time.”
“Time is running out,” Joshua told her. “Gina Robb’s body is shutting down, but she won’t give a do not resuscitate order until she knows I’ve found out who framed and killed Billy.”
“Linda Pryor has all kinds of political power,” Cameron said. “She must have known about Billy threatening Rachel after she fired him.”
“Do we know that for sure?” Joshua turned to look at her, while keeping one eye on the road. “She didn’t work at the salon. She was on the campaign trail. Remember, this was September 2001. Election was only a couple of months away. Would Linda Pryor have bothered knowing about a little gopher in Rachel Burke’s salon? Why go to the trouble of framing and killing him? Why not just let Rachel Burke’s murder look like a break-in gone wrong?”
“The circumstantial evidence points to Senator Linda Pryor,” Cameron said. “She has the juice to be able to get her people to cover this up.”
“I certainly think Senator Pryor is capable of killing Rachel Burke,” Joshua said. “From the recording, Rachel and Susan were deathly afraid of her.”
Cameron went on to explained, “Susan Burke was there with her sister Rachel and Pryor when Charley Halston disappeared. Pryor says right there in the recording, mention Charley’s name again and she’d end up the same way she did. The next day, Rachel is stabbed to death. The Allegheny National Forest is on the way home from Syracuse. After killing Charley, they threw her body in the trunk of the car and dumped it in the mountains for the bears to finish off. Then, they made up this cock-in-bull story about her disappearing a state away. Everyone is looking for her in New York, when she is really hours away in Pennsylvania.”
Joshua nodded his head as it came together in his mind. “After Rachel’s murdered, Angela digs up a report about a Jane Doe found in the mountains based on what she had overheard in the recording.”
“Being a hair’s breadth from the Senate seat,” Cameron said, “Linda Pryor couldn’t risk Angela ruining everything. When Angela refused to buy Ellicott’s take on what happened, Linda ordered him to make her go away.”
Joshua’s cell phone vibrated to cut off their conversation. Cameron checked the caller ID. It read Tad. “Hey, Doc,” she called into the speaker phone.
“Where are you two?” Tad asked.
“We’re on the Pennsylvania Turnpike,” she answered. “What’s up?”
“Your house got broken into.”
On this news, Joshua pulled over. “Was anything taken?”
Tad’s response was a laugh. “No.”
“What’s so funny?” Joshua failed to see the humor.
Tad said, “Well, you know how you complain that Admiral is so lazy that if someone broke in, he would sleep through it? A little while ago, I’m in the kitchen in our house next door, making myself a sandwich, and suddenly, I hear a gunshot and all hell breaks loose. I look outside just in time to see this guy running across your back yard with a skunk cat on top of his head and a one-hundred-and-fifty pound dog attached to his butt! He didn’t even make it to the road before he collapsed. By the time I got there, Admiral had shredded his pants down to his knees and Irving made his head look like it had been run through a food processor.”
“Is Irving okay?” Cameron gushed. Judging by Tad’s laugh, the skunk cat was fine.
“Did you call the sheriff?” Joshua asked.
“Yeah, they got the guy and took him to the hospital. Irving and Admiral refused to get off him until Sheriff Sawyer came.” Tad turned serious. “You’ll never believe who the guy was.”
“Who?” Joshua was thinking of any number of young men who had been friends of any of his children.
“A Pennsylvania State cop,” Tad said. “Badge and everything. His driver’s license says his name is Ralph Ellicott. He was carrying a gun, too. I don’t think he was breaking in to steal anything.”
Cameron jabbed Joshua in the arm. “I
“Time is running out,” Joshua told her. “Gina Robb’s body is shutting down, but she won’t give a do not resuscitate order until she knows I’ve found out who framed and killed Billy.”
“Linda Pryor has all kinds of political power,” Cameron said. “She must have known about Billy threatening Rachel after she fired him.”
“Do we know that for sure?” Joshua turned to look at her, while keeping one eye on the road. “She didn’t work at the salon. She was on the campaign trail. Remember, this was September 2001. Election was only a couple of months away. Would Linda Pryor have bothered knowing about a little gopher in Rachel Burke’s salon? Why go to the trouble of framing and killing him? Why not just let Rachel Burke’s murder look like a break-in gone wrong?”
“The circumstantial evidence points to Senator Linda Pryor,” Cameron said. “She has the juice to be able to get her people to cover this up.”
“I certainly think Senator Pryor is capable of killing Rachel Burke,” Joshua said. “From the recording, Rachel and Susan were deathly afraid of her.”
Cameron went on to explained, “Susan Burke was there with her sister Rachel and Pryor when Charley Halston disappeared. Pryor says right there in the recording, mention Charley’s name again and she’d end up the same way she did. The next day, Rachel is stabbed to death. The Allegheny National Forest is on the way home from Syracuse. After killing Charley, they threw her body in the trunk of the car and dumped it in the mountains for the bears to finish off. Then, they made up this cock-in-bull story about her disappearing a state away. Everyone is looking for her in New York, when she is really hours away in Pennsylvania.”
Joshua nodded his head as it came together in his mind. “After Rachel’s murdered, Angela digs up a report about a Jane Doe found in the mountains based on what she had overheard in the recording.”
“Being a hair’s breadth from the Senate seat,” Cameron said, “Linda Pryor couldn’t risk Angela ruining everything. When Angela refused to buy Ellicott’s take on what happened, Linda ordered him to make her go away.”
Joshua’s cell phone vibrated to cut off their conversation. Cameron checked the caller ID. It read Tad. “Hey, Doc,” she called into the speaker phone.
“Where are you two?” Tad asked.
“We’re on the Pennsylvania Turnpike,” she answered. “What’s up?”
“Your house got broken into.”
On this news, Joshua pulled over. “Was anything taken?”
Tad’s response was a laugh. “No.”
“What’s so funny?” Joshua failed to see the humor.
Tad said, “Well, you know how you complain that Admiral is so lazy that if someone broke in, he would sleep through it? A little while ago, I’m in the kitchen in our house next door, making myself a sandwich, and suddenly, I hear a gunshot and all hell breaks loose. I look outside just in time to see this guy running across your back yard with a skunk cat on top of his head and a one-hundred-and-fifty pound dog attached to his butt! He didn’t even make it to the road before he collapsed. By the time I got there, Admiral had shredded his pants down to his knees and Irving made his head look like it had been run through a food processor.”
“Is Irving okay?” Cameron gushed. Judging by Tad’s laugh, the skunk cat was fine.
“Did you call the sheriff?” Joshua asked.
“Yeah, they got the guy and took him to the hospital. Irving and Admiral refused to get off him until Sheriff Sawyer came.” Tad turned serious. “You’ll never believe who the guy was.”
“Who?” Joshua was thinking of any number of young men who had been friends of any of his children.
“A Pennsylvania State cop,” Tad said. “Badge and everything. His driver’s license says his name is Ralph Ellicott. He was carrying a gun, too. I don’t think he was breaking in to steal anything.”
Cameron jabbed Joshua in the arm. “I
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