Free False Witness by Aimée and David Thurlo Page A

that’s all,” he managed.
    “I do have one more question,” Sister Agatha said. “How close are you to selling the vineyard?”
    “Eric Barclay’s interested in buying it back from me. I took it off his hands a few years ago when he was having financial troubles. He’s already offered me what I paid for it plus five percent, but the truth is that my own financial advisers insist I can do better. There’s another party putting together an offer I believe will be much more lucrative.”
    “And what do the other prospective buyers plan to do with the vineyards?”
    “I have no idea, but I do know the individuals have two significant rental apartment structures within the Albuquerque area.”
    Sister Agatha managed not to groan. “I’ll be in touch again as soon as Reverend Mother makes her decision, which I expect will be shortly,” she said, standing.
    “I’ll look forward to hearing from you, Sister.”
    Soon she and Pax were on their way back to the monastery. As she sped down a long curve in the road, Sister Agatha spotteda sedan quickly closing in on her. It was no one she recognized, but as the distance between them narrowed, a sixth sense warned her of danger. Sister Agatha glanced at Pax, who seemed to sense her abrupt change of mood, and now sat fully alert.
    “Hang on,” she said. Accelerating, she zipped into a side street that wound its way back around to the main highway. When the sedan didn’t follow, she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she was getting paranoid.
    Then she spotted the sedan again. It was coming up the side street and once again closing in on her. She thought about the hacker who’d been causing so many problems for them, remembering that he or she was a local. Maybe he
had
read that old article in the paper and knew that the nuns were now managing the NexCen Web site. If he’d also grown tired of those impersonal computer attacks …
    “I don’t like this, Pax. Hang on, boy,” she yelled over the rumble of the motorcycle as she accelerated.
    Sister Agatha moved out, heading down one of the back roads that ran toward the river. By the time she doubled back, circled around, and reached the main road, now south of Bernalillo, no one was behind her.
    She smiled, satisfied, but then, a second later, she heard a siren and, as she slowed down and pulled over, she saw the sedan she’d tried so hard to avoid coming up behind her.
    “Hey, what are you doing?” Sheriff Tom Green called out as he parked and got out of the unmarked sedan. “Practicing how to lose a tail?” he added with a grin.
    She removed her helmet and glared at him. “You knot-head! Why didn’t you use the emergency lights or siren before now? You almost gave me a heart attack!”
    “I just wanted to show you my new car so you’d recognizeit. What’s making you so jumpy?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “What are you up to?”
    “Nothing. Really,” she added, seeing the open look of skepticism on his face. She didn’t expect him to talk about police business that didn’t concern her, so there was no reason why she should discuss monastery business with him—or the problem with their computers. “Have you found out anything that might help us get compensated for our broken gate?” she asked, changing the subject quickly.
    He shook his head. “I know how important that is to all of you, so I’m not ignoring it. But the only thing I’ve got is some scuttlebutt. Jack Miller’s planning to sue Liz and Leeann’s families.”
    “That’s a waste of time. They have no money to give him. I’d pressure them myself if I thought it would get me the name of whoever was behind the wheel of that SUV.” She paused and then holding his gaze, added, “We’ve got to find a way to get those kids to tell us what they know.”
    “The problem is that neither girl is in custody now so—” Before he could say anything else, he received a call on his cell phone. Tom stepped away from the Harley, spoke hurriedly