Page 90 of Deadly Revenge

“Twenty-five.”

“Hundred?”

“You don’t think I meant twenty-five dollars, do you?”

“Of course not.” Max ran the prices his brother got for his young dogs through his mind. Comparable. He pulled a card from his wallet and handed it to Jenna’s uncle. “Call me when you’re ready to sell.”

Sam stuck the card in a wallet bulging with other cards. “Sure,” he said and checked his watch. “Tell my mother I’ll drop by later this afternoon.”

“What time tomorrow night?”

“Ten. Jenna will know where.”

Another short night of sleep, but they couldn’t miss this opportunity to talk to the ones displaced by the dam and reservoir in a relaxed setting.

45

“We’re doing what?” Jenna braked at the end of her grandmother’s drive and stared at Max.

“Your uncle invited me—us—to join him and his buddies on a dog training session tomorrow night.”

“How ...” She looked to see if somehow Max had sprouted two heads—that was the only way she knew he could’ve elicited an invitation from Sam like that. “How in the world did that come about?”

Jenna pulled out of the drive and followed the GPS directions as he related the conversation about Sam knowing Max’s brother who was a dog trainer and Max showing an interest in one of her uncle’s dogs. It made sense in a convoluted way. “Good. It’ll save us some time running down some of the landowners, and with Sam’s invitation, they’ll come nearer accepting you.”

“My thoughts exactly. And Sam said neither he nor your dad killed Paul Nelson.”

“You asked him that and he answered?”

“Yes and yes. Seemed to be telling the truth.”

Jenna turned the words over in her mind, amazed her uncle hadn’t blown up. “Are you really interested in Sam’s dog?”

“Actually, I am. My brother has been trying to get me involvedsince I moved back home—it’s a hobby that would give us an opportunity to spend time together,” he said. “Oh, and I sort of let Sam think my brother and I have a rivalry.”

“Gotcha,” Jenna said with a laugh. “How is Lewis?”

“Good. Between training his dogs and his job and my job, I don’t see much of him—it’s one reason he wants me to hunt with him.”

She’d met Lewis when she worked with Max in robbery, and he was one of the most laid-back men she knew. Jenna checked her phone. Alex had sent the address of one of the families TerraQuest had bought out, and it wasn’t too far from the Bishop farm. “Ready to check on Ace and talk to Kirk and his grandfather? See if any more of those rough characters have shown up next door?”

“Sure. I hope the boy has stayed away from the river. I’d hate for him to tangle with the person who attacked me.”

“Me too.” The memory of finding Max unconscious sent a chill through her. “While we’re in that area, we could stop by and see if Eric Darby will give us a little more information.”

“That’ll be a waste of time. Darby will come to us if he decides to talk. Our time would be better spent researching the newspaper archives.”

Max was probably right. Jenna followed the GPS directions, and soon they turned into a drive with a modest, ranch-style house. A tricycle and jungle gym in the side yard indicated a family with small children. “I don’t see any vehicles.”

“I’ll go see if anyone is home and leave a note on the door if they’re not.”

She watched as he jogged to the house and left a note when no one answered his knock.

“Maybe they’ll call when they read the note,” he said. “Although whoever lives here is probably young—I doubt they can tell us much about TerraQuest.”

That’s the way it went with investigations. A lot of time spentknocking on doors with zero results. Maybe the Bishops had seen something at the farm next to them. She backed out of the drive and drove to the barn, where they found Kirk at the stables, cleaning bridles. “Miss Jenna! Are you going to ride?”

She tousled the boy’s red hair. “I don’t have time to ride today. How much do I owe you for taking care of Ace?”

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