life but trying to understand the situation with her brother. “Sheriff Wilson isn’t exactly a fan of the Lansing family. Deputies don’t like answering domestic squabbles.” And his folks had habitually fought every Friday and Saturday night. Deputies had stopped at his house as often as the local coffee shop.
He refrained from mentioning that he’d never liked Sheriff Wilson, but Mitch was an all-right deputy. The man had compassion, probably learned the hard way since growing up half Native American wasn’t easy in these parts.
To give her credit, Kelly didn’t fault Wade—at least out loud. “If you hear anything from Deputy Warwick, you’ll let me know?”
“Sure.” He wished he could see her eyes that she’d hidden behind those sunglasses.
“You needn’t worry about looking after me. I’m fine.”
Once again Kelly dismissed him, her booted feet taking the steps, two at a time, up Doc Swenson’s front porch. Wade almost left her to her business. But when Doc opened the front door and stepped onto the porch, Wade decided this meeting had nothing to do with a personal medical problem.
At eighty years of age and Mustang Valley’s only doctor, Swenson conducted his business inside where he’d converted two downstairs bedrooms into patient consultation rooms, or in the former dining room where he now performed autopsies for the sheriff’s department.
The town desperately needed a younger doctor but like most small towns, Mustang Valley didn’t have the population to support one of the medical facilities to induce a physician to move here. Doc had delivered most of the townsfolk around these parts, including Kelly and Andrew. When Wade’s folks couldn’t pay the bill, Doc had treated the thirteen-year-old Wade’s broken leg for free. These days, for more serious problems, folks usually made the one-hour drive to Dallas or Fort Worth.
Kelly shook Dr. Swenson’s hand. “Hi, Doc. Thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I know you’re busy.” When Wade stepped up on the porch beside her, she stiffened. “Excuse me, but I don’t remember inviting you to join us.”
Doc put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “It’s better if Wade’s here. Just two hours ago, we had a couple of kids throw a rock through the front window. Probably just a prank.” He jerked a thumb at a broken pane temporarily fixed with duct tape. “But I’d feel better if Wade walked you back.”
Wade nodded. “Yes, sir.” But he thought it odd that Doc believed she needed protection against a couple of juvenile delinquents and wondered if he had an ulterior motive.
Kelly looked up at the porch roof as if seeking heavenly patience, then back at Doc and ignored Wade. “Fine. Doc, I wanted to ask you about Andrew’s death.”
Doc gestured to a swing on his front porch. “Please, sit. I need to rest these old bones every chance I get—which isn’t often enough these days.”
Kelly settled on the swing, careful to leave Wade plenty of room so they wouldn’t be touching. Normally he might have deliberately crowded her—just to irritate her some more. But he couldn’t do that with her looking so distressed about Andrew, and behaved himself, sitting on the opposite end of the swing.
“Doc, the sheriff said my brother died of smoke inhalation.”
Doc sat in a rocker and lit his pipe. “I assure you, he didn’t suffer any pain.”
“You could tell that from the autopsy?” Wade asked.
“Yes.”
Kelly twisted her hands in her lap, noticed what she was doing and then grasped one hand firmly in the other. “I don’t see how Andrew could have fallen asleep at his desk. When I spoke to him at midnight, he was wide awake and excited and told me he was working on something interesting.”
“Did he say what?” Wade asked.
“No.” She focused on he doctor. “What else did the autopsy reveal?”
Doc puffed on his pipe and blew out a ring of smoke. “Nasty habit. Don’t ever start. Smoking causes cancer, you know.”
He took his pipe from his mouth and pursed his lips, eyeing her with a scowl. “I didn’t want to mention this at the funeral, and I’m not supposed to tell you this now, but Andrew didn’t die from the fire.”
“He didn’t?”
“He died from a bullet to his head.”
“Oh…my…God.” Kelly turned white. “Andrew was murdered?”
Chapter Two
Murdered?
Kelly’s suspicion had proven correct. Still, having her hunch confirmed proved a shock. Her nerves jerked as if a bomb had gone off and rattled her to the core. At first she feared she might faint, but then, with an inner fortitude, she inhaled a deep breath, squared her sagging shoulders and looked Doc straight in the eyes, listening to his explanation.
“A bullet indicates Andrew’s death was an accident, suicide or murder,” Doc told them bluntly.
Wade defended his friend. “It wasn’t an accident. Andrew didn’t keep a gun in the office and he certainly didn’t kill himself.”
“Why was this kept a secret?” Kelly demanded with unconcealed bitterness. She might have turned white but she hadn’t fainted and her brain was working perfectly as the question burst from her.
“Sheriff Wilson wanted me to keep the particulars quiet while he investigated.”
“Is this the usual procedure?”
“No, but it’s not that unusual, either. If the shooter thinks we’ve attributed Andrew’s death to the fire he started, to cover up the shooting, then the sheriff might have a better chance of catching the killer.”
“That may be so.” Kelly stood, trembling with shock and indignation, wishing she hadn’t been so wrapped up in her grief, that she’d followed up on her suspicions sooner. “But he had no right to keep this from our family. I’d say the sheriff has some explaining to do. Thanks for the information, Doc.”
“Anytime. And be careful. I don’t want anything happening to you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll make sure she stays that way.” Wade shook Doc Swenson’s hand and walked down the steps with her. She half expected Wade to try to talk her out of going to the sheriff, but he remained quiet.
“What are you thinking?” she asked him.
“I was making a mental list of all the people we should talk to.”
“We?”
“I’m not letting you do this alone.”
“I appreciate your wanting to look after me, but…”
He looped his arm through hers. “It’s not necessary?”
“I’m not sure about that.” She wasn’t going to turn down help from
