“I’m glad to be back,” she said, and went up the steps with Ash, then through the bar to the house.
Then the moment she walked into the living room, she had a sensation of déjà vu. In all the years that had passed, nothing much had changed.
“You know where everything is,” Ash said. “I’ve been sleeping in Dad’s bed until he gets back.” He hung up her coat, then picked up her bag. “I’m going to put this in his room with my stuff. Do you want to watch TV, or would you rather lie down a while?”
“Lie down, please. I feel like I’ve been up a week, and the day is only half over.”
“Then follow me,” he said, and led the way down the hall and into the big room. “There’s an en suite attached. Let me help you get your boots off. Can you manage your jeans? I mean…getting them down and back up again?”
“Probably not. Just help me get them off and I’ll sleep in my sweater and underwear,” she said.
So, he did, then waited until she came out of the bathroom and eased her down on the bed, covered her with a blanket, and kissed her.
“Rest, darlin’. Ignore the ensuing noise. You’re safe here.”
She rolled over and closed her eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears. She hadn’t been tucked into bed in years, and the thought of feeling safe again made her weep.
She heard Asher walking out of the room, then closing the door behind him. Her hand was sore, but the pain pill was working. She was so tired, and the pillow smelled of Ash’s aftershave. She’d never slept with Ash before. They’d only ever made love. The bed was soft, and the blanket so warm. It was as close to sleeping with him as she’d ever been. Within minutes, she was out.
Chapter 8
Gunner went straight to Lowe’s Hardware, but when he didn’t see the truck Nora described, he circled the building to the employee parking lot. It was there, and exactly as Pearl had described it. He circled back around the building to park and went inside to look for Miles Terrell. Even though Miles was Asher’s age, he remembered him, and headed for the lady at the checkout register.
“Afternoon,” she said. “Are you looking for something in particular?”
“Yes, Miles Terrell. I’m Gunner Kingston. I need to talk to him.”
“Oh, you’re one of Jacob’s boys. We’re praying for him. Miles is stocking shelves on aisle nine, I think.”
“Thanks,” Gunner said, wondering who the woman was as he headed toward the far side of the building. When he saw the stocky, brown-haired man in blue jeans and a plaid flannel shirt about halfway down aisle nine, he knew he’d found his man. He walked past bins full of knobs and drawer pulls, and boxes and boxes of different-size screws, to where Miles was working. “Hey, Miles, got a minute?”
Miles turned and smiled in surprise. “Gunner Kingston! Man, it’s been a while. How’s Jacob? We all heard he made it through surgery.”
“He did, and holding his own. Still in ICU though. Listen, is there somewhere private we could talk…just for a few minutes? I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with your boss.”
“Sure, follow me,” Miles said, and led him to their break room, and motioned toward a long table with benches on both sides. “Have a seat,” Miles said.
As soon as they had settled, Gunner lowered his voice and leaned forward. “You know I’m a homicide detective with the Dallas PD, and that Asher is a special investigator with the attorney general’s office, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I do. Jacob is always talking about all three of you,” Miles said.
“So, we’re helping Sheriff Reddick with the shooting at the bar.”
“Not surprised,” Miles said. “Pearl saved his life, didn’t she?”
“That she did,” Gunner said, “and that’s why I’m here, trying to verify the timeline of what she saw and heard.”
“Okay, but I don’t know how I can help with that,” he said.
“Maybe you can and just don’t know it,” Gunner said. “By any chance, were you driving your truck in Crossroads around midnight when the shooting occurred?”
Miles frowned, thinking back. “I was driving home from Tulia just before midnight. I’d been visiting a girl I date there. Her name is Patsy Adams. I left later than I should have, and was driving back down the 86, and thinking about what was on the agenda at work the next day, and didn’t know I’d missed the turnoff into Crossroads until I realized I was passing the Yellow Rose, so I slowed down and made a U-turn in the Tumbleweed parking lot and backtracked.”
“That’s perfect, Miles. You just verified Pearl’s timeline. By that time, she’d already heard the gunshot and gotten out of bed. She was looking out the window overlooking the highway when she said she saw a black pickup make a U-turn at the Tumbleweed, and then drive back toward town. So…my question to you is, did you see anything in the parkinglot or around the bar when you turned around? Did you see the open door? Did you see another vehicle? Anything?”
“I didn’t even look toward the bar, but as I was turning, I saw the front end of a white sports car parked on the east side of the bar, the back half was in the shadows. I wouldn’t bet my life on it, but I thought it was an older model Mustang. I didn’t think anything of it other than probably a customer was too drunk to drive, and Jacob told him to leave it there. That happens from time to time.”
Gunner nodded. “Thanks a lot, Miles. This was a big help, and we’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention we’d talked about this, okay?”
