Hidden Motive Read Free Page B

road’s edge. Sable released her grip on Murph. Another mile or so, and they would be off this bus. She’d rather walk in the freezing rain than risk an accident on the cliffs up ahead.
    â€œJosiah wasn’t a prospector, was he?” Murph asked softly as the bus driver eased her foot from the brake.
    Sable glance at Murph. She knew he was only trying to distract her from the road, but she’d overheard several comments around Freemont about Grandpa’s intentions when he went into debt again to purchase the Seitz mine.
    â€œHe didn’t salt that mine,” she said. “He and Noah were misinformed about the layout of the land before they purchased it. They should have checked it out, but they didn’t plant ore in it later to save their necks.”
    â€œDidn’t their third partner have some input?”
    â€œThat would be Otis Boswell. Our employer, ” she stressed. “The man practically owns Freemont, so why pull a shoddy deal like that for a few more bucks?”
    â€œHow well do you know him?” Murph asked.
    Sable shrugged. “He once lived here in Missouri. His land adjoined ours. He and Grandpa hunted together sometimes. They weren’t great friends, but Grandpa never turned down a hunting trip.” Her voice caught. She felt lost and vulnerable.
    Murph gently patted her hand.
    â€œWhy did you come with me?” Sable asked.
    For a moment, he didn’t reply, and again she saw the tautening of his expression, that quiet caution.
    â€œI couldn’t let you try to get here by yourself,” he said. “What if you’d been followed?”
    â€œYou’ve known me, what, six weeks? Why didn’t you run?”
    â€œThey’ll be after both of us once they discover we didn’t die in that canal. We’re safer together than apart.” He glanced out the window. “How is your family home set up for security?”
    â€œIt isn’t,” she said. “We’ve never had need for it, but the house is built over the mouth of a cave. It could serve as a hideaway if necessary.”
    â€œAt the station, you told me about some evidence your grandpa gathered. Evidence about what? About whom?”
    â€œGood question.”
    â€œWouldn’t he have left something like that in a bank safe-deposit box?”
    â€œNot necessarily. He often returned home on the weekends, and if he had documents of any kind, he would’ve brought them.”
    â€œSo they’d be in the house somewhere.”
    â€œMaybe. There’s an old safe upstairs in the attic, but no one except Grandpa knew the combination. He could be very secretive about some subjects.” Her dear, stubborn grandfather.
    â€œWe have to find out what happened,” Murph said.
    She glanced outside, studied the landmarks, and then got to her feet. “I’d better go tell the driver we’re getting close.”
    Murph pulled their coats from the overhead compartment and followed Sable to the front. Four rows up, a chubby man the driver had called Perry Chadwick snored softly, his arm flung out in front of him.
    The bus lurched and Sable grabbed the seat beside her, earning a glare from the hard-muscled man who sat there. Simmons was his name, if she remembered correctly.
    With a quick apology, Sable and Murph continued forward.
    The driver glanced into the wide rearview mirror as they approached. “It’s getting worse. Better sit down.”
    Sable took a place beside the elderly woman seated behind the bus driver. “Jerri, you can drop us off just around the next curve, past the speed limit sign.”
    The driver nodded.
    Sable’s seatmate flashed a smile. “You’re getting off at the old Kessinger Cave?”
    â€œYou know of it?” Sable asked.
    â€œWho doesn’t? I lived in the area years ago.” She held her hand out. “I’m Audry Hawkins, and—”
    The bus lurched sideways in a long,