“So Jefferson is in the wind, and you think he’s the one who owns the blue truck?” she questioned.
“It’s possible,” Statler answered, then grunted. “Actually, it’s highly likely. Who else would be interested in your whereabouts, and…?”
He cut himself off, his attitude shifting to alert as he actually smacked himself in the head. “Didn’t you say you had a flat tire the other day?”
“Yeah. Damn potholes,” Petula snorted.
“It was way outside of town, though, right?” he continued, unrelenting.
“It was,” Petula answered, slowly beginning to see where her brother might be going with this.
He kept probing. “Was there anything suspicious about it? Anything at all?”
Petula started to shake her head, but thought back instead…
Therewassomething.
“Would a flat tire caused by a pothole make a sharp, popping sound?” she asked unsteadily.
“A popping sound like…what?” Julian didn’t look happy.
Petula concentrated, and played back the incident in her head. She’d been pretty distracted, still fuming over the misloading of her van. But still, as she rewound those few seconds in her head…
“I…” She swallowed hard. “I guess it sounded a little bit like a gunshot,” she related shakily.
“Damn.” Tonka swore.
“But wait,” Blue interjected with a puzzled look on her face. “If someone shot out her tire with the intent to disable her vehicle and take her, why didn’t they?”
Petula, unfortunately, had an answer for that. “Because a local USPS delivery person saw me not more than thirty seconds after it happened. A big, burly guy, he stayed with me until roadside assistance arrived.”
Everyone exchanged dark glances.
This wasn’t good.
“Okay, we have to implement a plan. One I know you’re not going to like, Petula,” Statler told her.
“Which is?” she rasped, because her throat had suddenly become far too dry.
“We—”
Sherbert strode into the room, looking more like the soldier he was than the starstruck civilian he’d been when he’d first begun speaking to Tex.
He regarded Julian with an intensity that ramped up Petula’s angst.
“Tex wants to talk to you,” he said, holding out the phone. “He’s just received additional intel, and you’re going to want to hear it.”
CHAPTER 14
Julian tookthe phone from Sherbert with trepidation.
Whatever Tex had found, it must be bad if he cut his conversation with Sherb short. Julian had figured the wide-eyed groupie would keep Tex on the phone for a freaking long time.
“Yeah, Tex?” he managed, with all eyes watching.
“I hope you’re sitting down,” Tex began.
Julian didn’t grace that with an answer because it was obviously rhetorical. He just clenched his hand around the phone until his knuckles turned white, and listened.
