Grave Peril

by Mary Alford

  “Dan, I’m a CIA agent. We have the right to know why you’ve stopped us,” Gavin told him.

  Miller immediately grew wary. “You joined the CIA?” He didn’t seem convinced, but he changed his demeanor a little.

  “That’s right, and I know you’re violating our civil rights by not telling us why you pulled us over...again. We told you everything we know about Paxton. Unless you have evidence that ties us to some crime, you need to proceed very carefully.”

  Miller actually appeared afraid. “She’s related to Paxton. We believe he’s guilty of murder at the very least. That gives me the right to search this vehicle if I think it’s been involved in a crime.”

  “Only this isn’t Jamie’s vehicle. It’s my rental car.” Jamie could tell that Gavin was fading quickly.

  “He’s right. I’m a criminal defense attorney in Louisville. Without Gavin’s permission you can’t search the vehicle.”

  She stepped closer to Miller, hoping to keep his attention off Gavin. “And you have no proof that Uncle Paxton is guilty of anything. Even if he was, I’m certainly not responsible for his actions.”

  “If you aren’t guilty, you won’t mind me searching the car,” Miller challenged. “Unless you have something to hide?”

  Now was not the time to argue their civil rights. She needed to get Gavin out of here as fast as possible.

  “Fine, search the car and then let us be on our way.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt inside.

  Miller popped the trunk himself, then looked around, reminding her of the way he and his partner had searched her vehicle the day before. He’d been looking for something in particular. Was that the reason he’d insisted on searching the car now?

  Once Miller was satisfied there was nothing incriminating inside, he opened the driver’s side back door and spotted the backpack.

  “What’s in here?” He shot them a questionable look, then took the bag out and unzipped it, dumping the contents onto the ground. One of the little figurines her mother used to collect broke into a dozen pieces on the pavement.

  Tears filled Jamie’s eyes. That was one of the few possessions that she still had of her mother’s.

  Miller tossed the bag on the ground beside it and headed back to his vehicle with one final warning. “You’d better be telling the truth about where Paxton is, because if I find out different, you’re both in big trouble, CIA agent or not. And make sure you get that wrecked car out of the ditch as soon as possible. If we have to tow it, it’ll cost you.”

  He got back into his vehicle and slammed the door hard. As he drove past them, he crushed the remaining pieces of the memento into dust.

  Jamie hurried over to the items that were left and dropped to her knees, clutching her mother’s precious collectibles against her chest.

  Gavin came over, awkwardly crouching beside her. He gently put the rest of the figurines into the bag and zipped it closed. “I’m sorry about that,” he murmured earnestly. “He had no right to do that.”

  She brushed aside tears and got to her feet, holding out her hand to him.

  He took it with a grateful smile, using her strength to pull himself to his feet. He stumbled into her. Jamie put her arms around his waist to steady him, then struggled to get him back to the car.

  He all but fell into the seat, and her fear for his well-being increased. Jamie quickly closed the door and grabbed the bag. Putting it on the back seat, she got behind the wheel.

  Gavin leaned against the headrest with his eyes closed.

  “Gavin!” She shook him, and he slowly opened his eyes.

  “I’m okay.” He slurred his words, indicating it was far from the truth. “We need to get out of sight as soon as possible. I don’t trust Miller not to change his mind and come after us again. He can make us both disappear if he wants to.”

  Jamie put the car in Drive and headed down the mountain, going as fast as she dared. Once she pulled onto Ava’s property, she slowed the car’s speed. Every single bump in the road had Gavin cringing in pain.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured, hating that she’d hurt him. She pulled the car into the garage and out of sight, hit the button to close the door and killed the engine.

  Next to her, Gavin didn’t move a muscle. Every time she saw him like this, she was terrified. Would he pay with his life for Miller’s crimes? “Gavin, we’re here.”

  He slowly turned his head and looked into her eyes.

  “I’m going to need you to help me. I don’t think I can manage it on my own.”

  Jamie stuffed down her fear and got out. Once she’d unlocked the home’s side door, she went around to Gavin’s door and opened it.

  “Easy does it.” She slid her arm around his waist. He flinched as he draped his arm over her shoulders and shifted sideways so that he could put his feet on the ground.

  It took all of Jamie’s strength to lift his tall frame out of the car. Gavin leaned heavily against her, and she struggled not to collapse beneath his weight.

  They slowly moved inside the house, and she helped him over to the sofa.

  “Rest now,” she said once he was lying down. “Where are the pain pills?” she asked and he patted his jacket pocket.

  Jamie dug them out and poured a couple of pills into her palm, then got a glass of water from the kitchen. She braced the back of his neck so that he could swallow the medicine. The exertion of simply driving to her house had been too much. How would they ever make it all the way up Darlan Mountain to the mine?

  “Gavin, what can I do to help you?” she asked, because she was out of ideas.

  He dragged in a breath and closed his eyes. “Rest is the only thing that will help me. We’ll wait until nightfall. They’ll be watching the place, have no doubt—Miller might not be around, but I’m guessing one of his men is. There’s no way we can give them the slip in broad daylight. I don’t think I could make it even if we could. If we stand any chance at getting to the mine alive, we have to wait.”

