Pushed Too Far: A Thriller Read Online Free PDF Page A

protect her was a stretch.
    He let out a long sigh, as if what came next was going to hurt him. “You’ve got to know as soon as Hess’s attorney files her motion, someone from her firm will start working on a lawsuit. There’s going to be an investigation, into the case, into you.”
    Even though she was trying not to contemplate that far ahead, she knew he was right. No doubt raptors of all kinds were already starting to circle. And the fact that she was Lake Loyal’s first female police chief only made her easier prey. “Politics happen, Jeff. I can’t think about that now.”
    His face reddened and he shook his head as if disgusted with her. “You can’t ignore it either. You’ve got to play your hand close to the vest.”
    “I’m not going to say a word about Olson’s suggestion, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    “I’m not.”
    “Then what?”
    He shifted his gaze away, watching as the casket rose from the vault. “I heard David Lund was the one to drag in the body.”
    “Olson told you that, too?”
    He shook his head. “Oneida.”
    That sounded about right. Oneida Perkins was a great dispatcher and office manager, but she was yet another one who believed Schneider was still chief.
    “Are you looking at him again?”
    “Of course.”
    He gave her a hard look, as if sensing her hesitation. “He was here two years ago. He’s here now. Seems like a good bet.”
    She didn’t want to talk about it. She was the chief of police now, not Schneider, a fact he seemed to forget as easily as the rest of the town.
    “Did Harlan confirm the body is Kelly?”
    She nodded. “I talked to him last night. Fingerprints matched.”
    “Do you have a time of death?”
    “Her body is partially frozen, so Harlan hasn’t been able to complete the autopsy. But we know she wasn’t spotted during the midnight patrol, and she was discovered at the two p.m. patrol.”
    “So all you know for certain is that she entered the lake sometime between afternoon patrols.”
    “Right. We’re canvassing for people who might have walked through the park during the day, but she wasn’t visible from the playground, so I’m not hopeful.”
    “Does David Lund have an alibi for those twenty-four hours?”
    She blew out a breath of frustration. “Not for the entire time, no.”
    “There you go. You have your vic and you have your killer.”
    It wasn’t quite that simple, but since her former chief probably wouldn’t appreciate her pointing that out, she changed the subject. “I still have to figure out who this is.” She nodded toward the grave.
    “Oh, I might be able to help there.”
    “How?”
    “I’ve lived here all my life. I know a lot of people, and I was once married to one of Kelly’s aunts.”
    Now that he mentioned it, she did remember he had a tie to the family. Of course, once they’d determined Kelly was the only female still alive, it hadn’t mattered. They’d believed they’d identified their victim.
    Now she’d like to know more. “What happened, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    “We turned twenty-five, and the magic was gone.”
    “Twenty-five, huh?”
    “About a year after I became a cop.”
    The stories of cops getting divorced over the demands of the job were so common, she didn’t need to ask details. She’d been engaged, but never actually reached the altar, though her romance had dissolved for a much different reason.
    She rubbed the fingers of her right hand with her left. The numbness had reached her wrist now, and although she could still move her fingers, it was growing more and more difficult. She could only hope the problem stopped there.
    “So which of Kelly’s aunts did you marry?”
    “Elizabeth.”
    Val called up the name on her mental list. “Died in a car wreck, right?”
    “That was years after our divorce. Kelly’s mother told me the news. I haven’t kept in touch with the family, but I remember some of them. I can call around, see what I find.”
    She