Ten-Gallon Tensions in Texas: A Kate on Vacation Mystery (The Kate on Vacation Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

rattled.”
    And a little drunk.
    “Understandable,” José said. “Did you find the body?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    José’s lips quirked up on the end. “Ya gonna salute me next?” he whispered.
    Skip turned his back to the crowd and flashed a quick grin. “I was a Maryland State trooper for eleven years. Force of habit to ‘sir’ my su-per-iors.” He drew out the last word.
    José started to roll his eyes, then caught himself. He let out a low groan instead and turned toward the door. “Okay, everybody out. You too Joellen but don’t leave yet.” He raised his voice. “Nobody leaves until one of the deputies has interviewed you, ya hear?”
    Murmurs from the crowd as they begrudgingly dispersed.
    “You got enough deputies to keep them all contained?” Skip asked.
    “Yeah, one on each door. Uh, you need to go too, ma’am.”
    “Oh sorry,” Skip said. “This is my wife. Kate, meet one of my buddies from high school, José Gutierrez.”
    José tilted his head in a small nod. “Ma’am.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” Kate said. “Just wish it were under different circumstances.”
    “Amen to that. Ms. Canfield, would you mind standin’ outside the men’s room door and makin’ sure nobody comes in except my people?”
    “No problem, as long as you call me Kate.”
    “No problem, Kate.” A flash of white teeth against tan skin, then the sheriff’s expression sobered. “You touch anything?” he asked Skip as Kate went out the door.
    Skip nodded. “Stuck my head under the door of the booth, to see if the guy was still alive. Had to hang onto the bottom of the door to keep from touchin’ the floor.”
    “Let’s hope you didn’t smear any of the killer’s prints.”
    “I doubt it. There’s blood all over his right shoulder and he’s slumped over to his left. Bet the killer stood on the toilet next booth over and shot him from above.”
    “And you’re sure it’s Sam Beauford, and that he’s dead?” the sheriff asked.
    “Oh yeah, on both counts.” He blinked, trying to rid his mind of the image of Sam’s knobby knees sticking up from the jeans puddled around his feet. He’d had to force himself to reach in and check for a pulse behind those knees. The man’s skin had already been clammy, the cooling of the body accelerated by the aggressive air conditioning in the building. Skip suppressed a shudder.
    “Hey, turn around,” José said.
    Confused, he complied.
    “You got blood in your hair.”
    Skip reflexively reached for the back of his head. José knocked his hand aside.
    “We’re gonna have to cut that section out and analyze the blood.”
    Skip’s heart rate kicked up a notch. “I’m not a suspect, am I?”
    José gave him a hard look. “Everybody here is a suspect at this point.”
    Skip knew that made sense but he’d been hoping for a little more reassurance than that from his old buddy.
    ~~~~~~~~
    At one in the morning, Skip was sitting in the only interview room at the county sheriff’s office.  José had let Kate go home, but he’d been cooling his heels for the last hour out in the waiting area while others were being interviewed.
    He’d already given José a run-down of the evening from his perspective, so he was wondering why the sheriff still wanted him here.
    Maybe his old buddy wanted to use him as a sounding board. He knew the players but was enough of an outsider to see things more objectively. And he had law enforcement experience.
    He hoped there wasn’t another reason, that he was a serious suspect. Yes, he’d had a run-in with Beauford at the party, but he was sure the man had worse enemies than him.
    Unfortunately one of those enemies was his sister’s husband.
    The door shoved open and José backed into the small room, carrying two steaming mugs. He turned and handed one of them to Skip. “Coffee ain’t half bad. My receptionist made it.”
    “She’s here at this hour?”
    José settled into the chair on the other side of the table. “She