Page 37 of Colton in the Wild
Spence grimaced. The image of the dead woman was going to be one he’d probably carry forever. “Any idea who she…was?”
“Not yet. We’re checking missing persons’ reports, but no hits so far, and we can’t assume she was a local.”
“But it was a murder.” He didn’t really have any doubts, but he needed to hear it from the man who would know.
“Not much doubt about that. They’ve moved the body to the forensics lab. Montgomery jumped at the case, and he’s good. Even if he does have a thing for your sister.”
Spence blinked. “Scott’s got a thing for Kansas?”
“Definitely.” Eli grinned. “And it pays off for me, because if I need something in a hurry or after hours, he’s always willing. Anyway, they’re running DNA, but no definitive results yet.”
Eli shifted subjects, a signal Spence recognized as meaning he’d shared all he could on the body they’d found.
“Locals have any idea on the shooter?”
Spence shook his head. “Theories range from some hunter who misfired but knew Hetty saw him so decided to take us out to just some random nutcase.”
“Nothing connected to the clients who canceled?”
Spence blinked. That, he had to admit, had not occurred to him. Leave it to Eli. “I…don’t know. I don’t know if they’ve even considered that yet.”
Eli gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Just a thought.”
“I’ll ask.”
Could it be? Could the shooter have maybe been after the newlyweds, and shot at them by mistake, not knowing the Greshams had canceled at the last minute? Had this not been some random hunter run amok, but a…a hitman or something? Surely, he’d have known what his targets looked like. Or had he just assumed, at that distance, and based on location? But then, how had he even known where they were going?
So many questions tumbled through Spence’s mind, it was a little dizzying. And he found himself staring at his cousin.
“What?” Eli asked.
“How do you…do it? What you do, I mean?” He realized when he said it that Eli might think he meant the kind of work he did, especially after being there when their aunt had been found. So he quickly added, “Start at the end and work back, I mean, when there are so many directions it could go in?”
Eli smiled widely. “Leave it to you to put it in a nutshell. That’s exactly what it is, a lot of the time. Start with the results of the crime and work backward. And yeah, it means a lot of dead ends sometimes.” Another shrug, as if it were nothing instead of a crucial part of civilized life. “Process of elimination.”
“I’m glad we have people like you out there,” Spence said, meaning it.
But that was not what lingered in Spence’s mind after his cousin had left. It was the idea that both terrified and thrilled him at the same time.
The idea that he and Hetty might have been mistaken for newlyweds.
Chapter 19
“When do I get out of here?”
Hetty didn’t mean to sound sharp, but she was about out of patience. She hated being cooped up here, hated the constant interruptions as someone checked on her, or made noise as they checked on someone else, or any of the other multitude of interruptions. She’d been spoiled, used to being in control, used to her quiet environment at home. The move out of the ICU was an improvement on a couple of fronts, noise among them, but she still wanted out as soon as possible.
The only good thing about this whole mess was Spence. He seemed to spend more time here than not, even though she knew there were clients booked for the rest of the summer.Clients, she thought with a sour twist of her mouth,she should be flying.
And that was the thought at the top of her mind when Spence came back into the room.
“Do they know what happened with the plane?” she demanded before anything else. He had told her his dad and Chuck were practically taking the thing apart to find out what had happened.
He didn’t look startled at the abrupt question, or the lack of greeting. She wondered if that was because she got like that when she was intent on something and he was used to it. She had a temper, she knew, and after three days in this place, it was a bit close to the surface.
No, he didn’t look startled, but he did look a bit uncomfortable. “Spence?”
He let out an audible breath and said, in a tone so neutral it had to be intentional, “They have an idea, but it’s not confirmed yet.”
