Page 38 of Midnight

Jacob blinked and slowly nodded. “Joe and Darren Wilson. Fake for sure.”

“What did they look like?” Asher asked.

Jacob was sliding backward fast. Their faces were fading. “One tall and thin. Red hair. One big blond. When I said not for sale, they left.”

“That day, did you see what they were driving?” Asher asked.

Jacob’s eyes closed. His voice was softer, growing weaker. “Car. Not a truck. Maybe white. Why am I still alive? Did they rob me?”

“No robbery. Pearl Fallon heard the shot. She tried to call you. Thought you had been robbed. When you didn’t answer, she took herself and that famous shotgun of hers and took off running toward the bar. She saved your life,” Asher said. “Dad… We’re going to go home. We need to see the scene of the crime. We aren’t leaving you. We’re just going to find out who did this.”

“Yes… Knew you would. Pearl… My God. Should have married her instead of Brenda…” and then he was out.

Chapter 7

The brothers were still reeling from his last comment when the nurse escorted them out, and they immediately headed for the waiting room to discuss what they’d just learned.

“I’ll get the coffee,” Asher muttered, and turned toward the vending machines in the waiting area.

“I’ll get some breakfast sandwiches,” Dylan offered, and followed.

Gunner grabbed napkins and then headed for a table.

As soon as they were gathered, they looked at each other in disbelief.

“That last comment. What the hell?” Gunner said.

Dylan shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea.”

Ash cupped his hands around the warmth of the coffee cup, staring down into the dark-brown liquid.

“That’s a cup of coffee, not a crystal ball,” Gunner said. “What do you know that we don’t?”

“I know Mom didn’t like Pearl, but I never knew why. Maybe once upon a time, Pearl was in the running for Dad’s affections before Mom showed up. But right now, we need to talk about what he said before that. Two men attacked him in the bar. High possibility that it was the same two men who’d come a week earlier asking if the bar was for sale.”

“I’ll run a search on those two names, but if Dad thought they were fake, then it may come to nothing,” Gunner said.

“The car they were driving matches the description ofthe one Pearl saw driving away that night, so I’m saying it was the same two men,” Asher said.

“Likely with the fake names,” Dylan said.

Gunner nodded.

“The big question is, why would someone want the Tumbleweed bad enough to kill for it? And why would they assume that killing Dad would even give them access to it afterward? We’re still in the loop of ownership,” Dylan asked.

Asher’s eyes narrowed. “What if they didn’t know about us? And why would they want access to the place? I think their identities will give us answers. We all worried about what might happen to Dad after Pete Brandt’s death resurrected the big story about the missing money. Who is still living that has a grudge to settle?”

Gunner nodded. “Give me a few minutes to write up my notes on what Dad said, and I’ll email them to your laptop. Then you can send it to Reddick as Dad’s first statement.”

Asher nodded. “Yes…but breakfast first, before the coffee and the microwaved sandwiches get any colder.”

“Then what?” Dylan asked as they began opening their sandwich packets.

Ash frowned. “I think we need to go home and get busy. It’s hard to investigate something long-distance. The scene of the crime is always the best place to start.”

“Is it safe to leave Dad alone?” Dylan asked.

Gunner frowned. “As long as he’s in ICU, I’d say he’s fine. We leave word no one visits him but us.”