The Search The Secrets of Crittenden Cou - By Shelley Shepard Gray Page 0,6
his weight so he could get up.
Doing all this, he almost missed the pair of black sunglasses just inches from his right hand. Scooting over, he grabbed a handkerchief from his back pocket, then picked them up.
Black Oakleys. Expensive. Maybe they wouldn’t stand out somewhere like Boulder, Colorado, or Miami. But in a rural place like Crittenden County? . . . They would have stood out like a cop from Cincinnati.
It was his first real break, he was sure of it then. Though, he had no idea whose they were . . . not Frannie Eicher’s, of course.
The glasses belonged to someone, but Luke wasn’t holding his breath. Too much time had passed already. It was very likely that any number of people could have left a pair of expensive designer sunglasses behind. However, his gut had told him he was on to something.
He leaned back in his chair. “Any chance you’ve sent those sunglasses to the lab to be checked for fingerprints?”
Mose eyed him over his pair of reading glasses. “I told ya I did, Luke. Just like I told ya I went around and got fingerprint samples of most everyone who’d ever talked to Perry in his lifetime.”
Luke felt his neck heat up. He would’ve never asked his partner in Cincinnati if he’d actually done what he’d said he was going to. “Sorry. I just want to do things right.”
“I do too, Luke.” Mose took a breath, looking about to remind Luke that he wasn’t a fool, when his cell phone went off.
After checking the screen, Mose answered, turning all business.
When Luke spied the look of concern on his old friend’s features, he pushed aside his apology and got ready to lend assistance.
“You sure?” Mose asked after a moment. “They need help? All righty, then. Keep me posted.” After he hung up, he leveled a glance Luke’s way. “Well, speak of the devil.”
“What happened?”
“That was Melissa, the dispatcher. Have you met her? Kind of a large woman. President of the PTA?”
Mose could talk a gnat’s ear off, if gnats had ears. “What happened, Mose?”
“Melissa just heard from Jason Black. He’s an ambulance driver, you know—”
“I don’t know Jason or Melissa.” Mose’s slow way of talking, combined with his penchant for sharing stories about everyone and their brother was driving him crazy. “What. Do. You. Know?”
“Oh. Jason’s driving Frannie Eicher to the hospital right now.”
Immediately, Luke feared the worst. “Did someone hurt her? Does this have something to do with Perry’s death?”
Mose shook his head. “Oh, no. She was involved in a kitchen accident. She owns the bed and breakfast, you know . . .”
“I know! Of course, I know! Is she okay?”
“That I do not know.” Mose brushed a hand over his face. “Jason said she looks bad. Well, her face does.”
“Why?”
“It seems that a glass or something shattered, and the pieces flew into her face. There was blood everywhere.” He paused. “Jason said a couple of the shards got an eye real good. It might be nothing, but you never know, ain’t so?”
Mose only used an Amish expression like that when he was rattled, which only heightened Luke’s worry.
His stay at Frannie’s Yellow Bird Inn had been frustrating. Frannie had been so eager and attentive, he’d felt stifled. They’d definitely butted heads a time or two. But when she’d admitted to dating Perry briefly, he’d moved out. It had been the right thing to do.
Yet, even though they’d had their differences, he couldn’t ignore the many attractive things about her. She was inquisitive and caring, and would have been downright cover-model pretty if she’d been the type of woman to care about such things. Thinking about her beautiful face covered in cuts made his breath catch.
“I bet she’s in a lot of pain. Does she have family? Did anyone go in the ambulance with her?”
“Family? Well now, let’s see. She has an older sister who lives in Michigan, and her father is here in Marion. Jason said most likely Frannie will be in surgery after they admit her to the hospital. In a little while, I’ll stop by her father’s house and see if he wants a ride.” He paused and looked at Luke. “Hey, you want to go with us?”
Luke knew he couldn’t wait for Mose to finish his meal, talk to Frannie’s father, and then meander to the hospital.
The panic that mixed in with the dismay that was bubbling forward was as much of a surprise as the news. “I need to go there now.”