on the edge of the bank with bark missing at the base of the trunk. “I bet he tied his boat or canoe here.”

Max examined the tree. “Do people normally travel this river? It doesn’t look very deep.”

“It’s deeper than it looks, but a person would have to use something like a kayak or a canoe to navigate the river here. Most people fish from the bank or set out trotlines,” she said. “It’s a good place to catch catfish and largemouth bass. As for people canoeing or kayaking on it, this is the first time I’ve been back here since I returned to Pearl Springs. I don’t know about now, but when I was a kid, those were popular activities.”

“Jenna! Max! Where are you?”

She looked toward the woods. “Sounds like Alex is here.”

Max cupped his hand and yelled, “We’re on the river.”

They quickly retraced their steps and climbed the bank.

“What are you doing by the river?” Before Jenna could answer, Alex shifted her gaze and pointed at Max. “And I thought you were unconscious.”

“He was.” Jenna quickly explained what they thought had happened.

Max nodded toward the river. “Someone was here. We found where he covered his tracks and tied up a boat.”

“He? You know who it was?”

“No, but Jenna said you busted a meth operation not long ago around here.”

“Yeah, in another part of the county,” Alex said. “Maybe whoever attacked you was someone looking to hook up with a drug dealer.”

Jenna shook her head. “If that was the case, he would’ve waited until we left.”

Alex glanced toward the pasture then the wooded area. “Maybe whoever it was didn’t want you to see something, like a boat or a canoe. Did you find anything the CSI team needs to check out?”

Max shook his head. “We searched pretty thoroughly—our guy didn’t leave anything behind.”

Jenna checked her watch. A little after seven. “Bryan grumbles that his grandson is always exploring the woods around here, either on the ATV or horseback—he could’ve seen something.”

“After what happened today,” Max said, “he needs to stay away from here.”

Jenna agreed and would tell Bryan so. She rode back to the barn with Alex while Max trailed behind on the ATV. They found Kirk in one of the stalls helping his grandfather with the other horses in the barn. “Evening, Bryan,” Jenna said, speaking to the older man.

“Evening. Sorry about Ace getting out of his stall.”

She waved off his apology. “It’s happened to me.”

“Did you find Mr. Maxwell?” the boy asked.

“She did,” Max said, coming up behind them. “Thanks for letting me use your ATV. And you’re welcome to call me Max.”

“Why were you gone so long? You said it’d only be for fifteen minutes.”

“Kirk! You know better than to talk to your elders that way.”

“It’s okay,” Max said.

“No, it’s not.”

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