Page 48 of Scent of Fear

Her grandfather had been the driver of the Wellington Fox Security truck. A job he’d held for over a year. And that meant he was most likely the one who’d come up with the robbery plan.

Especially since Marvin Tolliver was the only one who’d gotten away with the cash. Leaving one man dead along with a police officer and the third man to be picked up by the FBI a day or two later.

No wonder Libby looked as if she wanted to throw up.

“Grisly reading, huh?” She looked so dejected. “I never would have believed Grandpa was capable of such a thing.”

“Forty-eight years ago,” he gently reminded. “He was young and had probably gotten carried away by the idea of having so much money.”

“By stealing from others?” She shook her head. “No way. He’d know stealing was a sin.”

“Lots of people sin, and your grandfather may not have been a believer back then.” He was determined to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. “Besides, it’s how he’s lived since that time that matters.”

“Does it?” She grimaced. “I’d like to think so. But I have a feeling Paul is going to pull the FBI in on this.”

He knew that was true. There was one FBI agent in Wyoming, located in Cheyenne. Shane had met Special Agent Griff Flannery on previous cases. Griff was a decent guy, roughly his age. Some feds were hung up on their fancy title, but Griff was more interested in getting the job done. “Try not to worry.”

She nodded without saying anything more. Their meals arrived shortly afterward.

Libby didn’t mention saying grace, so he decided to take the initiative. “Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to keep Marvin safe in Your care. Please continue to guide us as we seek the truth. And please bless this food we are about to eat. Amen.”

“Amen,” Libby whispered. Then she lifted her gaze to his. “Thank you, Shane.”

“Of course.” In the back of his mind, Shane knew he was treading on dangerous ground, willing to do just about anything to make Libby happy.

And oddly, the prayer had come naturally.

Maybe he had absorbed some of this sibling’s faith over the years. He added a special prayer for God to grant Libby the strength she’d need to get through this, before digging into his cheeseburger.

The food was good, although Libby only ate about half of her chicken sandwich along with a handful of fries. They were just finishing when Paul walked in.

“Are you hungry?” Shane asked as Paul slid into the booth beside him. Beneath the table, Bryce shifted and let out a heavy sigh as if he’d been hoping they were going to work soon. He reached beneath the table to smooth a hand over his K9’s fur. The dog settled down, resting his head on Shane’s feet.

“Nah, I grabbed something earlier.” The deputy swung his gaze between Shane and Libby. “What’s this about new information?”

Libby looked sick as she pushed the article toward Paul. “Read this and tell me what you think.”

Paul picked up the printout of the article and quickly scanned it. Then he frowned and read it again more slowly. Paul looked up and pinned Libby with an incredulous gaze. “Your grandfather is the infamous Maxwell Tucker?”

“Yeah.” Libby took a sip of her barely touched iced tea. “At least, that’s our theory. To be honest, it’s the only one that makes any sense.”

Paul’s wide gaze swung toward Shane. “You agree?”

“Hard not to. Someone broke into the house to search the place more than once.” He gestured to the article. “Now we know what they were looking for.”

“I need to call the FBI,” Paul said, his expression grim. “An armored truck robbery from Colorado, even one that took place so many years ago, is way outside my jurisdiction.”

“I get that, but it’s going to take Griff time to get here from Cheyenne. Even if he comes by plane, that will take several hours, maybe more. What about doing some legwork in the meantime?” Shane tapped the article. “Consider what we know so far. Harry Stern only did fifteen years of the twenty ordered by the court. It stands to reason that he’s been harboring a grudge against Maxwell Tucker a.k.a. Marvin Tolliver for a very long time.”

“Too long maybe,” Paul said thoughtfully. “Why come after him now? And how did he find Marvin in the first place? From what I can tell the guy—er, Libby’s grandfather—has been living off-grid for a long time.”

“That’s true,” Libby said softly. “That is until I decided to submit a DNA swab to find my grandpa’s birth family. He told me he was adopted, and I thought he’d like to know if he had siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins...” Her voice trailed off.

“Libby believes that entering her grandfather’s DNA into the database is how Harry Stern found him. And set out to kidnap him, searching for the fortune that Stern missed out on after being arrested.”

Paul didn’t look convinced. “I doubt it’s that easy.”

“Probably not, since Harry Stern would be roughly the same age as Marvin, sixty-nine or even seventy by now,” Shane agreed. “But look at what Libby has accomplished in her brief time searching for information. Harry Stern went to jail when he was only twenty years old, in an era where computers were not as common as they are now. But he could easily have nephews or other relatives helping him out.”

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