By the time the brothers checked into the hotel and got to their rooms, they were ready to unwind. They unlocked theconnecting doors between their rooms, giving each other free rein, and began to unpack.
Eventually, they gathered in the living area of the middle room, which was Asher’s. He was sitting on the side of his bed. Dylan was on the other side, and Gunner had pulled the chair away from the desk and was straddling it backward, using the chair back for an arm rest.
“Did either of you get any grief for taking a leave of absence from work?” Dylan asked.
“I didn’t,” Ash said. “I’d just finished up on a case when I got the call from Reddick. It was just a matter of letting them know what happened, and then I was off.”
“I was en route to a murder scene when I got Ash’s call. I called into the precinct, told them I needed to take a leave of absence, and why, and they sent another detective to the scene and told me to take all the time I needed to sort it out,” Gunner said.
“Is Angie coping okay with you gone?” Asher asked.
Dylan rolled his eyes. “She knows as much about the business as I do, and the men on my crews respect her. Besides, before they’re hired, I put the fear of God in them about messing with her. They know she’s to be viewed as the manager when I’m gone, and they damn well better respect her.”
“In other words, they’re scared of you,” Gunner said.
Dylan shrugged. “Six crews of twelve men each, besides all the subcontractors we work with… They need to be just scared enough not to lie to me, not to steal from me, and not to piss me off. I’m a fair boss, and they get paid well.”
Gunner threw a wad of paper at him. “I’m not scared of you,” he said.
Dylan laughed. “That’s fine, baby brother, because we’re not scared of you, either. So, stop ruffling your tail feathers at us and help us decide what we’re going to do for dinner.We could order from any restaurant via DoorDash, or go out to eat somewhere.”
They all started talking at once when Asher’s phone rang. He glanced at it and then held up his hand.
“Hush it! It’s Pearl. I’m going to put her on Speaker.”
They silenced immediately. Gunner turned around to get a pen and paper from the desk behind him, as Asher answered.
“Hello. Pearl?”
“Yes, it’s me, honey. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. It’s been a hectic day, and I had to wait until we’d closed.”
“That’s okay. I appreciate you returning my call. My brothers are right here with me, and I have you on Speaker. We were told you’re the one who saved Dad’s life, and the only witness.”
“Well, I kept him from bleeding out, but I’d reckon that doctor who patched him up is the one who saved his life,” Pearl said.
“We beg to differ, but we have so many questions and know very little about what happened,” Asher said. “Sheriff Reddick only told me Dad had been shot and was airlifted to Amarillo. We don’t know anything about the incident, and didn’t know anything about your part in it until Nora told us. Would you walk us through it? How did you even know what happened?”
“Sure,” Pearl said, and began with the mention of her open window and hearing the shot. Then seeing a black truck make a U-turn in the empty parking lot like the locals do, and her calling Jacob and getting no answer.
“It was only after that white sports car shot out of the parking lot and took off west slinging gravel and burning rubber, that I feared he’d been robbed. I tried calling him again, and when I didn’t get an answer, I got dressed, tookmy shotgun, and ran down the highway to the bar. The door was open. There was broken glass on the floor as I walked in. I began turning on lights as I went, thinking he might be in the living quarters, because I could see the door open into the house. But as I was running that way calling his name, I saw his body behind the bar. I called 911, and then put pressure pads on the entrance and exit wound to slow down the flow of blood and told him not to die.”
“Damn,” Asher muttered. “We will never be able to thank you enough. You put your own life at risk for him and we know it.”
Pearl was teary all over again. “He’s been my friend for a very long time. He would have done the same for me.”
“Pearl, this is Gunner. I have a question about the white sports car. Can you describe it for me?”
“I’m not good with makes and models of cars. I’m way better with pickup trucks, but if I had to guess, I might say an older Mustang.”
“Got it,” Gunner said. “Can you remember if it was just a two-seat style, or if there would have been room for a back seat?”
“Not sure, but it was definitely a two-door, not a four-door,” she said.
“That’s great, honey. Thank you. I made note of all that. You’re way better than most of the witnesses I deal with,” Gunner said.
“How is Jacob doing?” Pearl asked.
“He’s holding his own,” Ash said. “Thank you for calling me back.”
