Texas Tall Read Free

sexy.
    All for another man.
    But he couldn’t let that get to him now. What mattered was that she’d come as soon as she could.
    â€œWhat’s going on? Where’s Erin?” Her gaze surveyed the tilted truck. At least, from the driver’s side of the cab, she couldn’t see the body.
    â€œWe hit something and punctured a tire. Erin can tell you more in the car.” He opened the driver’s-side door of the truck and swung his daughter to the ground. “Just get her out of here, Tori. You can take her to the ranch or home with you. I want her gone by the time the sheriff gets here.”
    â€œI’ll take her home.” Tori caught sight of the motorcycle parked ahead of the truck. “Whose bike is that? Why’s the sheriff coming?”
    â€œI’d just gotten out of the truck when that motorcycle pulled up. The man had a pistol and a knife. I had to shoot him.”
    â€œThank God you had a gun.” Wide-eyed, Tori clutched her daughter close. After taking a moment to compose herself, she spoke. “Are you in trouble, Will? Do you need me to stay as your lawyer?”
    â€œI’ll be fine. There’s no way it could’ve been anything but self-defense.” Will glanced down the road and saw the flicker of approaching red lights. “Just take Erin and go. She doesn’t need to be part of this. I’ll call you later.”
    Tori needed no more urging. She raced with Erin to her car, backed away from the truck and turned for home. Will stood watching her taillights as she drove past the oncoming sheriff ’s vehicle and the ambulance. No one tried to stop her.
    Moments later, Blanco County sheriff Abner Sweeney pulled up in his tan SUV. A deputy rode beside him in the passenger seat. The ambulance parked behind him.
    Sweeney, a short, pugnacious redhead whose manner had become even cockier since winning the recent election, climbed out of the vehicle. Trailed by his deputy, he stalked up to where Will stood.
    â€œSo where’s the body, Tyler?” he demanded.
    â€œAround there.” Will nodded to the other side of the truck. “I covered him out of common decency, but I didn’t touch anything else. I admit to shooting the man, but I fired in self-defense.”
    â€œHow can I be sure of that?” Sweeny’s chin jutted as he glowered up at Will’s imposing height. His hand rested on the butt of his pistol.
    â€œYou’ll see his gun on the ground and the knife still in his right hand,” Will said. “And you won’t find my prints on anything.”
    â€œDid you check his pulse to make sure he was dead?”
    â€œDidn’t have to. A thirty-eight blows a mighty big hole, especially at close range. And I know dead when I see it.”
    Two more deputies had come out of the ambulance with an evidence kit, a stretcher, and a folded body bag. After donning latex gloves, they peeled back the blanket to reveal the dead man sprawled in the headlights of Will’s truck. His helmet was still in place. Blood from an ugly chest wound had soaked the shirt beneath his leather jacket. One deputy began taking photos of the scene with a small camera, the flash making little bursts of light. Another checked the motorcycle, pulling a packet of white powder from one of the panniers.
    Sheriff Sweeney frowned at the body, then turned back to Will. “He’s deceased, all right. Suppose you tell me what happened.”
    Will related the story to the best of his recollection. He hadn’t wanted to mention that Erin was with him, but realized that it might come to light later. Better to come clean now than be caught in a lie.
    â€œSo your daughter was a witness. Where is she?” Sweeney demanded.
    â€œI called her mother to come get her. And she wasn’t really a witness. I ordered her down on the floor when the bastard showed up. She didn’t see anything.”
    â€œSo why would you send her away?