Back Present Danger
Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Endorsements
  3. Books by Elizabeth Goddard
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Dedication
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. FIFTY-THREE
  60. FIFTY-FOUR
  61. FIFTY-FIVE
  62. FIFTY-SIX
  63. FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. FIFTY-NINE
  66. SIXTY
  67. SIXTY-ONE
  68. SIXTY-TWO
  69. SIXTY-THREE
  70. SIXTY-FOUR
  71. SIXTY-FIVE
  72. A Preview of Book 2 in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN COURAGE Series
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. Back Ads
  77. Back Cover

If Jim was having an affair, then perhaps the items in the cabin belonged to his mistress instead. Jack wanted to ask Pauline if she knew about the items or if she had ever seen them before, but he would hold off for now.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find your husband’s killer,” Terra said. “I have a few questions for you, though. Are you feeling up to answering them?”

Pauline closed her eyes for a few moments. Jack released her hand and almost backed away, giving up, but then Pauline’s eyes popped open. “Okay.”

“Was Jim interested in collecting Native American artifacts?”

Pauline frowned. “Not until he met her.”

Interesting. Pauline knew something about the pieces, after all. Good. “We need a name. Anything you can tell us.”

“Don’t know her name. I took her picture. It’s in my . . .” Pauline’s eyes fluttered. She convulsed.

Jack’s heart seized. Terra pressed the emergency button. “Help. Someone help!”

Nurses rushed into the room, and Jack pulled Terra out of the way and down the hallway. At his back, he felt the killing stares of Pauline’s family.

TWENTY-TWO

At the window overlooking the parking lot, Terra held a cup of scalding coffee that Jack had purchased from a vending machine.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” she said. “I can’t believe any of it.”

Pauline’s family could very well blame Terra and Jack for upsetting her. If Pauline had been allowed to rest, she possibly could have improved enough to survive. Still, Jim’s wife had asked for Terra. Perhaps she suspected she might die and take the secret she held to the grave with her if she didn’t speak up.

Jack tossed his cup into the garbage can. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Terra allowed Jack to lead her to an elevator. Her defense mechanism had kicked in, leaving her feeling numb. At the moment, she didn’t want to think or feel. The next thing Terra knew, she was sitting in his vehicle instead of hers and staring at her now-tepid cup of bad coffee.

“Try to pull yourself together,” he said.

“I am. I need to grieve. To process.” All this death. And for what?

Jack started his vehicle. “Pauline gave us something. We need to act on it.”

Terra rubbed her temples. “She believed Jim was cheating on her. The thing is, I’m not so sure he was cheating in the way she thought. I hate that she died thinking he was having an affair. I should have said so. Maybe she wouldn’t have gotten so upset that she—”

“You don’t know that he wasn’t. Maybe the woman Pauline saw him with is the person who got him involved in trafficking artifacts. Pauline hinted at that.”

“We need to find the picture Pauline mentioned. Maybe it will turn up while we’re searching Jim and Pauline’s home for additional artifacts.”