Deadly Holiday Reunion by Lenora Worth

Author:Lenora Worth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Jake and Ella both went for their firearms. Ella called out to Zip and calmed the dog. Her grandfather coaxed Zip away from the window, then grabbed his shotgun. But before Jake could get out the door, they heard voices and then a shout.

“Stop right there!”

Jake listened, his gun drawn. “It’s one of our men,” he said in answer to the shouted command.

He headed out the back door, Ella right behind him.

Seeing two deputies with drawn guns, Jake turned toward the bushes and let out a sigh. “A reporter.”

A sheepish-looking man with several cameras strapped around his neck stared at the deputies with big, frightened eyes, his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry. Just wanted a closer look inside.”

“Why?” Ella called out, anger in the one word.

The man whipped his head around to glint at her. “You’ve been hiding out here in plain sight, Ms. Terrell. We just want a few comments about how you feel regarding the return of the Dead Drop Killer. And why you’re so involved in this case.”

Jake gave one of the deputies a glance. The deputy stepped forward. “You’re trespassing, Mister. I’m gonna let you off with a warning this time.” He tugged the man out of the bushes and slung him toward Jake. “But next time, I’ll have to turn you over to this Texas Ranger. You won’t like that, I can assure you.”

Jake stepped in front of the scared photographer and lifted the man by his coat lapels. “One warning, understand? We have no comments at this time, so don’t come back up here looking for anything. We’ll release a statement when we have more facts.”

The man might be scared, but he was determined. “But aren’t you putting people in danger by keeping this under wraps? What about the upcoming Christmas Festival later this week?”

“What about it?” Jake asked, his head spinning with all the scenarios a large crowd of people could bring.

“Don’t you think it’s dangerous to go on with the festival even though a possible killer is on the loose?” He leaned in toward Jake. “Especially when your own daughter is still missing?”

Jake lifted the man off the ground and put his nose in the photographer’s face. “You need to get off this property, right now.”

One of the deputies eased the man out of Jake’s viselike grip. “We’ll escort him back to the road,” he said. “And we’ll do a thorough background check on him.”

The little man shot a glance back at Ella and Jake. “The public deserves to know what’s going on,” he shouted. “The local town council says the festival will go on, no matter what. You need to consider that, don’t you?”

After the commotion died down, one of the deputies turned back to Jake. “He does have a point. The sheriff is concerned about the big festival this weekend. It’s put on by several towns and brings in all kinds of people from all over East Texas.” He glanced toward Ella. “Aren’t you usually involved in that?”

Ella nodded.

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