AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He went out and closed the door behind him, then continued down the hall to The Major’s bedroom. The door was standing ajar. He opened it the rest of the way and was embraced by familiar scents.
The room smelled like Old Spice. Leather. The wool coat hanging on the wall rack.
It smelled like Dad, like the man in the photographs.
This room, much like the front room, attested to the thoroughness of the investigation. It had been determined that the two intruders had gone out through a window in this room because it was on the back side of the house. That window, the wall surrounding it, the floor beneath, had evidence tags attached and a coating of fingerprint dust.
Trapper went over to the window and looked through it to gauge the distance to ground. Because of the grade, it was a more severe drop than the one outside the powder room, which Kerra had braved. A man with reasonable physicality could get out this way.
It would be much more challenging to get in.
As he made his way back down the hall, Trapper was so lost in thought, he didn’t realize that anyone else was there until he reentered the living area and saw the silhouette of a large man filling the front doorway.
Chapter 26
Trapper dropped into a crouch and went for his pistol.
“Hell, man, easy there.”
Trapper then identified the man by his cowboy hat and uniform. “Jenks?”
“Didn’t expect you. Isn’t that Ms. Bailey’s car?”
Trapper eased up to standing. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“It’s been parked at the motel for almost a week. We’ve been keeping an eye on it, afraid somebody would strip it.”
“She and I picked it up earlier today. Since her key is still in her shoulder bag, and it’s in evidence, I had to break into her car and hot-wire it.”
Jenks advanced into the room and took a look around. “She with you?”
“No, she’s on her way back to Dallas.”
“Without her wheels?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Sounds like it. Looks like it, too.” Jenks motioned toward Trapper’s cheek. “She do that?”
“No. That’s courtesy of a preacher man.”
Jenks guffawed. “Hank Addison threw a punch?”
“Hmm.”
“I didn’t think he had it in him.”
Trapper touched the sore spot and winced. “He was riled over Glenn. I guess you know he’s in the ER.”
The deputy nodded. “I wasn’t in the office when it happened, but everybody was in a flap. Word got around fast.”
“Hank blames me for bringing it on.”
“I heard about the scene this morning with the suspect. He’s been arraigned. Bail denied.”
Carson had already texted Trapper. He didn’t pursue it with the deputy. “What’s the latest on Glenn?”
“Wasn’t cardiac, except that his heart was beating a mile a minute. Bad panic attack. They’re going to monitor him for a couple more hours to make sure he’s okay, but it’s expected he’ll go home.”
