Page 223 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“Sorry to have to tell you this, but you deserve to know the truth.”

Becca couldn’t take it all in. She wouldn’t think about this now. “And Robert?” she asked.

“You mean why your grandmother put him in the will?” He shrugged. “You’ll have to ask your grandmother.”

“I will.” Should she tell her grandmother the truth? Becca knew the rest of the family would see it as her trying to ensure her position. Gram deserved to know the truth though.

Greg turned toward the clearing as a man with a bullhorn announced the beginning of the game. “I have to go.” He walked away with a cocky strut.

Becca sighed and passed a hand over her face. “What am I going to do?” she whispered to Saija.

“You can’t believe everything he says,” Saija said. “He likes to stir up trouble.”

“I think he was telling the truth.” Becca took a deep breath. “I can’t think about this now. Let’s focus on my parents’ murder. I wonder if Robert is here?”

“He’s here. I saw him at the refreshment tent.”

“I need to talk to Jake about this. Or Max. I’m not sure I should talk to him alone if he killed my parents.”

“I’ll come with you,” Saija offered.

“Okay, great. Let’s go find him.”

The women wandered through the crowd but found no sign of Robert Jeffries. Becca paused to watch Max take on Jake and some other men in the Pole Climbing Contest. She cheered when Max won. Jake came in fourth which wasn’t bad for someone who had never competed before. The excitement of the contest kept the sick feeling in her stomach at bay.

She wasn’t her father’s daughter. The thought kept pounding through her brain in a litany that nearly drove her mad. She had a feeling this revelation would change things in ways she couldn’t imagine.

Becca snagged a bottle of water from an iced tub near the refreshment tent then left Saija talking to another woman. A path led from the clearing toward a clear stream that ran toward Lake Superior. Becca followed the path to a small cabin.

The sounds of laughter and shouting seemed distant here with the birds chirping above her head and the sound of the gurgling brook.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

Becca jerked around and faced Robert Jeffries. “Who told you that?”

“Greg Chambers.” He strolled into the clearing. An axe dangled from his hand.

“Have you been competing?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. The Axe-Throwing Contest won’t be for another half an hour. Long enough for me to practice.” He raised his arm and threw the axe toward her where its head plowed into the log she was sitting on.

She yelped and sprang to her feet when log chips flew into her face. The blood drained from her head and she felt faint. “You could have killed me,” she whispered. She stared at the axe.

He laughed. “If I had wanted to hurt you, you’d be dead,” he sneered. He advanced further into the clearing and propped his leg on the log. “What do you want with me?”

She might as well blurt it out. Maybe the shock would make him reveal something. “I want to know if you killed my parents.”

His eyes widened then he grinned. “Like I’d tell you if I did. But no, it wasn’t me. You should ask lover boy.”

“Max? He had nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah, that’s what he’d like you to believe. How much will you pay me if I get the goods on him?”

“What goods?”

“I bet I could get proof that he sabotaged the boat just like he did his wife’s. Honey, you don’t have good judgment in men. You’d better watch your back if you marry him.”

Becca felt the stirrings of panic. What was she doing in this deserted clearing with Robert Jeffries? She must be nuts. She sidled toward the path that led back to people. “I’d better get going.”

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