Dead Heat by Kathleen Brooks Read Free Book Online Page A

see what she has to say first.”
    “All clear. No one new snooping around. Just the regular tourists,” Miss Daisy reported.
    “How do you know they are tourists and not the shooter?” She could tell Cole thought he had them.
    “Why don’t you just sit there and look pretty, we know what we’re doing.”
    Paige snorted. The look on Cole’s face was too much. She had tried to suppress the laugh and snorted instead.
    “First, Kenna is fine. A couple months of rehab for the shot to the shoulder and she’ll be back to normal. Dani suffered a collapsed lung and is in the ICU. The bullet luckily hit a rib and shattered it, but got imbedded in the rib and only partly in the lung. There was surgery to remove the bullet and to clean up the rib the best they could. She’ll be in the hospital at least a week. They are cautiously optimistic about a full recovery.”
    “Oh, love their hearts. We’ll all start praying for them. I’ll go start the phone tree.” Miss Violet started back into the cafe to get the tree.
    “No!” Cole shouted.
    “Why ever not, dear?”
    “We need the assassin to think they are dead. They’ll be safer that way. If he knows they are alive, then he’ll have to finish the job.” Paige was relieved when she heard the murmurs of the crowd agreeing with her.
    “I can take care of that.” A petite woman with mousy brown hair tied in a loose bun raised her head.
    “Marianne! I am so glad you’re here tonight. You think you can write up something nice?”
    “Sure. I’ll put it online right now and then it will go out in the paper day after tomorrow.”
    “Who’s that and what is she going to do?” Cole whispered to her.
    “She’s the owner and operator of the Keeneston Journal. She’ll put in a nice story about how they died. She’s very good. Everyone reads the obits because of how well she treats them. Lots of papers just stick them in the back, but she puts them in the first section of the paper.”
    “Thank you, Marianne. That would be a great help to my investigation. Also, can I ask you all to do me a favor?” Cole leaned toward the open window to get everyone’s attention. “It is crucial that no one knows they are alive. However, we also have the problem that Paige here saw the shooter and he saw her. He’ll be back to finish the job. I need you all to be on the lookout for a man in his forties, no visible tattoos, short brown hair, athletic, and around five ten. Call me immediately if you see anyone fitting that description. I don’t know when, but I would bet my life he’ll be around here again real soon trying to find out if the girls are dead and to tie up his one loose end, Paige.”
    The crowd gasped and Paige was torn between rolling her eyes at his dramatic speech or running to hide under her bed in fear. She knew she was in a serious spot, and she was prepared to face it in the tough girl persona being raised with five brothers gave you. But, on some level, she knew this was different than walking the roof beam in the hay barn to prove she was just as good as the boys. This was her life. Cole must have noticed the shift in her because he placed his hand on her knee and gave it an encouraging squeeze. She looked down at his hand and groaned again. She hadn’t shaved yet this week and her legs were all prickly.
    “It’ll be okay. Come on let’s get you home.” She and Cole waved by to the group whom the Rose sisters were already herding back into the cafe to formulate some kind of plan.
     
    The second they got close enough to her store to see the cars lining the street, Paige knew she was in trouble. She recognized the Sheriff’s cruiser and four of her brother’s cars. But, what worried her more was the old white Volvo station wagon belonging to her mother parked right in front of the building.
    “Looks like we have a full house tonight.” Cole said as he searched for a place to park.
    “There’s private parking around back. Just turn into that alley