Read Online Touch of Evil by Colleen Thompson - Free Book Online Page B

ammunition.
    “Laney,” he warned, his tone flattening like a nail’s head beneath a blow. “I think we’d better talk to that attorney.”
    Ignoring him, Laney spoke directly to the sheriff. “I wasn’t imagining last night, when Ross and I found that thing out in the kitchen. It had to be a warning. Telling me I’d be next.”
    Justine nodded gravely, never taking her eyes off Laney. She didn’t remind Ross of some comic-book creation now, nor even of the lover whose absence left him feeling more alone than ever, but a predator. A hunting cat, closing in to clamp its jaws around the throat of innocence.
    And there was not a damned thing he could do to stop her. With Laney refusing his help, insisting she was an adult, as she certainly was at twenty-two, Ross could do no more than sit and listen and try to stop the sheriff if things went too far.
    But rather than accusing, Justine asked the question that had been on his mind. “Why would anyone want to hurt you, Miss Thibodeaux—or may I call you Laney?”
    Laney waved her hand. “Sure, everyone does. And I don’t know why someone would do that, unless they’re trying tokeep me quiet. Because they know I’ve figured it out. I know there’s no way all three of them killed themselves. Especially not Jake. That’s crazy.”
    Justine jotted something quickly in a notebook and then looked up, perplexed. “I’m curious, Laney. When did you come to that conclusion? Because after Jake died, I spoke with you a couple of times, at least, but you never gave me any indication you disagreed with the medical examiner’s ruling. Or did I miss something?”
    Laney started picking at her nails again, her eyes avoiding the sheriff’s sharpening gaze.
    “I was too shocked to think anything,” Laney said. “And at first, it did seem possible, especially after the way Hart died the week before. But the more I thought about it, the more it didn’t add up. And once I heard about Caleb, I knew for certain. Caleb never would’ve killed himself. He was trying to do better, trying for his kids’ sake.”
    “Let’s stick to Jake for the moment,” Justine urged, pausing for a moment to flip open the other spiral and scratch out another note. “You told me he was really upset about Hart. You said he blamed himself for not keeping better tabs on his friend after his divorce. And Jake had some kind of medical problem, too, right?”
    Ross interrupted. “Jake Willets had serious health issues. He didn’t have a regular physician—no medical insurance—so he apparently put off going to a doctor until he ended up in my ER one night back in July. He presented with severe limb weakness. The symptoms were suggestive…”
    “Of what?” Justine prompted.
    “Ross thought it looked like multiple sclerosis,” Laney answered. “So he got Jake in to see a good doctor in Dallas. A neurologist.”
    “And did this doctor confirm it?” Justine asked.
    Laney shook her head, her eyes full of tears. “Worse than MS, at least in Jake’s mind. He was diagnosed with ALS.”
    “Lou Gehrig’s disease,” Ross explained, giving the progressive neuromuscular disorder its better-known name.
    Justine nodded, comprehending, and Ross read sympathy in her expression. “That’s the one that slowly freezes you, right? Locks your mind inside a dying body?”
    Ross nodded, thinking that was as succinct an explanation as he’d heard of a hellaciously complex condition.
    Justine looked at him. “Is that why you thought—”
    “He was only thirty-two,” Laney blurted. “It was so unfair. And he couldn’t play his instruments. His hands stopped working. He couldn’t even…”
    “Couldn’t even what?” Justine asked.
    Though she never broke eye contact, the movement of her right arm hinted she was writing. For all Ross knew, she was scratching out a grocery list, but still, it made him nervous. As he suspected it was meant to.
    Laney glanced at Ross, then looked away and answered