Don't Look (Pike, Wisconsin #1) - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,79

dawn. It was something from the ground. “Could it be a fire?”

“It looks too steady for a fire.”

“True. Oh, wait.” Lynne abruptly recalled where she’d seen that glow before. “It looks like the lights from the football field.”

“Do they always leave them on?”

“No. Only when they have a game.”

He was silent for a minute, then he squared his shoulders. “I’m going to check it out.”

She reached out to grab his arm. Not because she thought he was overreacting to lights. Right now, anything out of the ordinary was setting off alarm bells. No, she simply wasn’t going to let him go alone.

“We’re going to check it out.” She squeezed his arm. “Partner.”

He shook his head. “Lynne—”

“Have you considered the possibility this is a trick to lure you away so I’m left here on my own?” she interrupted.

He released an aggravated sigh. “You’re too smart for your own good,” he muttered. “Or my good.”

She pulled on her coat, letting King out to do his business before filling his bowls with food and water. They could take him along, but she was still reluctant to leave the house without him there to provide protection. It was going to be a while before she was over the horror that the killer had been sneaking around her property.

Leaving the house, Lynne made sure the doors were locked as Kir started the SUV and scraped the ice from the windows. At last they were driving down the empty street, a tension silencing any urge to chatter. It was probably nothing, she tried to tell herself. Some kids might have turned on the lights last night and no one noticed. Or there was some weird power surge. No doubt there were any number of explanations.

She was still clinging to the hope that it was nothing more than a fluke when they turned onto the road that led past the three-story brick school that had been built a hundred years ago, with a new addition that was awkwardly attached at the back. On one side was a graveled parking lot, and on the other side was a long field framed by a chain-link fence.

They drove past the bleachers that were nearly hidden beneath the snowdrifts, and the scoreboard, until they had a clear view of the field.

Her breath tangled in her throat. Right in the middle of the snow-covered field was a shiny black truck.

“That’s Nash’s truck,” she said in a harsh voice. There was no mistaking the oversized custom wheels and floodlights on top of the cab. “Why would he leave it in the middle of the football field?”

Kir slowed to a mere crawl as they continued down the street. “He seems the type to enjoy reliving his glory days. And you said yourself he’s always parking wherever he wants.”

Lynne frowned as she studied the truck. It didn’t look like it was running. The headlights weren’t on and there was no smoke coming from the tailpipe. In fact, it looked frozen in place.

“At this hour, in subzero weather? No.” She shook her head. “Nash prefers to relive his glory days in the comfort of the bar with a bunch of his drunk buddies who still think he’s a local hero.”

Kir pointed toward the gate at the far end of the fence that had been smashed open. That was obviously where the truck entered the field. “Maybe he got plastered and ran off the road.”

She slowly nodded, trying to imagine what Nash had been doing that would lead him to this part of town. It was possible he’d been out selling beer to the local students, but this seemed too visible a location. He preferred the dark alley behind his bar. Not to mention the fact, he would never have turned on the lights. That would only have attracted more unwanted attention.

Lynne stiffened, struck by a sudden thought. “What if the killer stole it to use in another murder?”

Kir cursed and slammed on the brakes. The SUV fishtailed and slid to a halt less than an inch from the fence.

“That murder,” he breathed.

It took a second for Lynne to figure out what he was talking about, then her breath was squeezed from her lungs as if a vise were crushing her chest.

“Oh my God.” She shoved open the door of the SUV and slid out, wading through the snow to press against the fence. “Nash.”

Kir appeared next to her, holding his phone to his ear.

Vaguely Lynne heard him telling someone that there was an emergency at the