41

Lincoln Medical Center

Fayetteville, 6:50 p.m.

Bent opened the passenger-side door of his truck and waited for Vera to climb in. Until that moment, he d scarcely been able to breathe.

She said not one word until he was behind the wheel and driving out of the hospital parking lot. No surprise.

Are you satisfied now? She shot him a glare as she struggled to rip off the wristband the nurse had put in place despite her argument that she was fine and didn t need to see a doctor.

Bent took a necessary moment before he answered.

Twenty-three years. He had not seen or spoken to this woman in nearly twenty-three years, or thereabouts. He d thought of her hundreds-maybe thousands-of times. Dreamed about her. Wondered about her.

Then she waltzed into town, and suddenly he was right back there, twenty-odd years ago, thinking he couldn t breathe deeply enough without her.

But he had, and he could.

He just hadn t wanted to . . . didn t want to now.

He was a fool. No question. She might not be going back to Memphis, but when this was over, she would land somewhere. Anywhere but here. How many times had he heard her say as much back then about the future?

You hit your head twice, he reminded her as he navigated onto Thornton Taylor Parkway. The airbag deployed. You could have had a concussion or a skull fracture or even fractured ribs from the airbag. There was no way to be sure without the x-rays and the CT scan.

And an EKG. And blood work. And every damned thing else you and that overly zealous doctor-who I m guessing is a friend of yours-could think of! All for the four stitches in my hairline. She ended her rant. Took a breath. Butterfly strips would have done the trick. She exhaled a big breath and braced her arms across her chest.

She was not happy. Vera Mae Boyett had never liked being bossed around or feeling as if she were not in charge. Evidently that hadn t changed. Or maybe she just got prickly when in a vulnerable position.

I wanted to make sure you were okay. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel at the memory of finding her.

She had called Bent and claimed she needed a ride without mentioning the reason. Assuming she d run out of gas or had a mechanical issue, he drove to her location. When he arrived, she was standing on the side of the road, not far from her wrecked vehicle, which was straddling the ditch in an odd position. As he drew closer, he saw the blood dripping down her forehead, and that was when he lost it. He would never get that image out of his head. Never. His gut clenched even now.

Just take me home, she muttered.

Between x-rays and blood draws, he d had one of his deputies take her statement about the vehicle that ran her off the road. He d been in no frame of mind to do so. Though she hadn t gotten the license plate number, her description was damned good for someone facing an oncoming seven- or eight-thousand-pound vehicle with little time to react to the threat.

If he found out who did this . . . there would be serious hell to pay, and that was after he d beaten the ever-loving daylights out of the driver.

The silence the rest of the way to her farm was deafening. Bent thought of several things he should ask her, but he wasn t ready to have his head bitten off again. While they d waited for results from all the tests, she d told him about her morning. The people she had interviewed and those she hadn t been able to locate.

He d wanted to be pissed that she hadn t waited for him to do all those interviews with her, but he d figured it was best to keep that to himself since he d strong-armed her into an ER visit. It was always smart to tread carefully with Vee when she was this angry. A smile tugged at his lips, but he suppressed it. Nice to know she wasn t perfect all the time, even if she seemed damned perfect most of the time. He glanced at her. Damned beautiful too.

She caught him looking and glowered. What? I told you everything.

His smile couldn t be stopped then. I didn t say otherwise.

He made the right turn into her driveway, rolled forward until he reached the parking area. Other than the county cruiser, no other vehicles were there. Luna was likely closing at the library tonight or already out with Jerome, and Eve worked all kinds of hours at the funeral home. Bent climbed out, rounded the hood, but Vera was already out before he reached her door. She had never liked needing anyone else, especially when she was angry.

He nodded to the deputy keeping watch and followed Vera to the porch. He held out his hand for the key, and she gave it to him with a big exhale, as if doing so had been a tremendous burden. He had a feeling that being back in her hometown and having all this insanity from the past crop up was unsettling her. Damned sure was unsettling him. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. She followed.

