Killer Instinct (A Thomas Shepherd Mystery Book 3) by Dan Padavona

Author:Dan Padavona [Padavona, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

24

Now it was Raven’s turn to hold Darren back. He wanted to chew a hole in Gregory Rose, who was already dragging their belongings from the car back to the cabin. If the man believed he was staying another night at the campground, he had another thing coming.

“Think before you bite his head off,” she said.

“We could have lost our belongings. Hell, we might have died in the fire if you hadn’t woken up in time.”

“The smoke detectors would have saved us.”

Darren replied with a grunt.

“Anyhow, we don’t have proof Mr. Rose started the fire.”

“We don’t? Besides us, who else is staying in the park? I told him to keep the grill away from the trees, and he disobeyed a direct order. Gregory Rose and his wife need to go. All these acres of forestland.” Darren swept an arm over the horizon. “One shift of the wind, and they’d all vanish because of his idiocy. That’s it. I’m laying into him.”

“Darren, don’t.”

“And after I have my say, I’ll let Thomas and the fire chief have a turn. If they want to charge him with arson, I won’t stand in their way.”

Raven gave Thomas and Chelsey a flustered look and hurried after her boyfriend. The sheriff joined her, worried that Darren was angry enough to turn the encounter physical.

“Slow down, Darren,” Thomas said, striding alongside the ranger.

“All I’m going to do is talk to the guy,” Darren said.

“Take a breath. If he’s guilty, we’ll handle the situation.”

Gregory Rose emerged from the cabin and folded his arms. His wife cowered behind him.

“I don’t know why you’re angry at me, Ranger,” Rose said. “I helped for as long as I could, but I wasn’t about to risk my wife’s life saving your park.”

“Are you kidding me?” Darren stood two inches taller than Rose and was almost chest to chest with the man. “I warned you to keep the grill away from the forest, and you dumped hot coals on a bed of dry leaves. What on earth did you think would happen?”

“Stop right there. I did nothing of the sort.”

“You started your grill last evening. You’re the only guests in the park.”

“But I didn’t. After you cussed me out and told me to stay near the cabin, I said screw it. It was too damn cold to stand in the wind. I ordered sandwiches from the village deli. Didn’t you see the car pull into the parking lot?”

“If you expect me to believe you’re innocent—”

“I am innocent. Tell him, honey. Did I grill last evening?”

The wife shook her head. “Gregory said it was too cold, and I agreed with him. It was my idea to call out for food.”

“Then whose coals were in the forest?” Darren asked.

“Not ours,” Rose said. “I swear on my parents’ graves. Look, you can inspect my grill. It’s clean as a whistle.”

“Show me.”

With Raven and Chelsey behind him, Darren stomped into the cabin. The portable grill stood against the wall. There wasn’t a speck of ash to be found in the container.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.