No Good Deed Read Online Free

– looks like the tread of a Dually pickup, there’s two tire prints side by side there.’ He touched a splinter of wood. ‘Streaks of green paint, Sonora, which horses rarely leave. Plus, the wood is splintered on both ends.’ He held up a board that had been torn away. ‘The break is symmetrical. Similar lines of breakage on both sides, so the force of the impact is pretty evenly divided. A horse is going to break the wood on one side. And if you look closer here, there’s no sign of mane or tail hairs, like a horse smashed a slat, then squeezed through, breaking the board off.’
    Sonora bent over, studying the wood. ‘And the break goes inward, toward the field. So somebody just drove up and crashed on through.’ Sonora looked at Sam. He was chewing. She smelled oranges.
    She straightened up, touched the small of her back. ‘Did you notice McCarty?’
    â€˜I notice you did.’
    â€˜His sleeve, Sam. Looks like blood to me. A few hours fresh. Go check and see what you think. I’m going to talk to Mickey.’
    â€˜About the tracks?’
    â€˜About Bella.’
    Mickey was on his knees with a tape measure, inspecting a tire track. ‘Shoulda done this one. Would have come out crisper.’ He saw Sonora, got up. ‘What?’
    â€˜What do you mean “what”?’ Sonora asked.
    â€˜Don’t mess with me, kid, I had a cavity filled this morning and the Novocaine is wearing off.’
    â€˜Talk to me, Mickey.’
    He tilted his head to one side. ‘Big old Dually pickup. Four tires in the back, two in the front. And what looks like a new patch on the left front tire. Might check the repair places in the vicinity. And Sonora, pay attention. From the depth of the tracks, back ones in particular, I’d say the truck was pulling a load.’
    Sonora looked at him. ‘Load. As in … horse trailer?’
    Mickey shrugged. ‘What better way to get rid of a horse?’
    â€˜So what you’re saying is a truck and trailer ran through that fence.’
    â€˜I’ll get you the make, year and model by tomorrow.’
    â€˜You work miracles. Get it by tonight.’
    â€˜Tomorrow at the latest. Looks like there’s at least two sets of tracks here, both trucks. And I got paint traces. Teal green. Paint can narrow the make down to two years, at the worst. And, clearly, the truck that went through that fence is damaged.’
    â€˜You’re good, baby, I got to say it.’
    â€˜If I had a dollar for every time a woman has told me that.’ He gave her a second look. ‘Wait a minute. That’s the same tone of voice my ex-wife uses when she wants an advance on the child support.’
    â€˜Do you give it to her?’
    â€˜Always.’
    â€˜Did you know that you look down and then sideways to the right when you lie?’
    â€˜No kidding? I got to fix that. Usually I look to the left.’
    â€˜You know Officer Murty, don’t you? Isn’t she a cousin of yours?’
    â€˜Daughter-in-law.’
    â€˜She still working Bella?’
    â€˜Uh huh.’ Mickey rubbed his chin. Looked out over the back paddock. ‘You know they got a chopper coming?’
    â€˜I heard that, yeah.’
    â€˜But you want Bella?’
    â€˜I need her tonight. I can call Crick if you want, I don’t mind going through channels. But you could get to her faster. If there’s any chance this kid is still alive—’
    He checked his watch. ‘Lucy will know where she is. Give me five.’
    She wanted to be sassy and say ‘five what?’ but part of the detective’s art was knowing when to shut up.

Chapter Five
    Sam had McCarty cornered by the fence and was waving Sonora over.
    She went slowly, hands in her pockets. Looked pointedly at McCarty’s rolled-up sleeve. Some killers can’t resist being part of the investigation, she thought.
    â€˜Mr McCarty able to explain