Page 49 of Deadly Revenge

“Not really. I took a criminal justice class and that hooked me. Then the Chattanooga Police Department ran a hiring campaign, and I joined up.”

Funny how they’d worked together for over a year, but they’d never discussed why she became a cop.

“How about you?” she asked.

He sat a little straighter. “I’m a third-generation cop. My dad and grandfather both were Nashville officers. My grandfather was a patrol cop, and Dad worked his way up to captain.”

“Why didn’t you become a Nashville policeman?”

“I was afraid of people thinking I got preferential treatment because he was a captain ... besides, one Maxwell Anderson in Nashville PD is enough.”

She turned toward him. “You’re a junior?”

Max laughed. “No. They gave me Dad’s first name and my grandfather’s middle—Maxwell James Anderson.” SomethingJenna said raised questions in his mind. “You said your dad was against the dam being built. I’m getting the impression the dam created a lot of controversy.”

“That would be understating it. The surveyors were threatened, one was even shot at. But it didn’t stop the dam from being built.”

“We need to research those years in the newspaper archives.”

“Turn right in 600 feet,”the GPS intoned.

A weathered mailbox came into view, but with no number on it. Max peered at the dense overgrowth that encroached the road and turned to Jenna. “Do you see a drive?”

“Not yet.” She stared at the property. “See if the drive is around the curve.”

Max eased the truck down the road.

“There it is.” Jenna pointed to a lane barely wide enough for their vehicle. “Something tells me that when we get to the house, I better go to the door. He might not talk to us at all if he sees you.”

“You say he wasn’t always this way?”

“Not when I was a little girl. He was really kind and friendly.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “He used to hunt with my dad and uncle, and I have a memory of them being worried about him becoming a hermit.”

Max turned into the gravel drive and braked a hundred feet in. A six-foot gate connected to an equally tall fence blocked them. “He’s serious about no one talking to him.”

“I thought everyone was exaggerating.” Jenna opened her door. “Let me see if I can open it.”

He lowered his window as Jenna climbed out of the truck and walked to the wrought-iron gate. “Locked,” she called. “I’m going to see how far this fence goes.”

Surely not all the way around his property—it’d cost a fortune. Max climbed out of the truck. “I’ll go with you.”

She opened her mouth to say something but instead nodded. “Suit yourself.”

It wasn’t long before the metal fence turned to barbed wire. “We can crawl through here.”

He reached to hold the top wire up.

“Wait! It may be hot.”

Max didn’t see any conductors. “How can you tell?”

“Give me a sec.” Jenna pulled up a blade of grass and laid it on the wire. She slowly moved the grass over the wire, stopping when her hand was a couple of inches from the wire. She jerked her hand back. “Yep, it’s hot, all right, but I think I can scoot under it.”

“Hold on a minute.” He picked up a dead limb and used it to lift the bottom wire. “Now.”

She gave him a thumbs-up. “Good thinking.”

Jenna lay on her back and wiggled under the wire. Once she was on the other side, she held it up for him.

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