Murder in the Smokies - By Paula Graves Page 0,68

and knees. With the side of her hand, she swept away the knife he’d dropped, knocking it out of reach.

The sound of running footsteps behind them drew her attention away from Bramlett for a moment. She saw Seth Hammond jog to a halt a few feet away from where Bramlett lay. His green eyes were wide with dismay at the sight of Bramlett’s bleeding body.

He pushed past Sutton, who put out a hand to stop him, and crouched next to Ivy, his attention focused solely on Mark Bramlett. “Why her?”

Ivy grabbed Seth’s arm, tugging him away. “Get out of my crime scene.”

“He targeted Rachel Davenport,” Seth snapped. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. I want to know why.”

“I want to know who,” Ivy shot back, turning to look at the dying man. “Who hired you, Bramlett?”

Bramlett’s mouth stretched into a horrible grin. Blood bubbled on his lips as he gasped for breath. “He’s right. It’s all about the girl.”

His voice faded into a guttural rattle, and blood filled his mouth, spilling down his chin and onto the ground. His eyes twitched for a second, then went dead, his eyelids sliding half-shut.

“Son of a bitch!” Seth growled, lurching forward as if to grab the body by the shoulders. Sutton wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug and pulled him away.

Ivy felt for a carotid pulse. It was silent.

She looked up at Sutton, who still held Seth away from the body, and shook her head.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She hurt all over, especially on the back of her right shoulder, where a wet spot was forming, suggesting that at least one of Bramlett’s knife blows had hit its mark. “I think he got me in the back, but I’m okay.”

“Stay put,” Sutton warned Seth and let the other man go, hurrying over to Ivy’s side. He examined her shoulder, plucking at the wet fabric. “Are all the muscles and tendons moving okay?”

She tried rolling her shoulder. It hurt, but everything seemed to work the way it was supposed to. “How about your arm?”

“Flesh wound,” he answered shortly. “Your head is bloody.”

“He banged my head into the underside of the truck to subdue me at first,” she said flatly. “I didn’t lose consciousness.” Not fully, anyway. “It’s stopped bleeding, hasn’t it?”

“You shouldn’t have killed him,” Seth muttered.

Sutton’s head whipped around to look at the other man. “If I hadn’t, he’d have killed Ivy.”

“You heard him. It’s all about Rachel Davenport.” Seth sounded oddly desperate. “He knew who’s targeting her.”

Ivy couldn’t argue with Seth. She was pretty sure Rachel Davenport had been the target all along. Someone had hired Bramlett to kill people around her rather than kill her outright. But what had been the point? What were they trying to do, rip away her friends and support system? To what end? Even though she now knew the identity of the killer, knew that someone had hired him to commit the murders, and even knew that it was all about Rachel Davenport, she was as frustrated as ever.

“What’s it to you?” Sutton asked suspiciously.

Seth’s expression shifted into neutral. “I work for Davenport Trucking. What happens to the people there affects me.”

Not even Seth looked as if he could sell that load of bull, but Ivy didn’t see the point of pushing him. There was too much else to take care of. “We’ve got to call in backup.”

“I got hold of Antoine Parsons on my way here.” Seth rose and walked a few feet away. “He should be here any minute.”

Ivy’s legs had begun to tremble. She sat down with her back pressed against the truck tire, looking away from Bramlett’s body to lock gazes with Sutton. He stared back at her, his eyes burning like coals. The intensity of his gaze scorched through her until she had to look away to catch her breath.

Distant sirens wafted in on the soft midday breeze. The cavalry was on the way, Ivy thought, closing her eyes and resting her head against the tire. Pain throbbed in her scalp, reminding her of her head wound, as well.

“Ivy?” Sutton’s voice was sharp with alarm.

“Just resting my eyes,” she said, forcing her heavy lids open.

He was crouched closer than she expected, filling her view. He blocked out everything else, and she realized with weary bemusement that he’d been doing so ever since he walked back into her life a few days ago. She’d been consumed by him, even when she was working her case. She’d let him