Free As Good as Dead by Patricia H. Rushford Page B

asked. “Do we really have to talk about work?” His breath fluttered the wisps of hair on her cheek.
    No, I’d much rather sit here and kiss you. “Yes. For now, anyway. Nick told you where Luke had been staying. Did you learn anything?” Wanting Callen’s take first, she didn’t tell him she’d talked to the people after he’d been there. He might tell her to back off, and she didn’t want to do that.
    He took a sip of tea and set the glass back on the table. “The license plate turned up a rental car. It had been rented to a Hal Perkins from Cheyenne, Wyoming.”
    “That’s where the money order was sent from to pay Nick back.”
    “Right. Hal Perkins’s name came up in our search, but it wasn’t Luke. The guy is eighty years old and in a nursing home. The credit card was set up five years ago but has never been used, so there’s no balance.”
    “Why was Luke using this guy’s name?” Angel hated thinking her brother could be involved in identity theft, and she found herself making excuses for his behavior. After all, it wasn’t as though Luke had stolen the man’s identity. As Callen said, there was no balance in the account, and the card hadn’t been used.
    “He needed credentials,” Callen said. “I’m thinking we’ve hit a dead end. We’ll keep trying. Maybe we’ll get a hit on the photo. In the meantime, we’re trying to track down the shooter. Nick says he didn’t see a car. The guy came out of the woods acting like he was hurt. Nick got out of his car, and the guy started shooting.”
    “I’m surprised Nick is still alive.”
    “He’s smart. He dropped to the ground and pretended to be dead. The guy came close enough to take a picture, then took off.”
    “A picture?”
    “That’s one of the reasons we’re thinking it was a hired gun. Took the picture and sent it to his boss to prove he’d done the job.”
    Angel felt sick. “Hard to believe anyone could be that cold.”
    “Mmm.” Callen pulled her closer. “There are a lot of people out there devoid of a conscience. Killing to them is no different than what stepping on a spider might be to you or me.”
    Angel shuddered. She didn’t even like to do that. “I wonder if he realizes Nick is alive?”
    “If he does, he’ll try again, and we’ll get him. We have round-the-clock guards posted, and a lot of the guys are volunteering to do it.”
    Angel sighed. “Good. Do you think there’s any connection between the shooting and the letter bomb?”
    “It’s possible, though we won’t know any real details for a few days. The lab is backed up and weeks behind. We do know there were only two sets of identifiable prints, yours and the mailman’s.”
    “We can stop talking shop now,” she said.
    “Good.” He kissed her forehead.
    As the sky went crazy with color, Angel prayed for Nick and Luke and Peter and Paul. Just before dinner she’d reached Paul via his cell phone. He assured her that he and Peter had no ulterior motives and that they really had gone to Florida to deal with some problems at their resort. Angel just wished she could believe him.
    At 10:00 the following morning, Tim called asking Angel and their mother to meet him for lunch at the resort that Peter and Paul owned near Sunset Cove. The place was posh and very spendy. She suspected their meals would be on the house; still, it seemed odd that Tim would want to meet them there. He tended to prefer simpler, less expensive places.
    Anna decided it was Tim’s way of taking her mind off her troubles. “He’s like that, you know. Going out of his way. He does too much sometimes.”
    Angel nodded, hoping Tim wasn’t planning to talk to Ma about Luke. “Let’s take our swimsuits,” Angel suggested. “After lunch we can go to the day spa and maybe swim.”
    Anna chuckled. “You can bring your suit, dear. I’ll lounge by the pool, maybe read. The day spa sounds nice, though. Why don’t we see if Ingrid can work us in for a massage.”
    While Ma