Page 111 of Deadly Revenge

“This is personal,” Jenna said quietly. “It has to be Sebastian.”

“Not necessarily—it could be related to the Slater and Nelson cases ... and Alex said Tuesday that a burglary ring had been operating in the county. Maybe the house was dark and they—”

“Burglary rings aren’t usually violent—they just want in and out with goods.”

“But what if your dad walked in on them?”

He had a point. “I’ll keep that in mind, but my money is on Sebastian.”

“Alex isn’t going to let you work this case—it’s your dad we’re talking about.”

“She can’t take me off. It’s probably my fault he’s been taken.” Jenna glared at Max. “I told you Sebastian was here, but you didn’t believe me.”

“We don’t know who took your dad.” He looked over his shoulder as the sirens died.

“Alex can’t stop me from investigating this,” Jenna said stubbornly.

“You know that’s not a good idea.”

“What’s not a good idea?” Alex had come in through the front door. Dylan and Taylor trailed her. “And which room was he taken from?”

“I’ll show them,” Max said and led the way to the den.

“You can’t take me off this case,” Jenna said. “We’re already shorthanded with Mark in Kentucky and Hayes Smithfield at the training academy.”

Her boss studied Jenna like she was a grasshopper pinned to a board in science class.

Jenna forced herself not to look away. “You need me, and I’ll go crazy just sitting around waiting.”

Alex nodded. “Mark will be back at work Saturday. You can stay on the case until then.”

Tension released in Jenna’s shoulders. “Thank you.”

Alex took out a notebook. “Don’t thank me—it’s against my better judgment, but you’re right about us being shorthanded.”

Max returned to the kitchen, and Alex shifted her attention to him. “Can you help us out on this?”

He nodded. “The kidnapping very well could be related to the case that brought me down here.”

“Harrison Carter? How do you think it’s related?”

“I think the other three deaths this week are connected to the letter Carter received, which I believe is related to the eminent domain cases from the dam and reservoir. Jenna’s family was a part of that, plus, her dad delivers the mail—maybe he saw something.”

“That what you think?” Alex asked Jenna.

She shook her head. “I think it’s more likely that Rick Sebastian is here in Russell County, and he kidnapped my dad to get back at me.”

Sebastian wasn’t the only one with a vendetta against her. What if her ex-fiancé was involved as well? Maybe he wanted to trade her dad for whatever evidence she had against him.

“What’s on your agenda tomorrow?” Alex asked.

“Checking out the names and addresses of people who sold to TerraQuest,” Max said. “And the funeral for the Slaters. Has anyone said when Paul Nelson’s funeral will be—we need to go to that one as well.”

“His body hasn’t been released—it’ll probably be Monday at the earliest.”

“I want to interview Eric Darby again,” Jenna added. “I think he knows something he isn’t telling. Maybe my dad’s kidnapping will be the thing that loosens his tongue.”

Alex scribbled something in her notepad and looked up. “Go ahead and interview the people on your list, and see if you can get any information out of Darby. I’ll personally run the investigation into your dad’s disappearance.”

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