  * * *

  Someone was shaking his arm. Frustrated, he tried to bat the hand away. “Gavin, you have to wake up. The sheriff is here.” He recognized the panic in Jamie’s voice right away. His eyes flew open and he stared into Jamie’s frightened face.

  “Is he alone?” he asked and forced his injured body up to a sitting position.

  “Yes, it’s just Andy.”

  Gavin rubbed a hand over his sleep-weary eyes. “We have to let him in. He knows I’m here, at the very least. If I don’t answer, he’ll suspect something is up.”

  He stumbled to his feet with effort, unable to keep from wincing. Jamie hurried over to help steady him. Gavin closed his eyes and waited for the nausea to go away.

  “I’m okay,” he said once he felt a little steadier. She let him go. Gavin slowly went over to the door. Before he unlocked it, he did a quick sweep over the room, looking for any red flags. The monitor!

  “Cover the screen up with a blanket,” he whispered, and Jamie rushed over, grabbed the blanket from the sofa and tossed it over the monitor.

  Gavin opened the door, startling Andy, who appeared ready to leave.

  “I was beginning to think you weren’t home, after all.” Andy took a step forward.

  “Sorry, Jamie and I were out back talking and I almost didn’t hear you knock. Come inside.” Gavin stepped away to let Lawson in.

  Andy spotted Jamie and took off his Stetson politely. “Good to see you again, Jamie. I wondered where you’d gone. I stopped by your place before I came here.” Andy didn’t mention the carnage there and Jamie somehow managed to keep her reaction to herself.

  “After what happened there last night and with there being no electricity, well...” She left the rest unsaid.

  Her comment seemed to come as a surprise to Andy. “What happened there last night?” he asked with concern.


  Why hadn’t Miller updated the sheriff about what they’d done?

  “Your deputy and some of your men fired on us. They shot up the place, as I’m sure you’re aware,” Gavin told him.

  Lawson turned pale. It was a moment before he could speak. “I’m sure they had reason after what happened to Terry. Terrible thing.”

  But Miller and his goons hadn’t known about Terry until after they’d shot up the house. Gavin kept that bit of information to himself.

  “Poor Terry. He was such a good man,” Lawson continued. “That’s actually why I’m here. You understand that I need to ask you some questions, Jamie, seeing as Terry’s body was found on your property and all.”

  Jamie’s brow knitted together in confusion. “We already told Deputy Miller that we didn’t know anything about what happened to Terry.”

  This bit of news came as an obvious surprise to Lawson. “You did? When did you speak with Dan?”

  Gavin frowned. Something was definitely off about Lawson’s lack of knowledge.

  “Earlier today,” Gavin supplied. “He stopped us on the way back from Jamie’s house. She needed to pick up a few things there. Sheriff, we don’t have any idea what happened to Terry, and neither of us have seen Paxton since we got here. As Jamie told you before, he’s not in town.”

  Lawson scanned the room. “Everything okay here?” he asked and indicated a single blood-stained bandage that had fallen off the coffee table almost out of sight. He’d missed it when he looked around the room.

  Gavin’s gaze locked with Jamie’s. He was aware of her drawing in a shaky breath.

  “Everything’s fine. That must have been something Ava left out before...” He stopped short. Couldn’t say the word. He still couldn’t believe she was gone.

  Lawson accepted his answer, but Gavin was left with the impression that he didn’t really believe him.

  Gavin needed to do something to take Lawson’s scrutiny off the house. “Do you have a time of death for Terry?”

  Lawson turned his attention back to Gavin. “The ME says sometime between six and ten last evening.”

  “That’s a pretty wide gap. Anyone could have gone up there and killed him.” Gavin knew the time of death was closer to six—around the time he’d spotted the man in the woods.

  “That’s true enough,” Andy said and nodded. “As I recall, you and Jamie were heading up there around that time.”

  Jamie shifted nervously, garnering Lawson’s attention again.

  “We did go up there yesterday, but the power was off. Gavin offered to let me stay here.”

  Lawson didn’t look away. “That so?”

  “Yes, that’s so. We left after just a few minutes. It was too dark to see anything.”

  There was no doubt Lawson didn’t believe her. “Why didn’t you get the items while you were there last night?”

  Jamie let go of a breath. “Like I said, it was dark by then. There was no way I could see anything inside the house. I decided to wait until daylight. We were heading back from the house this morning when your deputy stopped us and searched us at gunpoint, which was totally unwarranted. We had done nothing wrong and were more than cooperative.”

  Lawson clearly had no idea what his deputy had been up to. “I’m sure he had his reasons for the search. This is a murder investigation, after all.”

  “What caliber of weapon was used to kill Terry?” Gavin asked, because he didn’t like the direction the interrogation was going. He was positive Terry was killed with a shotgun.

  The sheriff wasn’t as forthcoming with this detail. “Sorry, but I can’t divulge that information. This is an active investigation, and you two were in the area at the estimated time of death. You’ll understand that, until I can clear you both, I can’t give out details of the case.”

  Gavin couldn’t tell if the sheriff was trying to cover up something or if he was really serious.

