Jenna Night - Justice At Morgan Mesa

“Why are you asking people about your dad now ?” Levi asked. When he’d asked her last night about the timing of her investigation, her answer had been vague. Now he wanted specifics. “This can’t be the only time you’ve come back to town to visit since you moved away.”

“I’ve thought about coming home, asking questions and trying to stir up interest in my dad’s murder case before, but I never had the nerve to do it. Not that I ever thought anyone would attack me,” she quickly added. “I suppose I was afraid I’d learn something about my dad I didn’t really want to know. Or that I’d hear some new detail about how he died or what his body was like when he was found that would give me nightmares.”

Levi felt a sympathetic twinge in the pit of his stomach. He could imagine the horrible nightmares she’d had about her father’s murder over the years. The terrible things she’d imagined when a dark mood settled over her. He’d experienced all of those things and more due to his combat experience. He knew the raw feeling a person was left with in the aftermath.

“So why did you decide to go through with it now?” he asked.

“My grandmother passed away recently. And that reminded me that I’m running out of time to find someone who might know what happened. At some point, any potential witnesses will pass on, too, and I’ll never be able to get an answer to the question of who murdered my father.”

“It’s not your job to find the killer,” Sam said, focusing his gaze on his granddaughter.

Vanessa reached for her coffee mug and took a sip. “It’s not anyone’s job, anymore—no one’s looked into it in years. If I don’t find answers, who will? I do some investigative work for my job, but I’m not a professional investigator,” she said to Levi. “But I thought maybe I could get some small piece of information, something that changes the timeline of events or brings somebody’s alibi into question, and I’d pass that along to the police. Anything to make my dad’s cold case active again.”

“Are you telling me you haven’t gotten that little bit of information you’re looking for yet?”

She opened her mouth as if to answer, then closed it and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’d forgotten about this until just now, but about midday yesterday I stopped to get something for lunch and my phone rang. I answered it, but whoever it was hung up. I remember the number was the local area code and prefix but I didn’t have a name associated with it in my contact list. I called back, hoping it was someone I’d talked to earlier who wanted to speak to me in private, but no one answered. I suppose it could have just been a misdialed number. But maybe not.”

Levi took out his phone and tapped the screen a couple of times. “What’s your phone number?”

She told him and he entered it into his phone. “Obviously we don’t have your phone,” he said. “But that incoming call should be listed in your phone records. I’ll check with the phone company and see what we can find out about whoever called you.”

“All right.” She nodded her agreement. Her shoulders slumped forward.

Levi could tell her energy was running low. And with good reason. She’d been through a lot last night, and probably hadn’t slept well.

He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “Here’s my contact information. Email me a list of all the potential suspects you can think of from Vegas, as well as the names of the businesses where you stopped to talk to people up on the mesa. I’d like that by this afternoon.” He really wanted that information right now, but if he put too much pressure on her, he was afraid she might accidentally leave out something important.

“I’ll get all of that to you as soon as possible,” she said, taking his card. “But I’ve got a meeting with our accountant downtown at one o’clock today to go over some things, so we can get this guest ranch up and running on schedule. I can’t miss that.”

“The accountant can wait,” her grandpa said firmly, but Vanessa shook her head, not backing down.

“I’ve got to keep that appointment.” Vanessa glanced at Levi. “My boss is expecting me back at work in a couple of weeks. I’ve got a schedule of things I want to accomplish while I’m here in Torchlight and I need to stick to it. But I’ll make sure I get you that information today.”

“Thank you.” Levi got to his feet.

Sam Ford also stood and reached out to shake Levi’s hand. “Thank you again for helping my granddaughter. You come out here and ask questions anytime you need to.”

Levi nodded. “Thank you, sir. I will.”

Vanessa walked him to the door. When she pulled it open, the old calico cat that had been sitting in the rocking chair made a surprisingly fast dash into the house and toward the kitchen. Clearly, she knew where the feline breakfast was being served.

Vanessa smiled as the cat ran by her feet. Seeing that smile on a face marked by bruises made Levi’s chest ache. Vanessa had already suffered through so much. But apparently somebody wanted her to suffer even more.

“When you go into town this afternoon, don’t go alone,” he said as he headed down the steps.

“I’ll be careful,” she assured him.

“Good.”

Once he was clear of the porch, he stopped, turned and waited for her to go back into the house and shut the door.

The problem with being careful was that sometimes it simply wasn’t enough. You couldn’t predict every single thing that could go wrong. He’d learned that in a war zone overseas. He’d witnessed it again as a cop after he came home.

If someone was willing to attack Vanessa with a hammer, there was no telling what they might do next. And no way to be prepared for their next move.

Vanessa was once again behind the wheel of her grandfather’s reliable old truck. Just like last night, she hoped that driving would give her a sense of control as she steered it into town. So far it actually had helped her calm down a little. And it gave her mind something to do other than replay the terrifying scenes from last night.

“Maybe I should scrap my plans and stick with you,” Rosa said as Vanessa pulled into a parking space and left the engine idling.

Grandpa had wanted to come with them, but Vanessa eventually convinced him to stay at the ranch. Physical work would calm him down, which was exactly what he needed and what Vanessa wanted. Plus, Rosa had her pistol. She could protect Vanessa quite adequately if it came to that.

“Rosa, I’ll be fine.” Vanessa’s response came out sounding like a snarl. That was not her intention. She tried again. “You’re just making excuses so you don’t have to let Marisol Beltran’s granddaughter show you a thing or two about technology,” she added, while focusing on making her tone sound lighter and putting an awkward smile on her lips.

Truly, she was grateful to Rosa for accompanying her into Torchlight, but she didn’t want to be coddled. She wanted the long list of tasks assigned to everyone to be completed on time so they could open the Silver Horse Guest Ranch on schedule.

Rosa had already made arrangements for today to meet with a technology coach to get help upgrading the simple website she’d set up to include an online reservations system. She’d been miffed to discover her “coach” was only twenty years old and the granddaughter of a friend. Rosa had held her when she was a baby and that didn’t seem all that long ago.

Rosa opened the door, but instead of getting out she turned to Vanessa. “Maybe instead of you dropping me off, I should drive you to the accountant’s office and make sure you get inside safely.”