Read Icy Betrayal for Free Online Page A

quality.”
    “Wow, this is really some operation you got here. Well, listen Scott, you’ve been very helpful, and we really appreciate your time. Again, we’re sorry for your loss.”
    “Thank you,” Lennox said.
    They all shook hands. “I think we have all we need. Best of luck to you,” Keller said.
    “You too. Have a good day,” offered Lennox, seemingly relieved.
    As Mia and Keller walked towards their car, the sharp “beep, beep, beep” sound of a forklift echoed between the buildings. They watched as a worker climbed down from the forklift, flipped open the latch to a delivery truck, and pushed up the heavy door. The investigators were some thirty feet away but the blast of cold air from the truck immediately took Mia’s mind back to the icy cold of the other morning when she saw George Lombard for the first time.

    “Well, what do you make of it?” Mia asked.
    “You first,” Keller replied.
    Mia knew this was the first of what would be many evaluations by her new partner.
    “Well, going in I figured he was the guy. Now, I’m not so sure. He’s hard to read.”
    “Yep, he’s pretty cool and collected, no pun intended,” Keller said with a smirk. “Didn’t seem to try to hide anything. He allowed us access to Lombard’s office and lockers, and he was forthcoming about the business. He either had nothing to do with it, or he figures we don’t have a clue. Maybe he thinks he’s pulled off the perfect crime.”
    “You didn’t ask him about the insurance money or mention Lombard’s terminal cancer.”
    “In cases like this, it’s better to play one card at a time. It’s like poker. He gave us a bit of a tell. Did you catch it?”
    Mia thought it better to be honest rather than guess. “No,” she told him.
    “The gun locker. Lennox knew exactly where that key was. He doesn’t hunt and says they don’t spend much time together, but he went directly for that key. It’s possible Lombard told him where it was, but I don’t think so. Why would he?”
    “If Scott Lennox did kill him for the insurance money, imagine his surprise when he learns Lombard had cancer and would likely have been dead within three months anyway,” added Mia.
    “Yeah, bummer for him,” chuckled Keller, shaking his head.
    “So, what’s the next step?” she asked.
    “Focus on the moment at hand, be aware of the next, learn from the last. How many suspects do we have so far?”
    “One. Lennox.”
    “So we focus on that and try and figure out if he’s our guy. How could Scott Lennox make this homicide look like a run of the mill traffic accident? How did he get Lombard out on Highway 46 that morning? Did he push him in front of the car? Was he already dead when the lady hit him? Was he killed somewhere else and then dumped out there? I don’t know, but this was no accident, and it ain’t no suicide.”
    They drove quietly through Castle Springs as the heat of the sun worked to melt the recent snowfall. Keller thought about the $2 million payday that would come Scott Lennox’s way if they couldn’t make a case.
    “I think we should go and talk with the woman who hit him,” Mia said. “She was in shock that morning. Maybe by now she can give us more.”
    “Okay, Investigator, but what do we do before visiting the driver?” quizzed Keller.
    Mia was clueless. “What?”
    “What time is it?”
    Mia looked at her phone. “11:45.”
    “Right. We get lunch.”

TEN

    T he small town of Rosebud was a thirty-minute drive from the Lennox Ice Company in Castle Springs. It was nearly 1:30 by the time Keller and Mia pulled up in front of Lisa Sullivan’s apartment building. The hour they spent at Sal’s, the Jalisco-style Mexican restaurant where Jack Keller introduced Mia Serrano to some of the best Mexican food she had ever tasted, had been time well spent.
    On the way out to Rosebud, Mia suggested they call Lisa Sullivan to make sure she was home. Keller disagreed. He said it was better for investigators to