Colton First Responder. Linda O. Johnston
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as if daring him to say something.
Which he did, though nothing accusatory. “Right. I read about that.”
“Didn’t you hear his interviews in the media? Zane must have paid him well, since he claimed we had something and planned to run away together as soon as my divorce from Zane was final. Not!” She practically screamed the last word and stood, grabbing the scissors as if she was going to use them on him—or someone. Fortunately, she quickly realized what she was doing and, tears running down her lovely cheeks, collapsed back into the chair, gently pushing the scissors, handle first, toward him. “Here.”
He pulled them closer on the table but didn’t hide them, as if showing he believed her.
“And,” she continued, her voice rasping, “what a surprise. Schuyler has a solid, impeccable alibi, on a business trip during the crucial time of the supposed murder, with people who don’t even work for him vouching for him. But, gee, he does admit to having had a really steamy affair with me.” Her head shook back and forth in utter denial. “No way. I’ve met the guy, even got some real estate advice from him, but I never liked him. And as I said, one of the reasons Zane and I got divorced was because he was having affairs. I wasn’t.”
“I get it.” Grayson reached across the table and grasped Savannah’s hand, where it now rested beside her water bottle. And he did get it. He didn’t believe she’d made her side of it up.
Besides, what he’d recalled before gave him a clue as to Savannah’s underlying personality, someone who helped to save lives rather than taking them. That situation had occurred at a fund-raiser his siblings had thrown for First Hand First Responders when he was just starting up the business. As he recalled, Savannah was not only there, but she was arguing with another socialite type who seemed very malicious. As a few other attendees started hollering at them to be quiet, they’d gone out onto the balcony of the two-story, swanky restaurant in downtown Mustang Valley.
Grayson, somewhat amused at the time, had watched through a window near one of his family’s tables as they continued to argue. He’d been shocked when the other woman took a swing at Savannah and missed her—but the woman had been close enough to the railing that the movement made her nearly fall over it.
And Savannah, acting fast, had leaned over the balcony to grab that woman’s wrists, hanging partly over the side herself for a while till a couple of guys ran out and pulled them both safely and completely onto the balcony.
Though he barely knew her then, Grayson had been impressed that Savannah had immediately endangered her own life to help someone who’d just been mean to her. That was distinctly not the behavior of a cold-blooded killer.
And no matter how difficult her relationship with her ex had turned out, he just couldn’t see her as a murderer.
He didn’t mention that to Savannah. But he did say, “I assume you won’t be going back to town tonight, maybe not for a long time. In case you’re wondering, this place is a fishing cabin, and the owners never come here until late in the spring—and this is only April. You can hang out here for now, if you’d like.”
“Oh yes, I’d like that.” She sounded relieved and her expression as she looked at him across the table seemed—well, grateful.
There was nothing she needed to be grateful to him for. Not yet, at least, if ever. Did he really want to put his own freedom into jeopardy by helping her? Maybe. He would have to think about it.
What about bringing her back to town, then attempting to help her by finding her ex?
He doubted she would go along with that, and he wasn’t about to take any steps to get her back into custody. Not now, at least.
Well, he figured this place was a good potential hideout for her, at least temporarily. Despite being a walkable distance from the destroyed van, it wasn’t that close to where she had escaped from it, although the cops might wind up looking around here.
In any case, he wasn’t about to help her find someplace else. But he figured he would help her a bit by bringing her some supplies, since he doubted this place held much in the way of food and other necessities at this time of the year.
He would have to be careful, though. He was buying into her story, but was it true? Was she innocent?
He would assume so...for now. But he would also stay alert for anything that told him otherwise.
“Let’s take a look at the damaged part of the cabin, though,” he said, waving toward the far side where the wooden walls were somewhat smashed.
They both stood and walked in that direction. Grayson had an urge to take Savannah’s hand and hold it encouragingly, but he decided that would be a bad idea.
They stopped beside each other and looked at the damaged wall from this angle. Some panels had even fallen down and left gaps, and the windows at that part of the room no longer existed.
But fortunately, most of the broken glass and wooden boards, insulation, shelves and other building materials must have landed outside, and somehow the remaining walls had fallen into a sideways slant so there wasn’t even much in the way of an opening.
The rest of the place certainly looked habitable.
“It’s not so bad,” Savannah, at his side, whispered.
“I agree,” Grayson said more loudly. “I’ve got a couple of phone calls to make now to ensure that my team doesn’t head this way looking for me or for any injured people, then I’ll head downtown. I’ll bring you some supplies tomorrow, okay?”
“Definitely okay,” she said, smiling at him. He couldn’t help smiling back. “And—”
She stopped, so he prodded, “And what?”
“Well, I no longer have my phone, as you can imagine. Is there some way you could get one for me? I’ll be glad to repay you for all this whenever...whenever it’s all over and I get my life and my money back.”
He laughed. “Sure thing,” he said. “I know where I can get you a burner phone with internet access, so you’ll be able to stay in touch with what’s going on.”
“Thanks.”
He moved away then and called Norah Fellini, the EMT on his team.
“Hi, Grayson,” she said immediately. “Where are you? Is everything okay? Do you need help with any other victims?” Of course she knew about his finding the van driver who didn’t make it, since he kept his team apprised.
“No, I don’t need any help now, thanks. That deceased driver was picked up by an ambulance, and then I headed toward some of the fishing cabins just to make sure no one was hurt or trapped inside. So far, I’ve checked the cabin on Rural Route 2 and haven’t found anything I need to deal with, so I’m going to the next one that’s about five miles away before driving back to town. I’d appreciate it if you’d let the rest of our team know, okay?”
“Sure,” she said. She filled him in on what she and the other two team members had been up to. They’d had to find a couple of missing kids and give medical attention to them and a few other people, but they hadn’t dealt with any major emergencies. “We did report in to our local PD and other contacts and all, so we should get paid—although that’s not the main thing, of course.”
“Of course. Just glad no one appeared badly hurt. See you tomorrow.” He said good-night and hung up.
He walked to the table once more since Savannah sat there, looking exhausted. Well, he was, too, but he’d do as he had told Norah, then head back to town. At least he should be able to drive there, although it would take a while since he had left his vehicle near the crushed van.
“I’ll be back tomorrow with some supplies,” he told Savannah as he got ready to go.
“That’s so nice of you.” She stood up again. “Oh—and, well, maybe I shouldn’t mention it, but I wanted to let you know I’d