I should have a look around. He surveyed the hall and as far as he could see into the living room.

She slammed the door shut. Please. If the intruder is back and he didn t hear your truck when you arrived or me slam the door just now and hasn t climbed out a window, he s pretty damned pathetic as an intruder. And your deputy would be a damned sad surveillant.

He shrugged, figured laughing would just piss her off all the more. All right then. You need to lie down or something?

Big mistake. Her expression shifted to some pissed-off zone he doubted he wanted to experience. Too late now.

Are you serious? Four sets of human remains were taken from a cave on this property. Someone-Preston Higdon, I am confident-has broken into this house twice, no less, and another someone-maybe a friend of his-ran me off the road. No, I do not want to lie down. I want to know what he was looking for and why I m a target.

All right then.

Bent took off his hat and placed it on the table next to the door. Where would you like to start? Should I go to his house and kick his ass? Beat the truth out of him?

She looked away, but his suggestions had done the trick. Her posture visibly relaxed. She plopped her shoulder bag and the keys next to his hat. We should search the house. Maybe I missed something. She shook her head. We can start upstairs, I suppose. We ll work our way down.

Good plan, he agreed.

Room by room they took the upstairs apart and found exactly nothing relevant. Nothing an intruder could possibly want. Nothing that related to the case. Bent had to admit that he got a kick out of searching Vera s room. It was exactly the same as when she was in high school. He d only been in her room once back then-one of the times he had visited her mama. Everything about it was pure Vee. The determination and the energy. She was something.

Downstairs they repeated the same steps. Every drawer, every shelf, every nook and cranny were searched. Vera was damned good at not missing potential hiding places. No surprise. She was a highly trained analyst who had helped create a cutting-edge team. She hadn t gotten so far without expertise in many areas.

She stopped in the middle of the living room and turned to him, looking exhausted and frustrated and just a little bit vulnerable. I believe we ve covered everything. Vera collapsed on the couch.

The bandage on her forehead made his chest feel too tight. When he found out who did this . . . He shook off the thought. I should see what I can whip up for dinner, he suggested. Then I ll get out of your hair and let you get some rest.

Are you going to talk to Preston? she asked, sounding incensed before he even answered the question.

I will, yes. He set his hands on his hips and readied for battle. But you get that he s a judge. I wouldn t want to walk in accusing him of a crime without any evidence.

The aftershave, she argued. It was the one the intruder was wearing, and how many men around here do you think wear two-thousand-dollar aftershave?

I get that. He nodded for emphasis. But maybe it was a knockoff brand.

She made a face at the suggestion. Does he or someone he knows drive a big black SUV? I find it a very big coincidence that this vehicle ran me off the road only a couple of hours after I spoke to him. Especially considering that during our conversation I mentioned the aftershave. I told you that, and it was not a knockoff.

She really was tired. She was repeating herself. Very un-Vera-like. And she had to know that black SUVs were a dime a dozen. God and everybody owned one.

The sound of the front door opening had them both moving into the hall.

Luna, then Eve, walked in.

Saved by the bell. Bent hoped he was off the hook about the judge until he could do some digging. As much as he wanted to charge into the man s house, he had to keep his cool and be smart about this. Vera was not thinking straight. She was emotionally involved and angry.

Oh my goodness, Luna cried, staring at Vera. Are you all right? She threw down her bag and rushed to her sister. One of Jerome s friends works at the hospital and called him.

Eve was a little slower, but she did basically the same thing. She flinched when she looked at the bandage. You okay?

Vera nodded, then winced at the movement. I m fine. Just pissed. That s all.

I can vouch for that, Bent warned, holding up a hand.

The sisters laughed; Vera rolled her eyes, but she was smiling just a little.

I ordered food from the Local, Luna said. It ll be here any minute.

Maybe this was his cue to go. He had some research to do.

Maybe some ass to kick.