Autumn's Shadow by Lyn Cote Read Free Book Online Page A

was going around bragging about it. He doubted it. She struck him as a straight arrow. But it explained the mystery of how such a young woman filled that position—and at a school where her younger brother was a student. Not a good position to be in, he thought with sympathy. And her own father had engineered that awkward position for her. What a jerk .
    Burke had met Keely only two days ago, but he already knew how embarrassed she'd be if she'd overheard her father's speech. While working on a case, it wasn't like him to focus on a woman, let his feelings get involved. But Keely Turner wasn't like any woman he'd ever met. Burke took another step down. "If you'll excuse me, I've got places I have to be."
    "Right." Turner looked surprised as though he wasn't used to others ending conversations with him. "Don't waste any time wrapping up this investigation. I want whoever took potshots at my daughter caught ASAP."
    We are in complete agreement there, Turner. But he repeated in a firm tone, "We are investigating all possibilities, but your assumption doesn't seem likely." Burke ended with a curt nod. He headed for his Jeep, going over a second time what Keely's father had said and wondering why the man had taken the time to stop and talk to him. Maybe Turner was just an over-protective father. Or was he checking Burke out?
    Turner knew that Burke had been with Keely late last night, so was he laying down the groundwork to tell Burke that he wasn't good enough for his daughter? Unnecessary. Then the memory of Keely's slender form reclining in the—
    Burke's cell phone rang. It was Rodd. "We've received two anonymous phone calls about the shooting. One caller said that he'd seen Grady Turner in LaFollette last night about the time of the shooting."
    Keely had said her brother was grounded last night. Had she said that on purpose? He didn't think so. "Why would he shoot at his sister's windows?"
    "According to the caller, everyone knows that Grady has a chip on his shoulder about his sister and . . ."
    "And?" Had this been on Keely's mind last night? She d mentioned friction at home.
    "And he has a twenty-two rifle. That's what you're looking to match, right?"
    "Right. Did the second caller say the same or something different?"
    Rodd paused before replying. "I didn't mention this before, but two people from the neighborhood whom I questioned said they saw Harlan's truck near the high school right before the shooting."
    Burke's stomach clenched. That meant Nick had been in the vicinity of the shooting last night. Again, he heard Nick's lame excuse for not showing up for dinner: "I wasn't hungry. I just drove around and came home. What's the big deal?"
    Was Nick capable of shooting out school windows? God, forgive me. How could I have been so blind to the fact that my sister and Nick needed me? Now e v en his recent target practice with Nick—something he'd thought would bring them together—now took on the appearance of further negligence on his part. I never thought . . .
    If this accusation proved to be true, how would he explain this to his sister? Burke cleared his throat. "Do you want me to pursue these leads, get bullets from both kids' guns? Do you think Turner would make us get a search—"
    "Hold up. This is a small town. I don't want to damage either kid's reputation by casting suspicion his way on the basis of anonymous calls. There's no rush. After Walachek's recent gaff, the judge has decided this time to keep Walachek in jail on charges so we have time. Before we ask for any more search warrants, let's check out the most obvious suspect, Walachek. You still going to send Walachek's bullets to Hansen at MPD?"
    "Yeah. Hansen still owes me a few favors, and the state lab could hold this up for weeks. I'm sending the evidence off right after I hang up—"
    "Wait." Rodd stopped him. "You have to head straight to the high school first."
    "Why? Did something else happen?" Burke's voice rosin disbelief.
    "Keely Turner