Page 141 of The Edge

“NATO or polymer?”

“The latter. Looks to be the same shooter as with Jenny.”

“But NATO was the one that almost killed me,” said Devine, really to himself.

Fuss eyed the outbuilding. “So, elvers, huh?”

“Apparently so.”

“Always wondered where he got his money.”

“To his mind he’s reinvesting it in the town, and I guess he is.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

Devine said, “Nothing. It’s not my jurisdiction. So what areyougoing to do about it?”

“I’ll have to confer with the chief.”

“I expect you would.”

“But if we do nothing...?”

“No skin off my teeth. Unless what Dak was doing is connected to his sister’s murder.”

“You think?”

“I don’t know one way or another. I certainly have no proof.”

“Okay, we’ll let you know what we find.”

“I’m heading over to Jocelyn Point to make sure Alex is okay. I already filled her in on what happened, but I wanted to give her an update.”

“Right.”

* * *

Alex answered at his first knock. She must have been watching from the front window.

“Thank God,” she whispered, weeping quietly into his shoulder after he gave her a positive update on her brother. “I...I can’t lose Dak, too.”

She led Devine to the kitchen and made him coffee. “You must be exhausted,” she said, watching him closely.

“I’ll catch some sleep later.”

“When can I see Dak?”

“He’s having his surgery now. We can drive up after he’s out of recovery. Bullet went in and out. If it had hit an artery he wouldn’t have made it.”

She paled at this stark description and he said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so blunt. I guess I just got used to doing that in the Army.”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for telling me.”

“So, did you know Dak’s friend, Hal?” he asked her. “I didn’t get his last name.”

“Hal Brockman. I knew he worked with Dak, but I didn’t know how or with what. He’s come by quite a few times. He seemed very nice. He was from the south, I think.” She rubbed her eyes. “Who could’ve done this, Travis?”

Devine didn’t provide an answer because he had none.

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