Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard (shoe dog free ebook .txt) 📗

she remains independent. But if things get worse, I’m all she’s got.”

“You’re a good man, Jack.” Terra stared at him.

He struggled to believe those words coming from her, of all people. He wanted to be a good man. He tried to be, even as he constantly fought the fear that he had a weakness that would cause him to fail, to let someone down. Like his father had let him down in the worst possible way. Terra knew some of that struggle inside him. Did she know it played the biggest role in his leaving her behind and pursuing the FBI?

“I was sorry to hear about your cousin’s death last year.” Terra frowned at her empty plate, then glanced up at him. “I know it’s hard to talk about. I just wanted you to know. You came back for your aunt to comfort her, didn’t you?”

How much should he tell her? He nodded. “Yes. It was then that I learned about the dementia.”

“And decided to stay.” Terra reached over and pressed her hand over his.

Guilt suffused him. There was so much more to it. He wanted to tell her, but not yet. Maybe not ever.

“Like I said, you’re a good man.” Her cheeks colored, and she turned her attention to taking their plates to the sink.

I wish you’d stop saying that.

How could she say that—think that—after what he’d done, the way he’d left and hurt her? How did he even broach that topic or begin to apologize? He found it difficult to even thank her for the compliment, because there were things she didn’t know that would probably change her mind about him if she found out. He had to turn this conversation far away from him.

“And not only do you make great pies, you’re a great investigator. I always knew you would make something of yourself. Something worthy of the legacy from which you came.”

There, he’d subtly let her know his thoughts. He hadn’t been cut from that same kind of hero cloth, and the two of them sewn together just wouldn’t work. That served as a great reminder to him. He had thought if he could make something of himself, things could be different. But he’d failed in the worst kind of way. He wasn’t even man enough to own up to the truth with Aunt Nadine.

Except his compliment had earned him a frown. She hadn’t liked his reference to her mother’s heroism? He opened his mouth to ask her more—

“We need to talk about the investigation,” she said. “There’s something I’ve been thinking I should do.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Jack crossed his arms.

“I need to pay a visit to a friend in prison.”

“You have a friend in prison?”

“Friend is a loose term. I put a man in prison when I testified six months ago about an illegal pothunting ring. It was part of a sting I was involved in with the NPS.”

“You mentioned that before.”

“I’m not sure if he’ll have anything to share with us. I don’t know that even if he does know something, he’ll be willing to share. But it’s worth a try.”

“And if he won’t share information?”

“I’ll threaten him, of course.”

Jack leaned back in his chair, almost amused. “With what?”

A crooked grin hitched half her face. “His mother.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll threaten to tell her a few things that he doesn’t want her to know.”

Jack scratched his head. “Okay, I look forward to hearing more about this.”

His cell buzzed with a text. He read it out loud.

Couldn’t find Neva Bolz’s computer or laptop. No cell either.

Jack looked at Terra. “Seems she must have kept important information on her devices.”

Terra leaned against the counter. “Important enough to murder her and steal?”

“The guy we chased wasn’t carrying a laptop.”

“No, but he could have had her cell or even a tablet on him.”

Jack replied to the text as he said, “I’m requesting that all her digital devices be tracked, if possible. We’ll need to search her office at her place of employment too.”

“If she actually has one. Maybe she’s a freelance consultant.”

“We’re looking into all of it and should know something in the morning.” They needed a good solid lead into the person behind the deaths. Jack was glad he’d tasked Linda with watching over the private investigator.

He hoped Neva’s death would be the last. It was one thing to track a serial killer or a human trafficker while working in the FBI, but here in this county in a low-population state like Montana, it boggled his mind.

Owen stepped into the kitchen, and Jack put his cell away.

“You guys are going to eat all the pie!” He rushed to the counter.

Jack had only ever met Owen once. He was in the Middle East when Jack met Terra, and then he came home for a bit. It was later that Jack pulled his big disappearing act, and no doubt Owen heard from Terra and her grandfather that Jack had led her on and then abandoned her.

“I’ll get you a big slice, Owen,” Terra said. “You remember Jack, don’t you?”

Owen’s smile was genuine as he sat at the table, so Jack relaxed—if only a little. Owen thrust out his hand, and Jack shook it.

“I hope you’re coming to the welcome home party this weekend.”

“Well”—Jack looked to Terra—“I’d love to. That is, if I’m invited.”

“You’re invited.” Owen’s smile grew bigger as he stuffed his face with pie and eyed Terra.

When she finally slid her gaze to Jack, he hoped she would answer his silent question—Do you want me there?

But he was left with the awkward sense that she would not have invited him.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Sitting in the cabin near the forest’s edge at the Gallatin Motel and Cabins where he was staying, Chance was officially out of funds, but he couldn’t go back to his life until he resolved the missing package.

Blevins had been paid to forget.

But Chance had chosen to forget.

What had Blevins meant? He hadn’t given him the opportunity to find out, because he left the bar when a