The Second Lie Read Online Free PDF Page B

a personal observation, or did Mom put you up to it?" Living alone upstairs with too much time on her hands, Grace had perfected the art of worrying.
    "We've talked about it, but the observation is mine."
    "Just for the sake of clarity, what am I supposedly obsessing over?"
    "This idea that there's some big local meth operation. You're using your own resources and time to do unsanctioned investigative work."
    "Who told you that?"
    "What does it matter who told me? Are you?"
    "No." She looked him straight in the eye.
    He stared back. Hard. "You swear?"
    "I swear."
    Not to say she hadn't thought about it. It was something her grandfather would have done. And her dad, too. But times were different now. With the economic hardships Fort County had suffered over the past couple of years, there weren't enough cops to do the sanctioned work, let alone initiate their own investigations. "I'm pulling extra shifts just to cover my normal workload," she told Pierce.
    "So what about the shooting?"
    That had been seventeen days ago. Why bring it up now? "There was an internal investigation just like there always is when gunfire is involved. Everything cleared just as I knew it would. We followed procedure to a T when it went down that night."
    "Have you talked to anyone?"
    "Of course. Everyone who asks about it."
    "I mean professionally."
    She loved Pierce. Her mother, too. But sometimes they drove her crazy.
    "I spoke to the county shrink the next day," she said. And then, relenting, added, "And I called Kelly, too."
    His eyes narrowed and she knew she'd said too much. Rather than relieving his worries, she'd confirmed that she'd needed a shrink.
    "So you are having problems with it."
    Shrugging, Sam stuffed her mouth with pork, talking while she chewed. "A little trouble sleeping at first. Insomnia happens sometimes when a gun goes off in your ear while you're in the middle of a phone conversation."
    She wasn't sure Pierce could understand a word of what she said with her mouth full.
    Just as she'd intended.
    She wasn't going to give her brother--or her mother or Kyle--the chance to mess with her head. They didn't understand that her being a cop was a good thing. The right thing.
    Unfortunately, they were the three people she was closest to. Just her damned luck.
    "Thanks for lunch," she said, grabbing another couple of pieces of meat. "Gotta get back. Tell Mom I said hi and not to worry. I'm directing traffic for a stoplight installation in Milburn today." The tiny village at the west end of Fort County only had one traffic light. Or would have by the end of the afternoon. It had a bar, too. And two churches. And that was it. Not a single gas station or grocery store that could be held up. Or a school for dealing drugs.
    Pierce was frowning again. She tended to have that effect on the people in her life.
    "The meat was great," she added, because it was true. And because she hated it when her big brother was upset with her, she asked, "Was that the new marinade?"
    He didn't smile. "With Worcestershire and vinegar, yeah."
    Maybe tomorrow she'd go to Hamacher's for lunch.
     
    Kyle was in the barn with Lillie and the colt, sitting on an upturned feed bucket as he finished off the last of a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich his grandpa had made that morning for Kyle to take to school. A familiar figure filled the lighted doorway.
    "Bob Branson, how the hell are you?" Standing, Kyle wiped his fingers on jeans that had already seen a full morning's work and held out his hand. Zodiac was there beside him, wagging her tail.
    "Can't complain," the older man said, returning Kyle's vigorous handshake and at the same time reaching down to pet the German shepherd.
    Halfway between Kyle and his father in age, Bob had been around for as long as Kyle could remember. He'd also been a lot heavier than he was right now.
    "You've lost weight."
    The man chuckled, patting his midsection. "I could afford it."
    "How's business?"
    Ohio was the second largest