Page 115 of Deadly Misfortunes

"The vehicles you stole and used to run into my cars—" Gregory started to say, changing the topic to one they needed to stick to.

"Uh… I’ve never stolen a vehicle.”

Both Sascha and Gregory frowned. The police had said the vehicles that were used in the crimes had been found and had been stolen.

“My grandmother Lacy Redfern, whom I adored, the only one in the family who believed I was my mom and dad’s son, gave me her farm when she died. My dad was furious. But there are a bunch of old trucks and cars on the property. I refinished them to look brand new."

"And destroyed them while trying to take me out?" Gregory asked, not sounding convinced.

Because again, they were supposed to be stolen. But the police hadn’t reported any of this to the public, so Red wouldn’t have known they had been stolen. Sascha couldn’t imagine the vehicles that plowed into Gregory’s cars, and then the limo had been vintage either.

“So what were you driving when you hit my car the first time?” Gregory asked.

“A, uh, pickup truck.”

He sounded so hesitant, like he was guessing.

Gregory nodded. “Model? Color?”

“Black Ford.”

“And the second time?” Gregory asked.

“The…same.”

Again, he didn’t sound sure of himself.

“And the one that struck the limo?”

Red cleared his throat. “Same.”

“Was he telling the truth?” Sascha telepathically asked.

Gregory shook his head at Sascha. The first two vehicles were Chevrolets: one navy blue and the other black. They weren’t Fords. They didn’t know what the last vehicle was, only that it was black, because Raymond and Sascha couldn’t tell what the make or model was, and they never found an abandoned vehicle that had been in an accident.

Gregory kissed Sascha's cheek. "We’ll have to look into the situation further before a prosecutor can prefer charges.”

Everyone looked like they were sitting on the proverbial pins and needles, waiting to hear what else Gregory had to say.

"Where is the property that your grandmother, well, you own?" Gregory asked.

"It's twenty miles south of Austin. It has water, electricity, seventy-five acres of land, some of it pasture, some of it treed. And a river runs through it. It's great for farming, fishing, and hunting."

"And boating," Janie said.

"But the farmhouse and barns are in sad shape."

"Show me the property on Google Maps," Gregory said.

Red looked it up and focused on the property while Gregory zoomed in on it.

“Let me see a vehicle that you’ve restored.”

Red pulled up before-and-after pictures of a pickup truck and a muscle car. Sascha looked at them too.

“These are beautiful,” Sascha said.

“Amazing,” Gregory said. "Okay, here's the deal. You have plenty of great skills as a bodyguard, a miracle worker for turning rusted-out vehicles into cars and trucks worthy of being showcased; you have a beautiful farm—sure, it needs to be restored, just like the vehicles you've taken care of. And most of all, you have a woman who believes in you and loves you. So what do you want to do?"