Free With a Vengeance by Annette Dashofy

upset.”
    “Upset enough to want to get payback?”
    The girl’s face transitioned through a series of expressions. “Payback? You mean like trying to hurt me?”
    Was she really that dense? Pete suspected not. “Possibly. Or Curtis.”
    Her eyes widened. “You think he was the one who tried to kill Curtis?”
    Pete wasn’t buying her act. “And succeeded in killing Barry Dickson.”
    “Yes, of course. Poor Barry.”
    “What do you think? Would your ex be capable of such a thing?”
    Gazing downward, she shook her head. “He might have been. But I’m afraid you’re looking in the wrong direction.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    Lucy lifted her face, her dark eyes unreadable. “Because he’s got about the best alibi possible. His name was Rick Brown, and he’s been dead for six months.”

      
    Something about the name Rick Brown nagged Pete as he made his way back to his SUV. According to Lucy, her ex-boyfriend had indeed been upset when she’d dumped him, and after a night of drowning his sorrows, he’d run his motorcycle into a tree.
    Pete didn’t remember such an accident, but that wasn’t why the name set off his inner alarm.
    Hector Livingston stepped out from between the blue pickup and the silver Hyundai before Pete reached his Explorer. “Did you get what you needed from my daughter?”
    More or less. “What can you tell me about Rick Brown?”
    Hector looked at Pete, puzzled. “Brown? Why are you asking about him?”
    “Your daughter used to date him?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And he died six months ago in a motorcycle crash?”
    Hector nodded slowly. “About that, yeah. But it didn’t happen around here. Why are you investigating it?”
    “I’m not. Not really. Where did it happen?”
    “Out in Ohio, I think. Kid wasn’t from around here.”
    “Oh? The name sounded familiar to me.”
    “Brown?” Hector came close to grinning. “Can’t imagine why, being such a unique last name and all. Kinda like Adams.”
    Pete chuckled. “You may be right.”
    “If you aren’t investigating the kid, why are you asking about him after all this time?”
    Since Hector seemed willing to chat, Pete decided to go with it. “Curtis’s shooting last night. Someone suggested Lucy’s ex-boyfriend was angry about the breakup and might be a potential suspect.” Pete shrugged. “But he’s dead, so I guess that clears him.”
    Hector’s face grew dark, and he fixed Pete with a cold stare. “That girl of mine is quite a looker, don’t you think?”
    Pete studied the man. Where was he going with this? “She’s a pretty girl. You should be proud.”
    Hector snorted. “I’ll tell you a little trick I’ve learned. You know how you can tell when she’s lying?”
    Pete’s mind stilled. “No. How?”
    “Her lips move.”
    Another time, Pete might have laughed. But he had a feeling Hector wasn’t trying to be funny.
    “Yeah, Lucille used to date Rick Brown. And, yeah, Brown smashed his bike into an oak tree.” Hector shook his head. “But he’s not the one your source was talking about. That girl of mine goes through men the way most folks go through toilet paper. And they get about the same treatment.”
    Pete wasn’t sure how to respond to that comment, so he asked, “Lucy dated someone between Rick Brown and Curtis Knox?”
    “Yeah.” Hector made a sour face. “Some jackass. Calls himself Snake.”

Seven

      
    “It’s a piece of junk,” Earl said.
    Zoe patted him on the shoulder. “Bud Kramer said Medic Two won’t be ready until sometime Monday. If the Brunswick garage hadn’t sent this one out, we’d be down a unit all weekend.”
    The late afternoon sun warmed Zoe’s back as they stood in front of the ambulance garage’s open second bay, inspecting Medic Eight. As far as she was concerned, it looked fine. A few years older than their usual ride, but as long as everything worked—and she’d been assured it did—she figured they could survive one shift with it.
    Earl,