Page 60 of Counter Attack

His sergeant tilted his head. “Can I carry it over into next year?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Comp time is fine, then.”

Jared yawned, and Nathan looked a little closer at him. His uniform could use a little pressing. “Did you work last night?”

“Filled in for Cobb—he has the flu.”

Both of their phones dinged with texts, and he glanced at his. As a precaution, one of his officers was requesting backup for an out-of-town speeder he’d pulled over. Two of his officers were out and that left just Nathan and Jared.

“You want to take this?” Nathan asked.

“Sure.”

“I’ll be here if you run into any trouble.” His sergeant nodded. Nathan waited until Jared pulled out of the parking lot before he pushed open the door to the sheriff’s outer office.

Marge looked up from her computer. “Alex just texted me to ask if you would mind waiting a minute when you got here.”

“Sure.” Nathan wandered around the room. The walls were lined with photos and newspaper clippings of Carson Stone dating back to his first years in office. After ten minutes, he turned to Marge. “Should I come back?”

Before she could answer, the door to the sheriff’s office opened and a red-faced Alexis stepped out. “You can come in now.”

He tipped his head toward the secretary-and-sometimes-dispatcher and followed Alexis inside.

Mark was seated on the right side of the room with Gem at his feet. Harvey sat in the chair beside the K-9 officer, leaving a chair by the window. Nathan took it as she walked behind her grandfather’s desk and sat down. “My crime scene investigators will be here momentarily,” Alex said.

It would take a saw to cut the tension in the room, and from the scowl on Mark Lassiter’s face, the problem lay with him. If Nathan were a betting man, he’d bet that Harvey Morgan had sided with the K-9 detective.

Alexis leaned forward and braced her arms on her desk and clasped her hands, but not before he noticed her fingers shaking. “I don’t know what’s taking Taylor and Dylan so long, but I don’t want to start without them.”

Nathan nodded, and within a minute, the two crime scene investigators entered the room, and Alexis stood and picked up a stack of papers. “Before we get to anything else, I want to hand out the preliminary autopsy report Dr. Williams forwarded me.”

She handed each person a report, and the room fell quiet as everyone read over the information. Nathan noted Dr. Ralph Edwards, the Hamilton County medical examiner, had done the autopsy and then skipped over the introduction to the heart of the report.

He mentally translated the medical jargon into his own words as he read. Single gunshot wound to the chest with the bullet perforating the heart and lung. According to body temperature and stomach contents, the victim died about two hours prior to discovery at approximately eight o’clock, and there were no powder burns on the body, indicating the shooter had stood at least four feet from the victim.

At the bottom of the report, Dr. Edwards had stated the cause of death was a single gunshot wound, and the manner of death as being homicide. Nothing new there.

So why was Gina Norman targeted? Was it only because she had the misfortune to move to Pearl Springs just as Alexis took over as chief deputy?

34

Alex waited until everyone read the autopsy report, taking the time to get her emotions under control. If she’d learned one thing at the end of the earlier meeting, it was that Mark Lassiter was going to try to block her at every turn.

She couldn’t believe he’d suggested that she should pull herself off the case since Alex clearly was the target of the killer. Or that Harvey would agree.

Yes, she could. Mark had couched the suggestion in terms of her safety, but the issue was dropped quick enough after she asked how they would feel in the same situation. Both knew any time an officer strapped on a gun, they were putting their life on the line. Granted this situation was a little more tense than everyday danger.

No. Either Mark was angry that she’d reprimanded him at the crime scene yesterday about his interview with the teenager or he resented not being picked as chief deputy while her grandfather was out. Same for Harvey. Either way, the two of them were going to be a rock in her shoe. No, they were going to be a boulder in her shoe.

Once this meeting was over, she planned to call them back in separately for a private talk. Her grandfather had not raiseda girl who was afraid of confrontation when it was necessary. Mark Lassiter could either get on board or resign. And the same went for Harvey.

“When do you expect to get the full autopsy report on Gina Norman?” Nathan asked.

His question brought her back to the here and now. “Six weeks, if we’re lucky. The Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s office is backlogged, as is the lab where the body fluids were sent. I called and talked to the medical examiner who did the autopsy to ask if the victim had anything under her nails. Unfortunately, Dr. Edwards said she did not.”

She turned to Mark. “What information did you get from Tom Weaver on the references?”

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