Arizona Homecoming Read Online Free PDF Page B

build them full-time. Their owners, usually between the ages of six and sixteen, appreciated them in a way a wealthy seventy-something, like Baer, couldn’t.
    Jacob waited until Donovan’s plate was almost empty before suggesting, “Could you maybe work in just two small houses between the end of this job and your next one? Emily is handy with a hammer. She’s responsible for the good condition of our fencing and the remodels in the barn and bunkhouse. If she helped you, she might be able to finish the job.”
    “No.” Emily sounded a lot like her dad.
    No way did Donovan have time. But working with Emily...might prove very interesting. Maybe, just maybe, he could manage one.
    Before any more discussion, Sam Miller walked in. He didn’t look around, just headed to their table.
    “Go find your mother,” Jacob told Timmy. “Tell her we just might have an idea that works. Then, build me two houses out of Legos, so I can see your design ideas.”
    “Okay, Grandpa!”
    Sam took Timmy’s place, even going so far as to finish the lone cookie the boy left behind. From the look on his face, Donovan figured he’d need more than a cookie to put him in a good mood.
    “Have you found out anything new?” Emily didn’t wait for Sam to stop chewing.
    “The medical examiner said there was no sign of trauma on our victim but his bones showed deterioration from arthritis. He thinks that’ll make identification easier,” Sam shared after swallowing. “He hasn’t found proof that the man died from a stab wound, but he admits the skeleton has eroded so much that it might not be possible to establish the cause of death.”
    “How long has he been buried there? How old is he?”
    “Nothing definite, but the ME thinks we have a Caucasian male who’s been buried there for around thirty years, give or take a few, and who was between twenty-five and forty when he died.” Sam never took his eyes off Jacob while he talked. Donovan glanced at Emily. She was oblivious, but Donovan wasn’t. There was a reason Sam had shown up tonight, and it wasn’t just to share details.
    “The knife adds to the mystery.” Sam continued watching Jacob. “Or, solves it. Good news is that it’s not a generic knife found in any box or convenience store. It’s hand tooled. We’ve been researching it and think we’ve found a match. Back in the sixties and seventies there was a family over in Wickenburg who had a silver and leather shop. They did quite well. The business fell apart, however, years later when the father died. They pretty much stopped making saddles and knives after that.”
    Sam pulled a photo from a folder he carried and held it out. The knife was stunning. Donovan knew good quality, even as tarnished as this knife was, when he saw it. There was some kind of stone near the handle, maybe ruby. Then there was a raised silver swirl design that stopped at the initials.
    J.H.
    “Maybe you’ve heard of the Rannik family. They made knives for a lot of carnivals, festivals, rodeos. I spoke with their youngest daughter. She is the last one working the trade, specializing in jewelry. She emailed me their client list, along with purchase dates and transactions. There was only one name I recognized.”
    It was the first time Donovan had witnessed Emily speechless. Jacob, for his part, paled a bit. Then, giving Sam a look that Donovan hoped he was never on the receiving end of, Jacob stood and left the room.
    Emily got her voice back. “Of all the fool ideas, Sam. You know my father is not involved. He catches lizards and lets them go loose outside. He—”
    “Had a life before he met your mother and started a family,” Sam said quietly.
    “He’s an elder at our church.”
    Donovan knew that “our” church meant hers as well as Sam’s. The church he’d been invited to but hadn’t attended.
    “I don’t like this either, Emily,” Sam said, “but questioning is what I do. Right now, I’m just venturing out. It could be