Page 66 of Risk of a Lifetime
The disposable phone Kennett gave him before they left Crayton rang.
“I got lost in thought.” JB said.
“What do you want me to do?” Kennett said.
“I’m formulating a way to lure the guy in. As soon as I do, I’ll call you back on this line.” JB figured the best trail right now would be the files at the police station. “Other than that, check the sheriff’s office, and see what he’s been reading. What’s odd in the reports? Coincidental? Out of place?”
“Should I let Deputy Evans know what I’m doing?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” JB realized he was asking the man to keep something from his own boss. “All I got right now are you and Cain. That’s all I want.”
Silence on the line meant Kennett was thinking about the request. “You know this could mean my job.”
“Yep.” If the rookie said no, then no it would be.
“Why?” Kennett said. “Why not tell Evans? Don’t you trust him?”
“I trust him. He knows where I am. May even know the number if the sheriff gave it to him. But Evans has a family. He needs to walk in their door every night, not be lying at the bottom of a cliff like Sheriff Davis. Besides, it sounds like Crayton’s gonna need him big time for a while.” JB looked in the mirror again and shook his head. “We’re facing a killer now. A pro.”
“The sheriff had to be on to something big to nearly get him killed.”
JB opened the bathroom door and checked outside the two shuttered bedroom windows. Marcy had to be livid on the other side of the locked door. “Makes sense. Why else would someone bother to run him over the cliff? Take his phone? Hire Leon to do the dirty work, then kill him?”
“Got it.”
“The sheriff had to be real close.” JB unlocked the bedroom door. “See what you can find out. Call me back.”
…
Marcy stood at the counter buttering warmed-up biscuits when JB stepped out of the bedroom. He made the rounds of all the windows. Rechecked the locks.
“JB?” She tensed. The atmosphere had changed.
With a grunt for response, he braced the door on the second bedroom closed with a chair under the handle. The hardness in his expression said something was wrong. But as long as they were together, she felt safe. Secure in the cocoon of the cabin.
A Kevlar vest covered JB’s cold-weather thermals again. Boots were full-laced and double knotted. Shoulder holster strapped in place. He carried the Glock in his hands as he made the rounds. When he turned, she saw a backup gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans. He was in FBI mode. Might not be part of the Bureau any more, but he was still tough—no-nonsense Special Agent Jean Bradley tough.
Her afternoon lover was nowhere to be found. Instead, her protector braced himself for battle. She couldn’t stop the nerves making a race track of her body or the quiver of hair on the back of her neck. But she’d stay strong for him.
She sat two plates of hamburger hash and biscuits on the table, then touched his shoulder as he finished putting a metal cookie sheet behind the window curtains above the kitchen sink. The only other window minus louvered shutters was in the master bath.
“What’s wrong, JB?”
He folded her in his arms. Held her close. She closed her eyes and braced for whatever he had to tell her.
“There’s been an accident.” His arms didn’t let her move. “Your uncle’s in ICU and Leon’s dead.”
A squeak of a cry caught in her throat a moment before she turned her face up to his. She jerked with the sobs caught in the same place. “Will he live?”
“They’re not sure.” He knew how close the nieces were to their uncle. Sheriff Davis had been their one constant in life besides Sadie and Truman. “I’m sorry, sugar. I’m sorry.”
She laid her cheek against his chest. “What else?”
“I think the sheriff got close. Too close to whoever’s after us.”
“Leon?”
“No. He was just a cog in the wheel.” JB smoothed her hair. Not the sexy tangle of before, but a heavy, protective slide of his fingers. “You might as well know the perp’s got your uncle’s phone.”
