Read Online Rausch & Donlon - Can Be Murder 03 - Writing Can Be Murder by Marilyn Rausch, Mary Donlon - Free Book Online Page A

I just got it from Franco. Name on the rental was Gomez. He used an
international driver’s license. You know him?”
    Chip
looked at the grainy photo of a man with a mustache wearing a baseball cap and
wrap-around sunglasses. “Doesn’t look familiar to me. Guess I don’t have to
keep an eye out for an Escalade anymore; do I?”
    “Nonetheless
Chip, be cautious and call me if you notice anything unusual. I’ll send out an
APB to local law enforcement and the Iowa State Patrol.”
    The
chief returned the printout to his pocket. “Right now I’ve got a couple of cows
missing…that’s about as much excitement as I want in this town. Or ever again,
to be honest.”
    Being
vigilant in Turners Bend seemed unnecessary to Chip. He knew almost everyone
and a stranger in town would stick out like a corn stalk in a melon patch. He
lulled himself into a cocoon of small-community safety topped with a generous
portion of denial that anyone could really be gunning for him.
    ***
    Runt
was asleep on the sidewalk outside the café where Chip had tied him to a lamp
post. Chip thought Runt might enjoy a swim in Beaver Creek. And, maybe some
time musing by the water would alleviate the nagging itch in his own head…the
one that wondered if he truly was in some kind of danger.
    The
dog woke, jumped into the car and stuck his head out the opened window.
    When
Chip hit a long stretch of two-lane highway with no one ahead of him, he said,
“Let’s open this baby up, Runt, and see what she’ll do.” He increased his
speed, watching the digital readout rise past eighty miles per hour. He looked
off in the distance at an approaching semi-truck. When the semi was close
enough that he could hear the roar of it’s diesel engine, he slowed and edged
over to the right to give it plenty of room. He hated the feeling of being
sucked toward a semi as it passed.
    He
saw a flash of color on his right. He glanced over to the shoulder and saw a
red Suburban alongside his car. He hadn’t been paying attention to his rearview
mirrors and hadn’t noticed the vehicle behind him. It rammed into him; he
fought to gain control of the car and reduce his speed further.
    The
large SUV rammed him again, this time the force sent him across the road and
into the path of the oncoming semi. He tromped down on the accelerator and
cleared the semi by just feet, the blast of the truck’s horn reverberating
through his head, adrenaline pumping through his body. Struggling with the
wheel and unable to stop his vehicle, he flew through a guardrail and into a
ditch, missing a utility pole by inches.
    He
was shaken and dazed; his heart was racing but his seatbelt kept him in place
and the airbag exploded. The front of his car was caved in and smoke was rising
from under the hood.
    He
turned to check on Runt, feeling a searing pain in his neck. He cried out in
anguish, “Runt.” The dog turned his head toward Chip and whimpered. Chip heard
the semi’s airbrakes bring the truck to a stop and a man’s voice yelling. His
vision dimmed, then darkness.
    ***
    Two
days after the highway accident Chip sat in the kitchen. He did not want to
think about the crash or about Jane at the animal hospital in Ames where she
was still attempting to mend Runt’s broken body. He did not want to think about
the driver of the red SUV who sped off or about his own foolishness at refusing
to face reality.
    That was no accident; someone wants
to harm me, someone wants me dead. It must have been the same Suburban that
followed me down 35W. Is it the mysterious Gomez , and if so, why
is he after me?

 
    Chapter
Ten

 
    Head Shot
    St. Paul, MN
    Late October

 
    J OHN GOODMAN WOKE up to an empty bed several hours
after he had returned home from performing surgery on Rick Wilson. The sunlight
curled around the edges of their room-darkening shades. He snatched his cell
phone off the nightstand to see the time…1:12 p.m. He blinked a few times and
rubbed the sleep out his eyes.
    He reached