it through the mail.
When had he become such a selfish prick?
“Yeah. He’d been talking about it for years, but he refused to spend the money to get it,” Kir said, his voice thick with regret.
Bradshaw glanced away, as if giving Kir a sense of privacy. “Anyway, I asked if he’d been to the lake and he said no, that he had his own slice of heaven where he liked to fish.”
Kir grimly forced himself to focus on what the man was telling him. The only way he could make amends to his father now was by catching his killer. And keeping Lynne alive. “The road in front of the church would lead to my grandparents’ old farm,” he conceded.
Bradshaw shrugged. “I don’t know if that helps or not.”
“Me either.” Impatience crawled through Kir like a living force. He needed answers, but he didn’t know where to look. Hell, he didn’t even know what questions he needed to ask. “Is there anything else you can remember?”
Bradshaw shook his head. “No.”
“Thanks for your time.” Retracing his steps, Kir was pulling open the door when Bradshaw spoke.
“You should let the authorities deal with this.”
“Not as long as Lynne is in danger.”
“Have you heard the proverb that ‘a prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished’?”
Kir glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll face down the devil himself if I have to.”
Chapter 28
Lynne shoved aside her half-eaten sandwich and reached for her phone. Nothing. She tossed it back on her desk with a grimace.
She’d texted Kir twenty minutes ago but he hadn’t responded. It shouldn’t be a big deal. He could be busy with the official files. Or eating lunch. Or driving. Or . . . Or a hundred other things. It wasn’t like she instantly responded to texts. Not unless it was an emergency.
Still, his silence was starting to wear on her nerves.
She was impatiently drumming her fingers on her desk when Bernadine stuck her head through the open doorway with a questioning expression.
“Well?”
“I haven’t heard back yet.”
Easily sensing Lynne’s seething concern, Bernadine stepped into the office and pasted on a reassuring smile. “If he discovers anything, I’m sure he’ll call,” she assured Lynne.
“Maybe.”
“If you’re worried, we can go find him,” Bernadine suggested. “You don’t have any appointments this afternoon.”
Lynne shook her head. It’d only been a few hours. It was likely he was still at the sheriff’s office. She had enough worries without fretting every time Kir was out of sight. “No. I have to go to the sanctuary to film the ‘Pets’ Corner.’”
Bernadine looked confused. “I thought that was on Friday nights.”
“That’s when it airs, but we always film on Wednesday afternoon.”
Reluctantly Lynne rose to her feet. She wasn’t in the mood to parade around dogs and cats and even goats for the camera, but the weekly segment had allowed her to rehome over a dozen animals. She wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to have a new episode of “Pets’ Corner” for the Friday night news.
“How long does it take?”
Lynne pulled her purse out of her desk drawer and grabbed her phone. “No more than an hour.”
“If you haven’t heard from Kir by the time you’re finished, we’ll go and find him,” Bernadine said in decisive tones.
“There’s no we.”
“You’re not leaving this clinic without me.”
Lynne frowned, confused by the older woman’s tenacious insistence. “But I need you here.”
“You have interns who can handle things for a couple hours.”
“Bernadine—”
“I promised Kir I wouldn’t let you run around without someone with you,” Bernadine interrupted.
Lynne was caught off guard. She had no idea Kir and her receptionist had been scheming behind her back. “When?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Bernadine’s expression had never been more stubborn. “I intend to keep my promise.”
Lynne sighed. “You’re going to insist on this, aren’t you?”
“You betcha.”
“Fine. Get your coat.”
It took a few minutes to get bundled up and to discuss the schedule for the afternoon with her interns. Then, helping Bernadine climb into her truck, Lynne drove to the sanctuary, parking between the old farmhouse and the large barn that had been converted into kennels.
“Oh my. I haven’t been here since you had your open house.” Bernadine took a slow survey of the long, L-shaped stables and huge paddock that held a dozen horses and several mules, along with a couple llamas. In the attics of the stables Lynne had created a heated aviary. “I had no idea it’d gotten so big.”
Lynne sighed. “I’m afraid it’s getting out of hand. When I opened the