Free Broken Places by Sandra Parshall

and I was afraid he’d fly into a rage over some tiny little thing and—I don’t know. Do something. ” She frowned. “Is he capable of killing them?”
    “I don’t know. I’ll take a close look at him. Can you think of anything else I ought to check out?”
    Lindsay chewed her bottom lip, an old habit when she was concentrating. Tom remembered high school classes when he’d sneaked looks at her, watched her perfect teeth nipping that full lip and felt a jolt of desire that kept him stirred up for the rest of the day.
    He dropped his gaze to his notebook.
    “Mom told me Dad had an argument with Ben Hern about three months ago, right after he moved here,” Lindsay said. “You know, the comic strip guy? His mother was in V ISTA with Mom and Dad.”
    Tom nodded.
    “Hern got mad because Dad ran a story about him moving to Mason County. I’m sure you saw it. The antipoverty worker’s son moves here and buys a mansion, that kind of thing.”
    “I remember. What did your mother tell you about it?”
    “Hern claimed the story was an invasion of his privacy. Mom said he showed up at the newspaper office the day it ran and shouted at Dad for fifteen minutes. But it’s a matter of public record that Hern bought that place, and how much he paid. Mom said Dad apologized anyway.” Lindsay added with a wry grin, “You can guess how sincere that was.”
    “Did you know your father was trying to borrow money from Hern and his mother to keep the paper going?”
    “You’ve got to be kidding.”
    “No. It’s true. I’m wondering, if Hern was already mad at him, why would your father expect him to help out?”
    “Mom said they were running out of options. Now I see what she meant. He must have really been desperate. But you say he asked Hern’s mother for money too?”
    “That’s what I hear. Did they stay friendly with her over the years?”
    “I don’t think so. I never heard her name until her son moved here. Mom was upset about Ben Hern living in Mason County because his mother might visit him.”
    And so she had, just before Cam and Meredith both turned up dead. “What was that all about?”
    “I don’t know, I just know Mom didn’t like her and it went way back to when they were all in V ISTA .”
    “Then it makes even less sense that your dad would ask her or her son for money. Cam was at Hern’s house this morning, and they had a pretty heated argument.”
    “What?” Lindsay sat forward. “Do you think Ben Hern—”
    “I don’t know anything yet, and I don’t have any answers for you. Just hang in there and try not to jump to conclusions,” Tom said, but at the same time he was scribbling a note about looking into Karen Hernandez’s background.
    “Okay, okay, but it’s not easy.” Lindsay sighed. “Oh, by the way, Mom had a safe deposit box and she made me co-owner of it in case anything ever…happened to her. I’ll let you into it without a warrant if you want to take a look at what’s there. Probably nothing of any use, but I thought of it when I was about five miles out of Roanoke, and I went back and got my key.”
    “Good. Yeah, I want to see the contents. I’ll let you know when.” Tom stood, tucked the notebook and pen into his shirt pocket. “Why don’t you go on out to Joanna’s?”
    “I’d rather stick around here and follow developments. I won’t get underfoot, I promise. I’m a professional too, remember.”
    Tom shook his head. “There’s no way you could be professional in these circumstances. Nobody could. I’m lucky the sheriff hasn’t taken me off the case because of the personal connection. I can’t let you get too close to the investigation. Go out to Joanna’s place and get settled in.”
    Lindsay didn’t argue. She set her mug on the desk and stood, brushing her hair back behind her ears. “Tommy—” As he moved past her toward the door, she caught his hand, making him stop and look down at her. “I wouldn’t want anyone else in charge of this