Page 81 of Jonny’s Redemption

Candy.

“What about Candy Bull?” Jonny asked.

“What about her?” Alec inquired.

That was an excellent question, what about her?

“What do we know about her and her family?”

McKenna’s fingers flew across her keyboard, Alec opened the thick file in front of him and started shuffling through the papers. Alec found what he was looking for before McKenna and said, “Teddy and Linda Kerr, Candy’s parents owned an auto repair garage.”

Nixon’s face turned to stone.

“Fuck,” Jonny muttered and a ball of unease started to form. “There was a lawsuit against her parents that made the papers.”

“Yeah, out on 213,” Nixon agreed. “I remember my dad bitching about it. He said the Kerrs were good people and the attorney’s fees nearly wiped them out.”

Jonny remembered the place well. Calvin had used Teddy’s exclusively for repairs and oil changes. It was ironic, Calvin being the lying, deceitful bastard he was said that Teddy was the only honest mechanic in town.

“Wasn’t the lawsuit for negligence, something like that?” Jonny asked and sour in his gut churned.

Nixon’s eyes widened at Jonny’s question, but before Nix could answer Jonny thought of something else. “Anderson worked at the garage. When we were in high school.”

Jonny recalled Anderson being there one of the times he’d gone with his dad to pick up Anita’s car. She had a flat and the car had to be towed. By the time the tire had been changed Anita had started drinking and Jonny had to go with his dad to drive the car back. It had been Anderson who changed the tire out.

Nixon snapped his fingers and nodded. “Damn, he did. Dad had to take his old Ford into Teddy’s after he stripped a clutch bolt and needed Teddy’s puller. Anderson was there.”

“Shit,” McKenna hissed and all eyes went to her. “The lawsuit was buried.”

“What?”

McKenna didn’t have a chance to answer before Jonny’s phone rang and a simultaneous clatter of pings and chimes of text message alerts went off.

Alec, Nix, Jameson, and McKenna looked at their phones as Jonny swiped his screen to answer Vaughn’s call.

“What’s up?”

“Baker’s been shot.”

Jonny's gut clenched and he surged to his feet.

“Come again?”

“Side of the road, going after Clifford. Fuck, Jonny, it’s bad. Two to the chest, no vest. He’s being flown to Shock Trauma.” Vaughn paused and a heavy silence fell between them.

“Clifford?”

“Don’t know for a fact but he’s our prime suspect. Baker’s been on edge since you were in the other day. Called in a favor and got his hands on some old lawsuit that was sealed. Part of a settlement or something. I didn’t see the report but Baker had that thing on his desk less than ten minutes before he tore out of there.”

Teddy’s. Fucking hell.

“Go to his office and get it,” Jonny demanded.

“Fuck, Jon, he took it with him. I’m at the scene, the report’s not here, and Baker didn’t have it on him when he was loaded into the medivac.”

“Jonny!” Nixon clipped and Jonny's stomach dropped at his friend’s tone. “Alarm went off, Dillinger’s at the farm.”

“On my way,” Vaughn said and disconnected.