Page 85 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“Dan found them,” Leah said.
“Well, let’s take a look,” his uncle said.
“It’s this way,” Leah said and then walked away from them.
She’d spent a lot of time doing that to Dan. Too much time, as far as he was concerned, and he was going to change things but wasn’t sure yet how.
Dan gave his uncle a brief rundown on what he’d found as they followed Leah.
“So after reading those papers and seeing the numbers in that book, you’re thinking that Chuck Reynolds may have been holding drugs too? Or maybe Grill moved everything here after old man Lupton’s place?” Uncle Asher asked.
“Looks like that. Plus, I told you what I overheard in the Rollaway the other night.”
“Grill and the Bandits are involved.”
“When are they not?” Dan said.
“True. Okay, let’s see what we’re dealing with first,” his uncle said.
“Sawyer’s been digging, but I haven’t told him anything,” Dan said.
“But he’s persistent, that one. I remember he was always the one who never gave up on getting a second helping as a youngster,” Uncle Asher said.
They followed Leah’s long legs into the barn, where she stood to one side. They went down, then she did the same and sat on the step once more.
Dan and his uncle pulled on gloves and started looking around. They methodically photographed everything, not that there was much to photograph, and then put the book and folder into evidence bags.
“We may have to get Bradford out. He could probably crack this,” Uncle Asher said from his crouched position before the safe.
“I’ll make the call,” Dan said.
Bradford picked up on the third ring, and Dan told him what they needed. The man said he’d be there in five, as he was at JD’s, helping in the stables.
“He’s coming now,” Dan said when he’d finished the call.
“Now, Leah.” Uncle Asher’s voice was low as he came to stand over her where she sat on the bottom step. “I need you to think back to before your dad went to jail.”
Her eyes flicked from the Sheriff to Dan, then back to his uncle, wary.
“Do you remember vehicles coming and going? At nighttime, maybe—something you might have woken to or half heard?” His gaze was steady, coaxing but relentless.
Leah shifted, and Dan knew that this was hard for her because it was going back to a time when her life had imploded.
“Dad planted those big trees for a reason. He wanted the barns private. Cassie and I…. We couldn’t see much of anything.”
“I know it’s been years,” Asher said, leaning closer, “but think. Were there conversations that didn’t sound right? Something you couldn’t place at the time?”
She shook her head. “Dad didn’t talk on the phone much, and he didn’t have visitors.”
“What about the Bandits?” His voice hardened. “Did they ride in here often?”
Dan stood back slightly and allowed his uncle to question her. He let his eyes wander around the room, checking if they missed anything.
“No, and Cassie and I weren’t allowed in the sheds. He locked them, too, so we couldn’t,” Leah said.
And I bet that was because he was up to his neck in illegal shit,Dan thought.
Uncle Asher nodded.
