Burning Proof Read Online Free Page B

the point?”
    Luke turned for the house. As he walked away, he heard Oscar try to get on Woody’s good side.
    “Look, sorry about the gun bit, really. For thirty years I’ve been looking over my shoulder, wondering if the feds would kick down my door. I’m done with it. Get me to jail.”
    Woody’s harsh response told Luke he didn’t believe the guy and would not be letting his guard down. Luke smiled, glad he and Woody were a team. With a quick glance back when he reached the steps, Luke saw that Woody had Oscar’s arm and was moving him toward the truck.
    Luke hurried into the manufactured home. The place was a mess. Oscar was a hoarder. Newspapers were stacked everywhere, leaving a narrow walkway resembling a maze. There was also trash and boxes, containing who knows what. The smell nearly knocked Luke back. Mold, body odor, decay, rot. It surprised him that the outside of the property was so neat.
    He called out to see if anyone else was home and heard nothing. After a quick look through, he gratefully backed out of the place and locked the door. A thorough search would have to be left to the deputies. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he joggedto the truck. Woody had already put Oscar in the backseat. He was studying the handgun Oscar had dropped.
    “He had a round in the chamber. Could’ve been ugly.”
    “I thank you, my friend. How’d you know to move up so quick?”
    “I think there are bodies buried in the yard.”
    “What?” Luke felt his hands go numb.
    Woody nodded, expression grim. “I could be wrong   —it might be pets or something else   —but there are mounds there. He’s buried something. The hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I knew I had to get out here and watch your bacon.”
    It took a moment for Luke to find his voice. “Thank God you were with me today.”
    “I second that. Someone was watching over the both of us today.”
    Luke tried not to kick himself for not taking this more seriously. He’d really believed it was going to be a wild-goose chase and had not been on guard nearly enough.
    On the road returning to civilization, Luke kept his questions to himself, but Oscar got talkative. His demeanor was on a switch: evil and murderous one minute and harmless old codger the next. He told them about his life on the run. Claimed he hated the deserted area he lived in but it was the only place he felt safe. He’d been supporting himself with an old friend’s Social Security checks.
    “I didn’t kill him. He died of natural causes, so I just became him. I’m amazed that the PI in Arizona connected Parker to me. I thought I was so careful.”
    Luke wondered if the friend was buried in the backyard.
    Oscar rambled on about hiding from the cops, how it hadworn him down. Luke listened and thought about how sin would do exactly that to a person. He thought about Abby Hart and the cold case that connected them. He wanted to believe that if there was another guilty party in her parents’ and his uncle’s murders, they were as tortured by guilt and fear as this shriveled-up old man behind him.
    Curious about how it all started, Luke asked, “Why’d you kill that man in the first place?”
    “I wanted the car, plain and simple. It was a beautiful ’54 Chevy, completely restored with shiny new leather seats and a powerful motor. I still think about that car and how the want of it made me pull the trigger. Dumbest thing I ever did. Don’t think I had it twenty-four hours before cops were all over me. Back then I thought I was invincible.”
    From the look on Woody’s face in the rearview mirror, Luke knew he thought everything the old man was saying was hooey.
    Luke reached into his glove box and pulled out a pocket New Testament. He carried them to give to runaways. “Don’t know how long you’ll be able to keep this, but why not read it while you can. Woody can put it in your shirt pocket.”
    Woody took the little book and showed it to Oscar.
    “God stuff? I’m