Heinous by Debra Webb Read Free Book Online

the sheriff for some other reason.
    McPherson looked directly at Jess before he turned, climbed back into his truck, and drove away. Perhaps he only wanted to find out what all the fuss was about.
    “Jackson County was part of his territory,” Foster explained. “He was buddies with the trooper who worked the accident your parents were in.” The sheriff glanced out over the water. “He was new to the area back then.”
    “Did McPherson have a part in the investigation?” The one report Jess had read was the trooper’s report. Unfortunately, the trooper was now deceased. Lori had checked for a BPD investigation related to the accident but hadn’t found one. Apparently, Buddy Corlew’s source had gotten that one wrong. If the BPD investigated her parents’ deaths, there was no record of the case.
    Foster shrugged. “Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the troopers are both part of Public Safety. Mac was pretty hands-on with his jurisdiction, you know. Anything went on down here, he wanted to know about it.”
    Do tell
. “I’m certain men like McPherson make your citizens feel safe.”
    “You got it,” Foster confirmed. He turned his attention back to the Impala for a moment. “We’ll go ahead and make the call to the Joint Task Force on this and hand over the evidence. Let me know if I can do anything else for you, Chief.”
    Jess thanked the sheriff and started the climb back up to the street.
    “I have McPherson’s home address and phone number.” As usual, Lori hadn’t wasted any time preparing for the next move. “I can set up a meet.”
    “Let’s not give him a heads up.” Jess paused to fan her face once they reached the asphalt again. The temperature had to be ninety-five. “Sometimes surprise visits prove far more informative.”
    Lori rounded the hood of her Mustang. “Not to mention more interesting.”
     
    Tupelo Pike, 2:15 p.m.
    “The truck’s here.” Lori eased into the gravel drive, parking squarely behind the black Ford pickup McPherson had been driving.
    The front door was open, but the screen door prevented Jess from seeing inside. Or maybe it was the darkness. There was no visible light beyond the tightly drawn shades of the windows. Maybe McPherson liked the dark. He’d worked this jurisdiction for over thirty years, eventually making Scottsboro his home. According to Foster, McPherson had made it his business to know the people and the place. How had he missed what the Brownfields were doing right under his nose?
    Notification that she’d received a text had Jess digging for her phone. Why was it the darned thing always found its way to the very bottom of her bag? She read the message from Sylvia. “Dr. Baron would like us at her office before five.”
    Lori checked the time. “As long as we head that way by three-fifteen, I can make it happen. Gives us an hour before we need to leave.”
    Jess contemplated the modest home with its painted clapboard siding and shingled roof. “An hour should be plenty of time to get this guy’s story.”
Unless he has something to hide
.
    Five seconds after she and Lori were out of the Mustang, a deep, throaty growl made the hair on the back of Jess’s neck stand on end and had her calculating whether it was quicker to go for the car door or for the hood.
    Jump or dive?
    The German shepherd lunged off the porch.
    Wishing for pepper spray, Jess held her ground. On the street behind her, a car door slammed. Her surveillance detail was coming. Completely focused on her and Lori, the dog didn’t seem to notice the approaching uniform.
    “Come here, boy,” Lori said firmly.
    The dog waited halfway between where he’d hit the ground and where they stood at the front of the Mustang. Body tense, tail high and wagging slowly, he shifted his full attention toward Lori.
    “Get back in the car,” she said to Jess. “I got this.”
    Not happening
. Jess reached into her bag. She had crackers in there somewhere. The dog growled again, raising