Night's Landing by Carla Neggers Read Free Book Online

had become something of a surrogate daughter to them. In some ways, they’d been more reliable and solid—more available—than her own parents.
    “Sarah…the media…” Wes hesitated, a rarity for him. “They’ll zero in on my relationship with your family at some point. Right now, there’s no indication that Rob was targeted because of it.”
    Sarah nearly dropped the phone.
    Juliet Longstreet took a step toward her, her expression tight, alert.
    “Wes!” Sarah choked, gripping the phone. “My God, that never even occurred to me!”
    “I’m mentioning it only because it could come up as a theory, and I don’t want you to be blindsided.” The strain in his voice, famous for its ability to soothe yet sound commanding, was evident. “Honey, you just focus on being there for Rob. I’ll worry about the rest of it.”
    “Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say.
    “Ev sends her love.”
    “I love you both. Thank you for calling.”
    After Sarah hung up, Juliet pulled the drapes. “Do you mind if I ask who that was?” she asked.
    Sarah’s heart thumped painfully in her chest. Her eyes felt squeezed. In Scotland, for weeks—for most of John Wesley Poe’s first months in office—she hadn’t had to deal with the reality that her closest and oldest family friend had been elected president of the United States.
    “Sarah?”
    “Wes. Wes Poe. He and my father go way back. My mother went to college with him. She almost married him.” Sarah winced, wondering why she’d brought that up. “Supposedly. You never know with my family.”
    “Jesus Christ,” Juliet said under her breath, then snapped up straight, looking every inch the federal agent she was. “All right. No goddamn way am I leaving you to your own devices tonight. Either we switch to a double room and I camp out with you, or you take the futon at my place.”
    “Would I be sleeping with the fish or the plants?”
    She managed a crooked smile. “Both. You’ll see.”
    Since she’d be sleeping in a strange bed no matter what she did, Sarah rose and grabbed her suitcase. She had no intention of making Juliet spend the night in a hotel after the day they’d both had—and there was no way Sarah was going to talk Deputy Longstreet into leaving her alone.
    “Rob never mentioned we were friends with President Poe?”
    “No.”
    “He didn’t want it to affect him on the job—”
    “We weren’t always on the job.” Juliet bit off a sigh. “We worked out okay before he was transferred to New York. I knew your family was white bread, but—” She tore open the door, grinding her teeth. “You didn’t happen to mention your friendship with the president to the FBI, did you? Collins? He talked to you, right?”
    “He asked me about my phone call from Rob. Our friendship with the president didn’t come up.”
    “Trust me,” Deputy Longstreet said, walking out into the hall, “it will.”
     
     
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    Ethan switched off CNN and listened to the crickets out in the dark. He had the windows in his cottage open. The breeze had died down, making the crickets even more noticeable. He almost turned the television back on, but he didn’t think he could take one more idiot talking about the possible firearm the sniper could have used. What the hell difference did it make? Two federal agents were in the hospital. Go find the fucker.
    He put his feet up on the old flat-topped trunk set up as a coffee table, its wood varnished to a high gloss, probably hurting its value as an antique. The Dunnemores didn’t seem to think much in terms of antiques. A different sort of family, for sure. Eccentrics. Ethan’s parents were ranchers in West Texas. Hard working, well-respected. They had no idea what their younger son was up to.
    Char’s father was a widower, career military, who pretty much thought Ethan had killed her.
    He wasn’t that far off.
    FOX News had done a diagram of the kind of wound Rob Dunnemore might have