Larger Than Life by Alison Kent (bill gates books recommendations .TXT) 📗

with a snort. "He said it was two hundred thousand dollars."

Neva gasped. "What?"

Holden frowned. "That's impossible. The Paisleys own that store. I know them both."

Yancey remained silent, obviously struggling with his own disbelief, finally narrowing his eyes at Liberty. "Are you sure about that—"

"Yes, I'm sure. God!" The teenage drama queen switched into high gear. "He didn't know where it came from or how it got in the bag. But it had to belong to the guys who came after him later. The ones with the guns."

"Whoa. Wait just a second—"

"I'm telling the truth, Sheriff." She pleaded with him to believe. "We ditched his truck at one of the back gates into his dad's ranch. It's probably still there. He thought someone was following us, so we ran. He wanted to hide in an old hunting blind. He'd put it back up after his dad tore it down and he thought we'd be safe there."

Yancey pondered that for only a moment. "I know where that is. It's a plot he used to lease."

"We never got there," Liberty added, moving closer to Neva, who wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and absorbed what she could of her tremors. "I fell down and couldn't run and then my shoe broke. There were all these trucks and lights and men shouting, and Jase ran off. Then I heard gunshots. And Jase screaming."

Neva stroked her hand over the girl's hair. "Oh, sweetie. You must've been so scared. What did you do?"

Liberty sniffed. "This guy, one of the ones after Jase, he told me to walk toward the county road. So I did."

"He let you go?" Holden asked. "Just like that?"

She nodded. "No one else was around. He told me if I told anyone what had happened that he would kill me. That's why I came here." She turned her beseeching gaze to Neva. "I'd heard the rumors and thought I'd be safe here. I'd have to answer too many questions back in Earnestine, and I couldn't. I knew the guy with the dreadlocks was telling the truth." She swallowed hard. "That he'd kill me if I talked."

"Dreadlocks?"

Liberty nodded at Holden's question. "He was black. And had an accent. Like, Jamaican."

The sheriff returned his sunglasses to his face, his notebook and pen to his pocket, and headed for the showroom's door, leaving the three of them with a curt, "Excuse me."

Deciding they could all do with a bit of fresh air, Neva gestured for Holden and Liberty to follow, closing up behind them as the Mitchell family attorney took Liberty under his wing, guiding her around the side of the Barn to the picnic table on the porch.

Neva followed the duo and the dog, passing the sheriff's car in time to hear a snippet of Yancey's radio call, a mention of a development in the Bremmer case, a request for a state crime scene unit to be called in.

As appalled as she was at what Liberty had been through, Neva couldn't help but send up a prayer of thanks that her intuition had kicked in days ago when the girl had arrived at her door. Liberty's cries hadn't resonated with the same desperate distress as those of the girls Neva helped whisk away from Earnestine in the middle of the night.

The teen had been upset, but she hadn't wanted to talk about why she'd come to the Barn. That reluctance had been Neva's first clue that Liberty's plea for a job wasn't about a forced marriage. Taking her in as a boarder and putting her to work had given the situation time to come to a head. An ugly head, yes, but Liberty was safe, and Neva had dodged another bullet aimed at the Big Brown Barn.

She settled onto the bench beside the girl and leaned in close. "Are you okay?"

Liberty nodded. "I didn't know how much that was killing me to keep inside. I mean, I'm scared—"

"Don't be." Holden pushed off from the end of the table on which he'd been leaning and knelt at her side. "You've done nothing wrong. You're not alone in this. And no one is going to get to you. Trust me."

He sounded so warm and sincerely human that even Neva had to consciously stop herself from being sucked in. Toads of his nature didn't have it in them to be so compassionate, but she didn't have time to analyze the reason for the act.

In the next second, Candy walked onto the porch from the studio into which she'd obviously disappeared earlier, Spencer in her wake. She glanced at the group sitting around the table. "Is everything okay?"

Neva gave a small shrug. "I think so. Liberty's been through a bit of an adventure, but the sheriff's on it."

"Does it have to do with Jase being missing?" Spencer asked.

Liberty nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to him."

"Shh." Holden. Calming again. "The only thing that matters now is getting you home, and letting your parents see for themselves that you're safe and sound."

"Do you think that's wise?" Neva didn't like how this pat ending to the drama was going Holden's way. She didn't like it at all. "Liberty can stay here as long as her parents give their permission. It's not like we don't have plenty of space. If she's in danger, being away from Earnestine might not be a bad thing."

The sheriff walked up then, interrupting what would more than likely have been Holden's objection. "Miss Mitchell, I may need to ask you more questions later, but in the meantime, I'll drive you home."

So much for her concern, she mused, looking up at the sound of another vehicle arriving unexpectedly. A big black Range Rover with dark-tinted windows spit gravel and rooster tails of dust on its way down the road from the house to the Barn. She wanted to groan; she so did not need anyone else bringing trouble to her doorstep today.

The SUV pulled in beside the sheriff's car, and everyone at the table turned