Page 9 of Concrete Evidence
7
AVERY WOKE AT SIX TUESDAY MORNINGafter repeatedly reliving the previous day’s tragedy. Confronting Granddad would be the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she’d convinced herself to talk to him honestly. After wiggling into jeans and grabbing a T-shirt, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. The sickness had passed, and she needed coffee to open her mind—like an alcoholic needed liquid courage.
Granddad sat at the breakfast table, a plate of poached eggs and wheat toast pushed to the side. Coffee mug in hand, he stared out the window to observe horses grazing in the distance.
“Good morning,” she said.
He slowly faced her... his features pinched and drawn. He obviously hadn’t slept well either. “Feeling better?”
“Yes. Thanks. No temp. I think the heat got to me.” She poureda mug of coffee and sat across from him. The normal camaraderie between them vanished into something unspeakable.
“We need to talk.” Granddad rubbed his forehead, a habit when deep in thought.
Her heart pounded against her rib cage. “Now?”
“Not here. Do you have plans this morning?”
“Just to shower and head over to the office.”
“A friend is meeting me around eleven, but I’d like for us to talk before then.”
She’d seen the entry on his calendar. The friend he’d called yesterday? “Did something happen last night at your meetings? Is this serious?”
“Those went fine.” He set his mug on the table and folded his hands. “We both know the seriousness of a particular situation.”
She captured the intensity of his clear blue eyes. “What about now? I can get cleaned up later. My appetite is zilch.”
He slowly nodded. “Mine too.” He scooted back his chair and stood. His broad shoulders slumped. How quickly he’d aged in one day.
They walked together to the office like most mornings. But this one was different. Neither spoke as though each sensed the burden of tragedy separating them.
Craig waved at them on his way from the stable near the office. “Mornin’.” He strolled their way. “Since you’re both aware of the strange goings-on yesterday, I wanted to let you know what I learned.”
“Can it wait?” Granddad said. “I have an—”
“I found motorcycle tracks on Oak Valley Road entering and exiting. Looks like someone drove back to the family cemetery.”
“Did you see anyone?” Granddad said.
“Nah. Must have been the rider who fired that shot.” Craig shrugged. “But it could have been one of the hands. I’m thinking it’snot worth looking into, except to find out who might have taken a joyride across the ranch.”
“Let me know if you find out anything, and I’ll handle it,” Granddad said.
Granddad’s familiar phrase echoed a new meaning.
At the office, Granddad pressed in the alarm and opened the door. He gestured Avery inside, and an eerie feeling shrouded her. Had she been living in a fairy tale that now had an evil side?
Granddad snatched the mail from his tray on her desk. She’d sorted it the night before, but he hadn’t been here to pick it up. “Let’s sit in my office,” he said. “Nothing about what I have to tell you is easy.” Once settled, the lines etched around his eyes seemed to deepen more. “I saw Darcy’s tracks near the cemetery yesterday. You were there.”
Avery nodded, sensing the barbed wire of truth about to pierce her heart. “I arrived earlier than you expected. I wanted to surprise you with lunch all set up.”
“How much earlier?” He combed his fingers through thick silver hair.
She swallowed, her throat raw. “In time to see you leaning over a man’s body and hear you make a call. I heard every word.”
“Then I understand why you were sick. Did you see anything or anyone?”
“A motorcycle.” She sighed. “A blue Yamaha Tracer 9GT. No driver.”
