Page 128 of Concrete Evidence
Craig has left the ranch to help people stranded with the flooding.
Avery typed, her fingers shaking.He’s in no shape to help anyone. And he’s a person of interest and was told not to leave.
I tried to stop him or pleaded with him to take me along. He said it was too dangerous for anyone looking for him and many of the roads were impassable. He isn’t guilty of any crime. I’m sure of it.
But Avery had her doubts.I’ll see if I can contact him. Don’t worry.
Avery checked with security, and Craig had left the ranch at five thirty. The deputies’ instructions were to stop those coming in and out. Hadn’t Marc alerted them to Craig’s person-of-interest status?
She dressed and grabbed her keys. Craig hadn’t answered her calls or texts. The man’s brains must have dripped out with the blood lost from his wound.
Avery hated to neglect Leanne, and sneaking off from the ranch to console her might not be her best decision. But she’d text Marc and Granddad once she was on the road. Not the first time she’d upset them with a bit of impulsive behavior.
After leaving a sleeping household, she waved at a deputy manning the gate and drove to Leanne’s. Her best friend had recently bought a home and fifty acres, thanks to grandparents who’d left her a sizable inheritance. The property hadn’t cost half what she’d inherited, allowing her to bank the extra dollars. Leanne had the levelheaded thing going, and she wanted to one day invest in her own accounting firm.
Although rain had slackened under cloudy skies, Avery’s windshield wipers still moved at a steady cadence. She flipped on the radio for weather-related updates. The stalled storm poured water into low-lying areas, but the worst damage came from the compromised dam. So far, the storm contributed to three deaths. A twinge of guilt assaulted her for the high ground of their home, barns, and stables. One section of beloved acreage rested on the family cemetery high above the flood zone.
The rising waters blocked the shortest way to Leanne’s, making the drive twice as long. Leanne remodeled the one-hundred-year-old farmhouse in her spare hours.
At a stop sign, she sent an audio text to Marc and Granddad. “Gone to see Leanne. She’s upset because Craig left the ranch earlierto help with the flooding emergencies. Not sure how he got past the deputies.”
At Leanne’s home, Avery parked in the driveway and dashed to the front porch. She rang the doorbell. Waited. Knocked. And repeated. Leanne kept her Jeep parked in the small barn, and Avery hurried there in the mounting rain. The barn stood empty except for a corner where Leanne stored hand tools, a ladder, and a tool chest.
Rain attacked the barn roof like soldiers in action on a battlefront. She moaned. Why hadn’t she grabbed her umbrella? Glancing about for something to shield her head from the downpour, she searched through the assortment of equipment. Nothing caught her eye to protect her from the rain.
She walked through the barn to see if a rag or towel lay in one of the two stalls. Inside the one on her right, a tarp covered something, perhaps a piece of equipment or building supplies. A ratty towel caught her attention. She bent to retrieve it, and a patch of blue metal behind the far end of the tarp sparked her curiosity.
Avery lifted the tarp—a blue Yamaha Tracer 9GT motorcycle.
She trembled, fury and suspicion tumbling through her. She pulled her phone from her jeans pocket and pressed in Marc’s number.
He answered on the first ring. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Maybe so. I’m at Leanne’s, and she’s not here or answering her phone.”
“And I get it you’re worried about her taking off after Craig in this weather, but—”
“Marc, I’m in her barn, and I think I’ve found Jake’s motorcycle.”
“Why would it be there?”
“Not sure. Leanne and Jake are cousins, and he must have needed a place to store it. I feel horrible even thinking she’s involved.”
“I’m on my way. Are you in your car?”
“No. Still in the barn.”
“Take a pic of the bike and head back here.”
“I’m staying until you arrive. If Leanne returns, I’ll ask her about it.”
“Avery, listen to me. Get your rear back to the ranch.”
“No, Marc. I can’t. Leanne is my dearest friend, and she’ll give me a truthful explanation for this. You can’t get through on the main road, so take an alternate route. It will take a few minutes longer.” She ended the call. Rain pelted her car like the devil throwing rocks.
72
MARC’S FIRST THOUGHTSleaned toward wringing Avery’s neck. She’d allowed goodwill and compassion to alter her judgment and put herself in danger. He slid into jeans, T-shirt, and shoes before he tucked his Glock in his back waistband and took the stairway to the first floor. The senator met him at the foot of the stairs.
