Page 50 of Tough Justice
“I’ve done it before.” Lane grinned.
Shaking his head, Duke rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Sure. Tell yourself whatever lies you need to feel better. Now that we’ve got this shit taken care of, I’m going back in that room to much better company.”
Lane clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Sounds good.”
Relief loosened his muscles. Problems still loomed large around him, but at least he’d taken care of one of them. No matter what, Lane wasn’t just his business partner. He was his buddy, even if the guy could be an ass sometimes.
He stepped into the room and caught Suzy’s eye.
She arched her brows, nerves pinching her expression.
He gave a little nod. He and Lane were good. Now he could focus all his attention on the one Tipton who held his heart.
Suzy broughtthe bag of snacks to Heather and sat it on the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay. My headache is getting better and I’m not as nauseous as I was earlier.”
“Maybe a bunch of junk food wasn’t the best idea,” Duke said.
“Are you kidding?” Heather swiped the bag and placed it on her lap, clutching it as if she thought her brother would steal it. “Everyone here has been great, but the food’s rough.”
Suzy grinned. “I told him chocolate was the answer to everything, but he didn’t believe me.”
“He never was the best listener,” Heather said. She grinned for a second before her smile crumpled. “I’m glad you and Lane worked everything out. I really do like him and Celine. It was nice of them to come and sit with me.”
“He’s a good guy most the time.” Suzy hadn’t asked for details about Duke and Lane’s conversation before Lane had gathered his family and taken off. With her and Duke with Heather, there was no reason to stay and Parker was ready for his nap.
She’d hugged her brother before he left, assuring them they were fine as long as he stopped being a jerk.
Duke grabbed Suzy’s hand and pulled her to the chair beside him. “I’m glad we talked. Now we can focus on more pressing issues.”
Heather sighed. “I can’t believe Chrissy’s still in town. Hanging around like a leech, sucking the life out of everyone she touches.”
“Which reminds me,” Suzy said. “Do you know of anyone she’s close with that would come with her to Wyoming and help her carry out her plan?”
“Gosh, I hope not,” Heather said. “I never imagined Chrissy would be capable of so much destruction. I’d hate to think there are two people I know who are so evil.”
“Sometimes good people do bad things,” Duke said.
“Like vandalism and making homemade bombs?” Heather shook her head then winced. “Someone who does those things is making horrible choices to hurt people. There’s nothing good about that.”
Suzy squeezed Duke’s hand. He’d been tricked into doling out Chrissy’s sick form of justice at one time. It wasn’t impossible to imagine she’d manipulate someone else to take up her cause again. “Does she have close friends? A boyfriend back home?”
“She hangs out with the same people she did in high school, but she’s never been a real girl’s girl if you know what I mean. Catty, bratty, and selfish. Not someone many people would go to bat for. As for guys, yeah there are always one or two pantingafter her. But she hasn’t been serious with anyone in a while. She’s always been hung up on Duke, and most people in town know that.”
“Would she be able to make a bomb?” Suzy asked, drawing back on her earlier conversation with Duke.
The picture being painted in her head was of a woman who didn’t like to get her hands dirty. Who used people to get what she wanted, twisting the truth until she found a weakness. That didn’t sound like a woman who’d take the time to learn how to make a homemade bomb then execute it perfectly.
Heather glanced at Duke and shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like it, but who knows?”
“It’s hard to picture,” he agreed.
Another thought hit Suzy. “Whoever built the bomb, what are the odds they waited until they got to Hillmore?”
Duke frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She’s never been here before, and I assume there are very specific things she’d need to make the bomb. How would she know she’d find it all here? If this was part of her plan, why wait to make it, hoping she’d be able to buy what she needed? It’d make more sense to purchase the supplies first. She’d have to have wiring, chemicals, stuff like that right?”
