Read Between the Living and the Dead for Free Online

Drug deal gone bad? That was certainly possible, considering Foshee’s propensity to sell meth that his cousins Earl and Louie cooked up. Someone getting revenge for something Foshee had done? Also a good possibility, since Foshee was the kind of man who’d force a woman to take her clothes off and get out of his car in a roadside park. Rhodes didn’t think that Vicki Patton would kill anybody, but if there was anything he’d learned during his years as a sheriff, it was that anybody would do just about anything, given the right circumstances. Or the wrong ones.
    Two questions nagged at Rhodes. Why was Foshee in the Moore house and how did he get there? The tracks in the backyard would need some study. If Foshee had come with someone, who was it? If Foshee had arrived in his own vehicle, who’d taken it away?
    The set of keys in Foshee’s pocket had included a key to a car or pickup, but that didn’t necessarily mean someone else couldn’t have had a key. For that matter, Foshee could have walked to the house from somewhere else.
    Rhodes decided not to worry about things for now. There would be plenty of time for that after the investigation got started, and that wouldn’t be until tomorrow. As for right now, Rhodes would just try to get a little sleep.
    *   *   *
    Rhodes tried to be quiet going into his house, but Yancey came yipping out of the dark as soon as Rhodes opened the door.
    â€œGood boy,” Rhodes said. “No burglar’s going to get past you.”
    Rhodes didn’t really believe that. He was just trying to contribute to Yancey’s self-cofidence. In reality, if a burglar came through the door, Yancey would cower under the bed and not make a sound.
    â€œYou’d better be quiet or you’ll wake up Ivy,” Rhodes said, as Yancey continued to caper.
    â€œHe’s already done that,” Ivy said, coming out of the bedroom. She wore a long green gown and looked as fresh and awake as if she’d been up for hours. Rhodes could never understand how she managed it.
    â€œYou look a little bedraggled,” she said. “Did somebody beat you up?”
    It was a logical question, Rhodes supposed. He’d occasionally found himself in physical confrontations.
    â€œIt was raining,” Rhodes said. “I’m sorry we woke you. I hoped I could slip in without Yancey getting excited.”
    â€œHave you ever managed that before?”
    â€œI can’t remember,” Rhodes said as Yancey danced around his feet and yipped.
    â€œI can,” Ivy said. “None. That’s how many.”
    â€œYou could be right. This time I thought I might get lucky.”
    Ivy cocked her head and looked at him. “You thought you might get lucky?”
    â€œI meant about Yancey.”
    â€œWell, you never know about getting lucky,” Ivy said. “Are you coming to bed?”
    Rhodes grinned. Low T, indeed. “I’ll race you,” he said.

 
    Chapter 4
    Rhodes hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, so he was a bit bleary-eyed the next morning. He and Ivy sat on the steps into the backyard while Rhodes threw a squeaky ball for Speedo and Yancey. Speedo, a border collie, was considerably bigger than Yancey, but that didn’t matter to Yancey, who had the advantage of being somewhat more agile and could occasionally slip in under Speedo’s jaws before they could clamp down on the ball.
    â€œI need to tell you something about last night,” Rhodes said as Yancey ran across the yard with Speedo in pursuit. “We found a body in the old Ralph Moore house. It was Neil Foshee.”
    â€œHe’s the man who dumped Vicki at the roadside park,” Ivy said.
    â€œThat’s the one.”
    â€œI’m sorry he’s dead, but he wasn’t much of a human being.”
    Yancey came up and wanted Rhodes to take the ball, but he wouldn’t let it go when Rhodes reached for it. Speedo stood