  “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Paxton since yesterday. He’s not answering his phone. I did some checking around Jamesville, over where the miners buy their supplies. No one remembers seeing him in the last few days. You have any idea where he really is, Jamie?” Lawson asked in a low tone that bordered on threatening.

  Jamie hid her uneasiness badly. “I have no idea. He told me he was going there for supplies. Maybe he changed his mind and went somewhere else.”

  Lawson didn’t believe it. “That’s pretty strange for him to be away from the mine for so long, don’t you think?”

  Jamie stood up straighter and squared her shoulders. “Not really. Uncle Paxton told me that he was thinking of taking a few days off to visit some friends soon. Maybe he decided to do that instead.”

  Lawson finally nodded. “That makes sense. Still, if you hear from Paxton, I need to speak with him as soon as possible. Tell him to call me directly. And if you two come up with anything relevant to the investigation, I’d ask that you do the same.” He donned his hat and headed for the door.

  With a puzzled look Jamie’s way, Gavin followed him. “Thanks for stopping by, sheriff. If we hear anything, we’ll let you know.”

  “Where’s the truck?” Lawson asked out of the blue.

  At first Gavin wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

  “’Scuse me?”

  Lawson pointed to the driveway. “Ava’s truck. I didn’t see it parked outside.”

  Gavin struggled to come up with a believable answer. “Oh...it’s out back. I was cutting down some dead trees on the place.”

  The excuse was about as thin as the ice on William’s Pond in wintertime, but it was all he could come up with.

  “Speaking of, I noticed Jamie’s car still up on the side of the road. I figured you hadn’t had time to call your friend to tow it with everything going on. I gave him a call. He’s going to pick it up sometime tomorrow.”

  Gavin was surprised by Lawson’s kindness. “Thank you,” he managed.

  “No problem. It’s best not to leave cars unattended for too long. You wouldn’t want someone to come along and vandalize it.”

  He still didn’t buy the sheriff’s motives. “No, we would not.”

  Lawson looked him in the eye. “I meant what I said earlier. Let me know if you have anything useful.”

  Gavin closed the door with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why had Lawson been so insistent that they reach out to him and him alone? What was he up to?

  SEVEN

  “What was that about?” Jamie asked the second she was certain Lawson had gone.

  Gavin slowly made his way back to the sofa and sank down. “It sounds as if he had no idea what Miller is up to, which is kind of strange.”

  She could see the effort of dealing with the sheriff had drained Gavin’s energy. “You should lie down for a while and rest.” She didn’t want to say it aloud, but she had no idea if Gavin would be ready to make the hike up to Darlan Mountain.

  Gavin shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m just trying to make sense of all of this.”

  She sat down next to him and took his hand. “I know you are, but it’s hard. Nothing adds up. Do you think Miller is acting without Andy’s permission? Andy certainly seemed in the dark about his actions.”

  Gavin turned so that he could look into her eyes, and her heart went crazy at the emotions she saw there. “He has a lot of other deputies working with him. How can Lawson not know?”

  “Some sort of power play, you think?” she asked, and he shook his head and then leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. She knew no matter what was going on, he needed to rest. Otherwise, they’d never figure it out.

  Jamie focused on their joined hands. “We’re both tired and running on empty. Why don’t you rest while I make us something to eat?”

  His eyes opened and he smiled over at her. “That would be nice.” When she star
ted to get to her feet, he held her there. “I’m sorry this is happening to you, Jamie. You don’t deserve any of it.”

  Jamie’s heart went out to him. He was fighting so hard for her. She returned his smile. “You don’t deserve what’s happening, either. I know how hard it was for you losing your father and now Ava. I’m just so sorry, Gavin. But I’m thankful for your help. I can’t imagine trying to do this alone.”

  His smile disappeared. He looked so serious. “You and I were friends for a long time before...well, before what happened. I’d do anything for you. Always will.”

  The lump in her throat made it hard to force words out. “I feel the same way about you. Maybe after this is all over, we can find our way back to being friends again.” She really wanted that to happen.

  Something darkened his expression. He reached up and touched her cheek gently, and her eyes closed, her heart racing in response to his touch. Was she only fooling herself, thinking they could simply be friends again?

  With her emotions raw and close to the surface, she stumbled to her feet and he let her go. Without another word, she left him alone.

  Jamie opened the refrigerator and stared at the meager contents without seeing them. It hurt to think about what might have been. She’d been so in love with him back then. Her world had revolved around the time they spent together. Friday night football games. Saturday night at the local drive-in in town, where all the kids went to hang out. Sunday afternoon cruising around town in Ava’s old pickup truck. They’d spent every possible moment together, and yet it hadn’t been enough. She’d gone to bed each night anticipating the next time she’d see him.

  And then that day had happened and everything crumbled at her feet. She’d watched her father be taken away in handcuffs. Her seventeen-year-old heart couldn’t take it all in. Visiting Noah at the jail with her uncle, Jamie had never seen her father look so desolate. The tears in his eyes haunted her to this day.

  The trial that followed had been nothing but a sham. Her father’s attorney kept insisting that he should take a plea, but Noah refused. He was innocent, and innocent people didn’t go to jail.