Page 79 of Rocky Ride

“Yahoo,” hollered Virge. “We need that so fuckin bad.”

“Tell Dad the good news we have, Virgie.”

Travis focused his hard blue eyes on my brother. “Tell me, Virge.”

“Dan Darkers owns a black Wrangler.”

“What? I didn’t notice him driving it at the funeral home.”

“Here’s the tag and it’s registered to him. We just saw it at his place and ran it.”

“Wow, that’s impressive, boys. Now we’ve got something to work with. We can bring him in for questioning on the murders now that we have this piece of evidence.”

Virge couldn’t stop grinning.

Happy for Dad having a fresh suspect, but I worried about Penny having a murderer for a father. Maybe he wasn’t the killer. Maybe Dan Darkers screwed around with a bunch of women but didn’t kill them.

Travis’s phone rang and he glared at the screen before he read the name and answered it. “Hey, Doc. How’s it going?” He put the call on speaker so me and Virge could hear.

“Startling news for you, Travis.”

“How startling, Doc?”

“I’ve confirmed that the blades of the knives used in the two murders are not the same. We either have two different killers or the same killer used two different knives.”

“Goddamn it, Doc. That screws me all up. I’m looking for one person.”

“Sorry, Travis. I was surprised too, but the neck wounds do not match.”

“You’re certain?”

“Absolutely certain.”

“Fuck that.”

“Just because the killer was smart enough to use two different knives, don’t mean we got ourselves two killers, Dad,” said Virge. “Just a killer who ain’t as dumb as he looks.”

“Thanks for that, Virge.” Travis smiled at my brother.

Birmingham. Alabama.

Mason pulled into a rest area just outside of Birmingham to give Clyde a break from the truck and a run in the doggie area.

Driving with Annie had been relaxing and fun so far and despite being nervous about deviating from his usual course of action, everything seemed to be going well.

“Will you be ready for dinner soon?” asked Mason.

“Any time you are. I can grab a bag of chips and last another hour. Your call.”

“We’ll stop soon. I’m always ready to eat. Must be why I have to work out three times a week just to keep my weight at a respectable level.”

“I run five miles in the mornings,” said Annie. “Been hard since my last leg injury. It’s not the fun it used to be, that’s for sure.”

“How did you hurt your leg?”

“Took a bullet and then before the leg was healed, I got drunk at my son’s game and fell down an escalator at the ballpark.” Annie laughed. “Serves me right.”

Mason stared at her in amazement.

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