Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger Read Free Book Online

his holster.
    “You have the right to remain silent,” he said stiffly.
    Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.
    Triumphantly, he finished reading us our rights.
    “Irwin, I came over here as a friend of Mary Farnsworth. Sam Abbott sent me. But even if that were not the case, I’d like to remind you that I’m an officer of the law and could just as easily have come in that capacity to investigate her death.”
    “Hell you could. Not without my permission. You don’t have the authority. She died in my county. My jurisdiction.”
    “You’re crazy,” I blurted, then thought, and shut up. We had built the church on the corner of four counties for the sake of unity, and not given any consideration to the other implications. St. Helena would be exempt from paying real estate tax, and after a brief squabble over its description in a brochure, law enforcement problems hadn’t crossed my mind.
    I had simply assumed Mary’s death was in my bailiwick.
    I glanced at Josie. She was regal, icy. Stone cold furious. I knew this although her face was still. Totally without expression. The quiet of a clinical psychologist required to stifle emotion in front of a psychotic client capable of violence. I closed my eyes. Deal would be extremely sorry for this stupid move.
    But Josie’s retribution would be in the future. This was now. He had not given us a choice. He was the sheriff in this town, this county, right here and now. We could not stop him from arresting us, but I could break the bastard’s balls tomorrow.
    “I get one phone call,” I said.
    “And I get one too,” Josie added.
    “We need a moment to talk about this,” I said.
    He looked unsure. I took Josie’s arm and we marched into the ladies restroom, knowing Deal wouldn’t follow us simply because the sign said “women.”
    “I can’t believe this shit,” Josie said. “Why in god’s name you would want to live out here in this dogpatch piece of…”
    “Shut up,” I snapped. “Don’t start any of that. We’ve got to use our heads. He will hold us to that one phone call and we need to make it count.”
    “Mine is going to be to Harold,” she said.
    I laughed. “Perfect. Just absolutely totally perfect.” Harold Sider was a retired FBI agent and a lawyer to boot. He was a registered consultant in my county as was Josie. Harold would blaze right out here with enough authority to banish Irwin into outer space.
    “And you? You’ll be calling Sam, of course.”
    “Actually, no. He and Keith are probably still outside trading bullshit. I can’t take a chance that they’ll hear the phone. I’m going to call our dispatcher, Betty Central, and ask her to page Sam and get ahold of Troy Doyle and ask him to drive out to our farm. Betty will make sure they get the message. And I’ll have her double check to make sure you get through to Harold.” I fished in my purse for a notebook.
    “I have Harold on speed-dial,” she said.
    “Wait. Let’s make a list. Make sure we think of everything beforehand. Betty’s a pain, like plugging into Twitter. This will be all over the state in a flash. However, she has her virtues, and will do everything we ask. She’s like a rat terrier worrying a mouse.”
    We meekly walked into the main office. Deal nodded toward the telephone. He leaned against the wall, standing on one leg, his other shoe cocked against the cheap paneling, his arms folded across his chest, faking a Hollywood law officer stance.
    Casual, casual, but his eyes gleamed with malice. “Phone’s right there.” He nodded toward it. “You each get one.”
    “Why Sheriff Deal, that would be illegal. I can’t use Mary’s funds to pay for this kind of call.” Honey dripped from my tongue. “I know you want to do this right.” I stuck out my wrists.
    His face darkened. “Don’t think that’s necessary,” he mumbled.
    “No, I understand that you want to do everything just right.” Behind me, Josie snorted. “I know you’ll want us to make