LITMIR.BIZ

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check the plane first. He kicked Lightning into motion. They tore across the open field, the biting wind hitting him full-on and carrying heavy black smoke in his direction. The heat soon forced him to pull up.

      Dancing flames illuminated fragments of the plane lying scattered around. No one could have survived the fiery explosion. If she was in there—No, he wouldn’t go there. Not until he checked by the shed.

      He whipped Lightning around and took off. Nearing the shed, he spotted someone on the ground. Someone moving. Small. Slight. A woman. Leaning over another person. Performing CPR.

      He threw caution to the wind and shouted, “Lexie!”

      “Gavin!” she screamed. “Hurry.”

      Thank You, God, he prayed, though he had no idea if God heard him. After shooting Emily, Gavin had been hard-pressed to trust in his faith.

      Gavin pushed Lightning into a gallop, the stallion’s breath coming in hard puffs as he quickly closed the distance between them. To be safe, he drew his weapon as he dismounted.

      “Lexie,” he said, afraid he was wrong, that she’d turn, it wouldn’t be her, and he’d learn she’d perished in the explosion.

      She looked up from doing CPR on a man.

      It was Lexie. His Lexie. No...not his. Not anymore. He let out a slow breath of relief. “Are you okay?”

      She stopped her compressions, held up blood-covered hands and peered down at the man lying in front of her.

      “It’s Dad. He...he’s gone.” A sob tore from her throat. “Gunshot wounds. I saw it all. He tried to give me an envelope and the guy shot him twice. Then took off. I tried to help Dad and failed.”

      “Oh, sugar, I’m so sorry.” Gavin didn’t think of the years that had passed...of the turmoil when they’d broken up. Instead, acting on pure instinct, he dropped down beside her and drew her into his arms. She snuggled tight against him, and he cradled her head against his chest as her body heaved with pain-filled sobs.

      She needed his comfort, and he was only too happy to hold her, but with the shooting, he had to keep his gaze roving the area, just in case the killer hadn’t really taken off.

      He gently pushed back and gazed at her. “You said the shooter was gone.”

      “He took off on a dirt bike.”

      That explained the bike he’d seen.

      “This can’t be happening. Not really. Can it?” She suddenly grabbed Gavin’s arm. “The killer can’t get away with this. We have to go after him.”

      “He’s long gone by now and we won’t catch him on horseback.” Gavin dug out his phone. “But I’ll call Dad to get an alert out on the bike. Can you describe it?”

      “Black, I think, but I’m not positive. Dark colored, anyway.”

      “Did it have a license plate?”

      “I don’t know. I was too afraid. I’m sorry.” She wiped away her tears. “But the rider wore a leather jacket and pants. He was over six feet. Thin.”

      Without a better description of the bike, the odds were bad that they’d find the guy. Especially when a dirt bike could travel off-road.

      “And the plane exploding?” Gavin asked. “Did the shooter have something to do with that, too?”

      She nodded. “He used his phone to detonate it. Thank goodness Dad was flying his own plane and was alone.”

      “I’ll want more details, but first I’ll get that alert issued.” Gavin dialed his father, Lake County sheriff Walt McKade, but stepped away from Lexie so he could speak freely about her father. He also didn’t want her to learn that conversations with his dad were still tension-filled. No sense in adding to her stress.

      As his phone rang, he kept her in view while also watching for any signs the shooter might have returned.

      “Sheriff McKade,” Gavin’s dad answered with his usual confidence.

      Just hearing his father’s voice made him cringe, but he swallowed down his unease. “It’s Gavin. There’s been an explosion and shooting at the old airstrip on Engles ranch.”

      “I know about the explosion. Just got a 9-1-1 call from neighbors...but how do you know about it?”

      “I’m in town for a few days.”

      “First I’m hearing about it,” he grumbled. “And you just happened to be out at the airstrip when all of this goes down?”

      “I’ll explain that later,” Gavin said. “For now, you need to know Dr. Grant’s been fatally shot.”

      “Well, I’ll be.” His words were slow and drawn out in his thick drawl. “Here we all thought he was dead and now he turns up only to be murdered.”

      “Lexie’s here, and she saw the whole thing. The shooter took off. Heading east on a dirt bike. She thinks it’s black but she’s not positive. He’s been gone about five minutes or so. I thought you’d like to issue an alert ASAP.”

      “You got that right. I’ll take care of it and head out there to get started on the investigation.”

      Great. The moment his dad arrived, he would demand to know Gavin’s reasons for being in town.

      He didn’t have the authority to divulge that, yesterday, Dr. Grant had become a person of interest in a major health-care fraud investigation, and that Gavin had arrived to try to track him down.

      “And before you try to claim jurisdiction on the murder...” his dad continued. “You know the ball’s in my court, not you Feds.”

      Gavin stifled a groan. As far as he knew, his dad’s only experience with the FBI was watching TV shows and movies that often got things wrong. Murder investigations didn’t top the Bureau’s priorities, and the Feds rarely involved themselves in a case without being invited.

      “No worries there,” Gavin said.

      “I’ll be there in less than ten.” His dad disconnected the call.

      Gavin returned to Lexie, who hadn’t moved, her gaze fixed on her father. Gavin squatted next to her and told her softly, “Dad’s on his way.”

      She sighed. “I suppose now would be a good time for you to tell me why you wanted to see me.”

      Though it was no longer necessary to locate her father, Gavin would still need to interview her and serve the warrant to search her father’s office and home. Obviously, there was no point in the FBI filing charges against a deceased person, but his records could contain information about other doctors involved in the fraud. Still, nothing needed to be done tonight, and he’d hold off on upsetting her until after she’d gotten some rest.

      “That can wait,” he said.

      She shook her head in wide sorrowful arcs. “You sound like my father. You both had these big things you needed to talk to me about. Turns out, he only wanted to give me that envelope. He tried, but it was so weird.”

      “Weird in what way?”

      “He was acting totally out of character. All jittery and afraid. Clearly, he had a right to be. The shooter was creepy and not at all concerned about committing murder.” She blew out an unsteady breath. “He said this would be his third strike, and he wasn’t going back to prison. He also took the envelope and said he’d killed Dad’s attorney in Mexico because Dad gave him the same information.”

      So Dr. Grant had been hiding out in Mexico this last month. But why? “Did the shooter mention what the envelope contained?”

      She shook her head. “He did say he was part of some syndicate. Said Dad was meeting with the head honcho today, and the killer wasn’t going to let that happen.”

      Gavin

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