Rugged Defender. B.J. Daniels

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       Chapter Five

      The next morning, Chloe woke more determined than ever. She knew her sisters were right about the possible danger, but that wasn’t going to stop her. In the first place, she didn’t believe that Justin was guilty no matter what anyone thought. In the second place, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with the accidental death ruling.

      Yesterday, she’d gotten the impression that the sheriff had thought it was a suicide but was willing to let the coroner rule it accidental. Bert didn’t believe that any more than he would have believed that his oldest son shot himself.

      If she was right, someone had murdered Drew and gotten away with it. All she had to do was find out who wanted him dead five years ago. Even as she thought it, she recalled what the sheriff had said about Justin and Drew having an argument earlier in the day.

      What if she was wrong about Justin and her investigation ended up leading her straight to him? Wasn’t that what the sheriff had been trying to warn her about?

      It was a chance she was going to have to take.

      She’d stayed up late last night going over the case file and coroner’s report on Drew Calhoun’s death. So when the phone rang, it took her a moment to wake up, let alone find it and answer.

      As she hit Accept, she realized it could be Justin. “Hello?”

      Silence.

      “Hello?” She blinked at the clock beside her bed. Two thirty in the morning? A wrong number? A drunk butt-dial after the bars closed?

      She started to hang up when she heard a raspy whisper and couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman on the line. “Stop nosing into things that aren’t your business. Drew Calhoun is dead. Leave it alone or you’ll regret it.”

      “Who is this?” she demanded. But the caller was gone. She felt a chill as she disconnected. She hadn’t expected word to get out so soon that she was looking into Drew’s death—let alone to get a threatening phone call. Why would someone be worried about what she might find unless Drew really was murdered?

      With a shudder she realized she just might have heard from the killer who would be watching her and waiting for her to get too close.

      * * *

      IT TOOK A while for her to get back to sleep. With daylight though, she was even more determined to get to the truth.

      But where to begin? A name came to mind. She groaned, dreading it, but if anyone knew something back then, it just might be the woman Justin was seeing five years ago. She showered, dressed and had a quick breakfast before her sisters got up. It didn’t take but one phone call to find out where Nici Kent was now living. It was a short walk, since crossing the entire town took only about fifteen minutes on foot.

      Nici answered the door with a scowl. “Really?” She didn’t look any different than she had yesterday at the soup kitchen—except she wasn’t wearing a hairnet.

      “Really,” Chloe said. “I need to talk to you.”

      “I can’t imagine why.”

      Chloe smiled. “Let me in and maybe you’ll find out.”

      Nici shook her head. “My sister’s kid’s been squalling all morning at the top of his lungs. You want to talk? Then we’d better take a walk.” She grabbed her coat and, pulling it on, closed the door and started down the steps.

      They walked toward the park near the river.

      “I was hoping you might be able to help me,” Chloe said. The morning was cold and clear. She could see her breath with each word. Hands stuffed into her coat pockets, she debated how to get Nici to talk.

      “Help you?” The woman gave her a skeptical look. “I doubt you’d be dumb enough to ask me for money, so you must need—”

      “Information.”

      Nici laughed. “What kind of information is it you think I can give you?”

      They’d reached the park and were almost to the footbridge that crossed the river. Everything close to the water was covered with a thick coating of frost, making the world around them a winter white. “Drew Calhoun.”

      The woman stopped walking to turn to look at her. “Why would you be asking about him?”

      Chloe could see that she was going to have to lay all her cards on the table. “I got a call in the middle of last night from someone warning me to stop investigating Drew Calhoun’s death. You wouldn’t know anything about that call, would you?”

      Nici said nothing as she climbed up on the bridge.

      Chloe followed, stepping up onto the snow-covered bridge and starting across the frozen river. “You were dating his brother, Justin, five years ago. If anyone knows what was going on with Drew and his brother it would be you.”

      Nici stopped so abruptly, Chloe almost collided with her. It took her a moment to get her balance on the slippery snow.

      “What is it you’re after?” Nici demanded.

      “The truth.”

      The woman scoffed and began walking again, stopping in the middle of the bridge to look down. “It’s over. Best leave it alone.”

      “That’s what the caller said, but is it over? Is it over for Justin?”

      Leaning on the metal railing, Nici looked at her, her eyes narrowing. “I know about you and Justin.”

      “There isn’t much to know,” Chloe said. “But I’d like to see him vindicated.”

      “So it’s like that,” the woman said, studying her. “You know he’s back in town.” She chuckled when she saw Chloe’s surprised expression. “So you didn’t know. He said he’s come back to make amends. That tell you anything?”

      “I don’t believe he killed his brother.”