Page 10 of Concrete Evidence
“I heard it too. The driver had to have arrived while I rode fence. What about the plates? Footprints? Any sounds?”
“The motorcycle was parked sideways. No one was in sight.”
“You believe I killed a man.” Granddad didn’t ask but stated the reality of her terror.
“I’d rather you gave me an explanation. Self-defense? An accident?” She drew in a breath. “I want to believe in your innocence. But it’s all confusing when I saw a gun in your hand.”
“If I could share the details with you, I would. But it’s impossible. Too dangerous.” He captured her gaze. “You can’t tell a soul about this.”
She shuddered. “Why? A man’s dead, right?”
“The body’s been removed.”
“That doesn’t make him any less dead.” She squeezed her fingers into her palm. “Who was he?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. But not from me. Anything I say puts you in a bad place.”
“Would you prefer I think you killed a man and disposed of his body? Who did you call? Who rode the motorcycle? How can I remotely consider such horror?”
“You have already come to a conclusion.”
She fought a wave of sickness and summoned courage to chase it off. “But the granddad I love isn’t a killer.”
He rubbed his face. “If you were a member of the sheriff’s department and saw me in the cemetery, what would you have done?”
“You’re not being fair.”
“I will do whatever it takes to protect you.” His tone rose above a whisper.
“From whom? Law enforcement? Someone else? What’s going on?”
“It’s better this way. The less you know, the safer you are.”
“Murder and a cover-up are never justified. If you’re innocent, say so.”
“No, Avery. We’re not going there.”
The burning suspicions raged, a wildfire that flamed out of control. “I know the man you met yesterday wasn’t planned because you had nothing scheduled.”
“Would I sink to such depravity as to note a man’s murder on my calendar?”
She trembled, yesterday’s ordeal repeating...
“Avery, pray for me to have a clear head in this mess.”
“Always.” Emotion rose and threatened to burst. He didn’t ask for an exoneration but a clear head.
“Is this about the ranch, the construction company, politics?”
“More trouble than I’ve ever been in my life, and I won’t drag you into the thick of it.”
But he already had.
8
THE MORNING DRAGGED ON,and Avery’s concentration hit the dredges of unbidden thoughts. Granddad and Frank Benton, statehouse representative for their district, met behind closed doors. Granddad had two obsessions in life—Jesus and politics. He often spouted what-Jesus-would-do in relation to how he felt on a political point. She hid the humor behind his statements as though he were a country preacher conducting a revival. Love had a way of covering a multitude of quirky traits.
Except what she’d seen yesterday.
