Free Ever Present Danger by Kathy Herman Page A

could do to stop it.

    Sheriff Flint Carter sat at his desk looking through the preliminary autopsy report, aware that Lieutenant Bobby Knolls had walked into his office, set a can of Pepsi on the coaster, then flopped in a chair.

    Flint took off his reading glasses. “Here, take a look at this. We got a bigger break than we thought.”

    Bobby perused the report, then turned the page. “Well, whaddya know, a broken hyoid bone. I guess we can stop lookin’ for a murder weapon and start lookin’ for whoever had his hands around the kid’s throat—beginning with the good ol’ boys that were workin’ at Collier Ranch at the time.”

    “I want you to go over the crime scene with a fine-tooth comb.”

    “Don’t worry,” Bobby said. “If there’re any clues within a hundred yards of that scene, we’ll find them. I’m guessin’ the shovel used to bury him is out there somewhere.”

    “It’s really weird. I’d pretty much come to the conclusion someone had abducted him and taken him somewhere else. I never expected him to be found right here in Jacob’s Ear.”

    “It could still be a serial killin’, Sheriff.”

    “I know. We need to find out as much as we can so his parents can find closure.”

    Bobby pursed his lips. “Closure might not be all that comforting.”

    “It can’t be any harder than what they’ve already imagined. Listen, I’ve requested assistance from a couple other sheriff’s departments. I promised Elam we wouldn’t tie up his building site any longer than we had to. Think you can wrap this up in ten days?”

    “Oh, yeah. No problem. If we can’t find anything in ten days, it’s not out there. You gonna bring the feds back in on this?”

    “I don’t see the point in complicating the investigation. They didn’t find out anything last time. And since Joe’s body was found in our backyard, I’m thinking maybe the killer will be, too.”

    Carolyn Griffith stood at the front door with Ivy and Sonya Roe from hospice.

    “The medication I left should get Lu through the next twenty-four hours,” Sonya said. “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon around three, right after Ivy gets off work, and we can go over what to expect and what options we can implement in the days ahead. Our primary objective is to keep Lu as comfortable and pain-free as possible, and as I explained, we’ve been given a great deal of leeway to do precisely that. I don’t want you to worry about a thing.” Sonya put her hand on Ivy’s arm. “I’ve been working with hospice for a very long time, and it’s one of the most compassionate, effective organizations you’ll ever find. You did the right thing by calling.”

    “Thanks,” Ivy said. “I really want to be with Lu till the very end, and I know she wants that, too.”

    Sonya gave a nod. “Then that’s our goal.”

    “We really appreciate your responding so quickly.” Carolyn held open the door.

    “You’re very welcome.” Sonya squeezed past her and went down the steps and out to a red SUV.

    “Is that lady gone?”

    Carolyn turned and saw Montana sitting at the bottom of the staircase. “Yes, she just left.”

    “Why do strangers have to be here?” Montana folded his arms across his chest, a scowl on his face.

    Carolyn went over and sat on the step beside him. “I’d like to think of them as new friends and not strangers. She’s a very nice hospice nurse that will be coming here often to make Lu as comfortable as she can be.”

    “I hate leukemia!”

    Carolyn put her arm around Montana and felt him stiffen. “We all do, sweetie. But hospice is going to help us to help Lu. So we need to be glad when the nurse comes.”

    “I’m not glad,” he mumbled. “I wanna go back to Denver. I hate it here.”

    “Hey.” Ivy came over and stood next to him. “That’s no way to talk. Grandmother Griffith has been very nice to us.”

    “I don’t care! I want Gramma Lu!” Montana wiggled out from under Carolyn’s arm,