Poisoned Ground Read Free Page A

of landscapes and wildlife decorating Sheila’s. Like her father, Sheila was, or had been when she was younger, an amateur photographer. The brother and sister were in their thirties now, living elsewhere.
    Before this day ended, Tom would have to call them and tell them over the phone that their parents were both dead.

Chapter Three
    Rachel felt like a gawker, a crime groupie, standing in the weeds beside the road with Robert McClure and Joanna.
    A couple hundred yards of yellow police tape strung along the front boundary of the Kelly property snapped and trembled in the wind. The only people Tom had allowed in were his chief deputy, Captain Dennis Murray, several other deputies, and Dr. Gretchen Lauter, Mason County’s medical examiner. Joanna had ridden down the road with Rachel, and McClure had followed in his car, to find out about the gunshots they’d heard. Rachel would have left by now if Tom hadn’t asked her to wait and take temporary custody of the Kellys’ dog and two pet rabbits.
    Trying to ignore the contentious chatter between McClure and Joanna, Rachel stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets to keep them warm and glanced up at the towering dark clouds. She wanted to go home, to get away from this quiet little farm that had been transformed in seconds into a place of violent death.
    “I can’t get over this,” McClure murmured, shaking his head. “I actually heard the shots that killed them. And I brushed it off. I was sure it was just a hunter—”
    “If you knew Lincoln and Marie at all,” Joanna said, “you wouldn’t have been so quick to shrug off gunshots over here.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and her face flushed with the effort of clamping down on her emotions.
    “Yes, Joanna.” McClure sighed. “I’m woefully ignorant, and of course you were right to be worried. I talked to them earlier today, incidentally. About the land sale.”
    “Oh?” Rachel looked at him with new interest. “They weren’t going to sell to Packard, were they?”
    “Never.” Joanna cut off McClure’s response. “It was not going to happen. You were wasting your breath, Robert.”
    “Well, now you’re the one who’s mistaken.” McClure spoke with the smugness that Rachel had always detested. “Marie called me yesterday and told me to have a contract drawn up for them to look over. She was thinking about Lincoln’s future needs, as his condition worsened. I brought it over this morning, and I feel sure Marie was favorably inclined.”
    “No.” Joanna shook her head. “I don’t believe it for a minute. That’s wishful thinking.”
    McClure issued another sigh, this one heavy with disappointment. “It’s all beside the point now, unfortunately. I’ll have to start over with their heirs.”
    “What’s unfortunat e is that two decent, kind people are dead. I’m so sorry it’s creating extra work for you, Robert.”
    McClure pressed his thin lips together and didn’t answer.
    Rachel was surprised he’d gotten anywhere with the Kellys. She’d known them only because she was their veterinarian, but she was aware of their reputations as ardent environmental crusaders. They campaigned against anything that threatened the natural beauty of their rural mountain community. Rachel couldn’t see the Kellys surrendering their land to a developer who wanted to make it part of a luxury resort. But she kept her thoughts to herself, having no interest in arguing with McClure.
    “Here comes Tom.” Joanna pointed up the driveway.
    With a canvas tote slung over a shoulder, and holding a cat carrier with one hand, Tom tugged the reluctant dog toward them on a leash. Several times Bonnie stopped, looked back at the house, and whined. Poor girl, Rachel thought. The dog had just lost her whole world, but would anybody care about her broken heart?
    When Tom reached Rachel he set down the carrier and handed her the canvas tote that held a couple of bags of rabbit pellets and some canned dog food. “I