Cranberry Point (Cedar Cove #4)(2)

As she set aside the hose, Peggy caught sight of Sheriff Davis's patrol car coming down Cranberry Point. She immediately felt the tension between her shoulder blades. She hoped he planned to talk some sense into Bob.

Her husband must have seen the patrol car at the same time Peggy did because he cut the engine and climbed off the lawn mower. Sheriff Troy Davis turned into the driveway, then stepped out of his vehicle. In the beginning, when it looked like Bob might be a suspect in the murder case, Davis wasn't nearly as welcome here as he was now.

The sheriff, who was probably a little heavier than he should be, took a moment to hike up his pants and adjust his gun before heading across the lawn to meet Bob. Unwilling to be left out of the conversation, Peggy shut off the water and hurried across the half-mown grass.

"Peggy." Davis touched the brim of his hat and nodded in her direction. "I was just telling Bob it might be a good idea if the three of us sat down and talked."

Peggy nodded in return, appreciating the fact that he wanted to include her.

Bob led the way to the patio, and Peggy was grateful she'd taken time that morning to sweep it off. The three of them sat at the round pine table Bob had built several years earlier. He'd painted it a deep gray-blue, a color that complemented the white siding. The striped umbrella was up and the patio was awash in sunshine.

"I thought I'd update you on my conversation with Hannah Russell."

A couple of months earlier, after Max's identity had been uncovered, his daughter had asked to meet with Bob and Peggy. It had been an uncomfortable meeting, but Peggy's heart had ached for the young woman. She'd answered Hannah's questions to the best of her ability.

For her part, there was little Hannah could tell them. All she knew was what her father had told her—he was taking a short trip, although he hadn't divulged where. That was the last she'd heard. When he didn't return to California, she'd filed a missing persons report with the police. A year had passed before she learned his fate.

"I feel so bad for her," Peggy said. Hannah had lost her mother some time before and was now an orphan with no other family.

"She was pretty upset," Troy admitted. "You can imagine how painful it was to learn her father was dead. But to discover he'd been murdered..." He shook his head.

"Did she have any idea who might've done this?"

"None," Davis told them. "She asked me to thank you for your kindness. Talking with you helped her resolve in her own mind what happened to her father. Peggy, she mentioned the letter you wrote, and I could tell it meant a great deal to her."

Peggy bit her lip. "How's she getting on with her life?"

The sheriff hesitated. "I can't really say. She said she no longer has any reason to stay in California and implied that she's thinking of moving. I asked her to keep in touch and she promised she would."

Peggy could understand the young woman's feelings. With both of her parents gone, Hannah was rootless. Peggy sympathized with her desire to leave the area where she'd grown up, where she was surrounded by so many memories. Every place she turned, every place she looked, Hannah must be reminded of the parents she'd loved.

"What did you find out about Colonel Samuels?" Bob asked, eyes narrowed as he gazed at Troy Davis.

Stewart Samuels was the fourth man in Vietnam with Bob and Dan and Max. Peggy knew the sheriff had recently been in contact with him. The colonel had been cleared in Max's murder, at least as far as Davis was concerned, but her husband obviously had doubts. While Bob and the other two were eager to be discharged, back in the early seventies, Samuels had stayed in the Army and risen through the ranks.

"At this point I don't consider the colonel a suspect."

"He's some mucky-muck in Army Intelligence from what I hear," Bob muttered, as if that should be motive enough.

"Who lives in the WashingtonD.C. area," Sheriff Davis stated calmly. "I've had him checked out by a number of people. He's highly respected. He's been cooperative and willing to help in any way he can. Perhaps you should talk to him yourself, Bob."

Her husband declined with a sharp shake of his head. Bob wanted as little to do with the past as possible. Coping with what had happened to Dan, who'd committed suicide, and to Max, had been hard enough. The less he had to think about the past, or its effect on the present, the better.

"Is Bob in danger?" Peggy asked bluntly. Her husband might prefer not to acknowledge the likelihood of a threat, but Peggy wanted a realistic assessment of their situation.

"I think he might be at risk," the sheriff said quietly.

It wasn't what Peggy had hoped to hear, but she was grateful for his frankness. They had to face the truth, however unpleasant, and take appropriate precautions.

"Nonsense," Bob insisted. "If anyone wanted me dead, I'd be six feet under by now."

Maybe, but Peggy wasn't willing to take chances with her husband's life.

"Why don't we arrange an extended vacation?" she suggested. It'd been years since they'd been away from the Bed and Breakfast, and they could use a break.

"For how long?" Bob asked.

"Until the case is solved," Peggy told him, pleading with her eyes. This wasn't the time to put on a brave front—not in her opinion, anyway.