Page 9 of Deadly Revenge

“We have a TBI agent interested in our little picnic where Carter is speaking, and now one of the men on the city council when he was mayor is dead ...” Holliday scratched his head. “And there’s Paul Nelson too.”

“Who’s Paul Nelson?” Max asked.

“He was a member of the city council same time Carter was mayor,” Martin said.

“I don’t understand.”

“He comes to Pete’s for morning coffee just like clockwork, sits in a corner by himself, and he didn’t show up today,” Holliday said. “Wonder if his car went off a cliff too?”

4

The sun beat down even hotter as Jenna trudged back up the hill toward the house. She was second-guessing her offer to Wayne as she searched for the nut that may or may not have come off of the Hummer and landed on the side of the road.

She was also second-guessing her instincts. The accident was probably just that—an accident. She straightened up and stretched her back. Second-guessing wasn’t her only problem. Without Wayne as a distraction, her thoughts kept wandering to Max.

He’d looked hot today. And she wasn’t thinking about the temperature.

Where had that come from? She quickly squashed the thought and couldn’t believe she’d even had it. Not after the way he’d kissed her and then never called.

She focused on the side of the road, but her thoughts were soon back to Max. Next to Alex, he was the best boss she’d ever had. Even if he had expected more of her than others in their department. At the time she’d appreciated it, since she was on a fast track to make lieutenant.

And if Jenna was honest with herself, she would admit she’dbeen attracted to Max, and she’d trusted him ... until he didn’t call her.Just stop it!Max was in her past, a past she’d vowed to never repeat, especially after the disaster with her ex-fiancé, Phillip Ross.

She would be crazy to ever trust a man again. Just do your job. Find the castle nut if it’s here.Jenna renewed her search, and a few minutes later the sun glinted off something silver. She bent down for a closer look.

Yes!She’d found it! Jenna pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves and picked it up by the edges. She shaded her eyes and examined the nut. It didn’t look wallowed out and certainly not stripped, but she couldn’t tell if it’d been tampered with. They would have to send it off to a forensic lab to find that out.

She dropped it in a small evidence bag and turned to survey the road. When she worked with her dad on his old cars, sometimes they had to take a hammer to the tie-rod to get it loose. If the nut belonged to the Hummer, and this was where it worked loose, the tie-rod wouldn’t necessarily have come out of the wheel joint at this point. Her gaze landed on a pothole ten feet from where the vehicle veered off the road. That hole would do it.

“Okay,” she muttered out loud. The cotter pin would’ve come out first, so it should be between where she found the nut and the house.

She inched toward the house with renewed energy, scouring the limestone rock on the side of the road for metal. Her gaze landed on a thin piece of metal, and she stooped closer to the ground.

Just a nail. Jenna sighed. The pin could be anywhere ... or nowhere.

No. Her instincts whispered that the bolt on the tie-rod would’ve been stripped if the nut came off when the vehicle went over the cliff. She kept walking and searching.

A good eighth of a mile farther, she blinked and looked again.This time it wasn’t a nail. A dull gray pin lay on top of the gravel. She picked it up and examined it. It was a cotter pin all right, but it wasn’t shiny like the castle nut.

Red flags waved crazy in her head. Finding the pin and nut was too easy—it was like someone wanted them found. To cover up what actually happened? From the get-go the tie-rod coming loose on a practically new vehicle never made sense.

She turned and stared toward the house. Jenna had overheard one of the other deputies say he’d seen Slater in town yesterday. What if someone tampered with Joe Slater’s Hummer last night?

A car pulled into the Slaters’ drive. Alex had said the sister was coming to let her in the garage—maybe it was her. Jenna quickly texted Wayne, suggesting he return to the sheriff’s office, that she would see him there. That done, she picked up her pace. Jenna didn’t want the sister to leave before she got into the garage. What had Alex said her name was? Freeman. Emma Freeman.

She received a thumbs-up from Wayne just as she reached the drive. Good. As she approached, the woman stepped out of a white Lexus and stood, staring at the house. She turned as Jenna approached.

“Ms. Freeman. I’m Deputy Jenna Hart.” She pulled off the sweaty gloves.

The older woman dipped her head. “Call me Emma.”

“Thank you,” Jenna said. “I didn’t know your brother and sister-in-law, but I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Emma Freeman dabbed a tissue at her red eyes, smearing mascara on her cheek. “I still can’t believe they’re gone.” She took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “The wreck was an accident ... I don’t understand why you need to get into the house.”

“Actually, I need access to the garage as well.”

“The garage ... why?”

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