Assault and Batter(21)

“Why can’t it be a little bit of both?” I asked.

“I suppose that it can,” Grace said. “You’re right, though. I probably shouldn’t have said that last bit.”

“I just worry that if Lisa is innocent, you’ve given her some sleepless nights ahead of her. You might have struck gold this time, but I really don’t like lying to the people we question, at least not about something as serious as that. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said somberly. “I’ll watch my step in the future.”

“Just don’t give anybody nightmares if you can help it,” I said with a smile.

“Except the killer, of course,” she added.

“You can do whatever you’d like to the murderer. I’ll even help if I get the chance.”

“Fair enough. Where should we go now?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “I’ve never been a big fan of Peter Hickman’s, but we need to go to Max’s to see him next. I suspected that he got into a fight with someone after what Emily told me yesterday, and after what Lisa just said, it was clearly Jude. What I want to know is who started it, who finished it, and what was it all about in the first place?”

“Those are all good questions,” Grace said. “Should I ask him myself?”

I was surprised by the offer. “Thanks, but I can handle him just fine.”

“I wasn’t trying to overstep,” Grace said. “I just know that you two have a long history of disliking each other, so if I can make it go smoother, I’m happy to step in.”

“Let me lead off, and if I need you, feel free to jump in,” I said.

“I’d be delighted.”

“Only try not to go so far off script this time, okay?”

“I promise,” she said.

I knew that Grace had meant well, and this time she’d actually struck gold with her assumptions, but I didn’t like running an investigation that way. We were on the hunt for a killer, and I knew that I couldn’t afford to be squeamish about the tactics we used, but I also had to live with most of these folks long after the murder had been solved, and I didn’t want to make any enemies that I didn’t have to in the process of tracking down the killer. Besides, I wanted to be able to sleep at night myself, and I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to do it if I started accusing folks of all kinds of unacceptable behavior without a lick of proof to back any of it up. I might not be as successful operating that way, but if that was the biggest consequence of my actions, I could live with it.





Chapter 9


The only problem was that Peter was nowhere to be found.

To make matters worse, Max was gone as well. Peter had to be staying with my ex-husband, so I was disappointed when no one answered the door when we knocked.

I turned to say something to Grace when I spotted a car starting up and driving away from the way that we’d just come. “Who was that?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. Should we follow them?”

“Come on. Jump into the Jeep.”

We started after the car, and I caught one glimpse of the man driving before he lost me.

It was Reggie Nance.

Why would he be staking out Max’s house? Was he after my ex, or Peter? Why would he want to have words with either one of them? After all, the man he’d threatened to kill was already dead. Was Reggie taking care of all of his old grudges, and did that mean that he’d started with Jude and was about to move on to the next name on his list?

“We lost him,” Grace said.

“That’s okay,” I said as I stopped and turned around in someone’s driveway.

“Why are you taking this so calmly?” she asked me.

“Because I saw who it was,” I said as I drove at easier pace.

“Don’t keep it a secret from me. Who was it?”

“Reggie Nance,” I said.

“What would Reggie want with Max or Peter?”

“I can’t figure that, either, but wouldn’t you like to ask him for yourself?”

“So, that’s where we’re going now,” Grace said.

“Unless you have any objections,” I answered.

“No, ma’am. You’re in the driver’s seat for this thing, and I mean that literally.”

We pulled up in front of Reggie Nance’s house, and I was surprised to see that his car was pulled up in front. If I hadn’t seen him myself, I might have believed that he’d been there all along.

“Suzanne, how sure are you that it was Reggie that you saw?”

“I’m pretty sure,” I said as I parked the Jeep behind his car and got out. I put a hand on his car hood, and it was hot to the touch. “Feel that,” I said to Grace.