In A Killer's Sights

He nodded. “As much as I can be after seeing the only family I have left lying on a table in the medical examiner’s office.”

Tears filled her eyes at the pain she saw in his, and her lips quivered. “Ever since I’ve been here, I half hoped I’d run into him somewhere. I knew he still lived in the same place, but I didn’t think he’d want to see me.”

“He always loved you, Gwen. In fact, he told me not too long ago that he still prayed for you every day. He said he might not know where you were but that God did, and he prayed that you were safe and happy.”

“He was a good man.” A tear rolled down her face, and she wiped at it. “I know you’ll miss him so much.”

Dean nodded, and they sat on the bench where she’d waited. He propped his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. He stared down at the floor and shook his head. “I wish you could have seen him at breakfast this morning, Gwen. He had on the Western shirt that was his favorite, and he was so excited about the new colt that had been born last night. Now his lifeless body is in the next room on an exam table.”

Gwen closed her eyes for a moment and remembered how scared she’d been when she’d looked down and seen a masked man dumping a body in the river. Now that she knew who it was she was even more troubled. “Dean, evidently the man who tried to kill me is the same one who killed your grandfather. Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against him or you?”

Dean swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke. “I can’t think of anybody. I’ve lived a quiet life since I came back home, and everybody loved my grandfather. He was such a good man, the best I’ve ever known. He and my grandmother took me in when my parents were killed, as you know. Then after Grandma died he raised me all by himself. The proudest I’ve ever seen him was when I graduated from college. No one in our family had ever done that. Then when I became a police officer, he couldn’t brag enough about me to his friends.”

Gwen smiled. “I remember. When he’d come visit us, all he wanted to talk about were the cases you were working on.”

A slow smiled pulled at Dean’s lips. “Yeah, he kept up with all my cases, even followed the trials I had to testify in. He was always there to support me when things didn’t go so well.” His face suddenly darkened, and Gwen knew what he was thinking.

“You mean like the Trip King case?” she asked.

Dean exhaled a deep breath. “Yeah. That was one that troubled me more than any of the others.”

“Does it still keep you awake at night?”

“Sometimes. I regret how I spiraled into alcoholism after that case.” He darted a quick glance at her. “And how it ultimately cost me my marriage. I couldn’t have gotten through that time if it hadn’t been for Granddad.”

She squeezed Dean’s hands, then released them. “He did all that because he loved you. Now you need to focus on helping Ben find out who killed him.”

“And who tried to kill you, too.”

She nodded. “Yes. So concentrate on that. Now tell me what the sheriff said. Does he have any clues to who the killer might be?”

Dean shook his head. “No. They’re not even sure what the cause of death was, so they’re sending his body to the state lab for an autopsy. It’ll be a few days before they get a report on the findings. In the meantime, Ben and his deputies will continue to look for any evidence.”

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