A Promise to Protect (Logan Point Book #2): A Novel by Patricia Bradley

everyone knew, but if you were around him for any period of time, it became obvious. Of course, Billy Wayne didn’t have a clue. I never understood how anyone could be almost a genius when it came to computers and be such an easy prey for Tony. Do you think that’s the motive for his murder?”
    “Could be.” Ben glanced around the room. Nothing indicated Tony had ever inhabited the room. His gaze rested on a gray plastic tub in the corner. On the side someone had written “Tony’s Personal Effects.” Geoffrey, no doubt. “Were Ms. Davis and Tony an item?”
    Amusement glinted in his eyes. “Tiffany would have you believe they were, but Tony was too married to his work and his hobbies to get serious about anyone. And then his sister and nephew took his time of late. I don’t think Tiffany was too happy about that.”
    Ben didn’t think the woman-spurned angle was worth pursuing. Unless Tiffany was psychotic, and she didn’t seem to be, there didn’tappear to be that much of a relationship between them. He put away his pad and pen. “Well, thanks for your time, Geoffrey. If you think of anything that might shed light on his death, I’d appreciate a call.”
    After exiting Geoffrey’s office, he stopped at Tiffany’s desk to thank her for her help.
    She leaned forward in her chair. “I don’t know if you picked up on it,” she said, keeping her voice low, “but Geoffrey really wanted Tony’s job.”
    “Do you think he would have killed him to get it?”
    The corner of her mouth twitched, and her eagerness deflated. “No, I suppose not.”
    “I don’t, either. But if you come up with anything else, run it by me. It could be important.”
    Her eyes widened. “I’ll definitely do that.”
    “Is Junior Gresham here today?”
    “He was, but he went home with his mother. That poor woman. I feel so sorry for her.”
    “Yeah,” Ben said, thinking about her other son who had died. “So do I.”
    Ben took his time walking back to his truck. This trip had netted little information, and his thoughts went back to the flash drive. What could have been on it? Tony had indicated he had something the feds would be interested in, but so far Ben hadn’t found a single clue as to what it was.
    Maybe he wasn’t killed over the flash drive. According to Geoffrey, Tony had a photographic memory, something he needed to check with Leigh about. Could that be why he was killed? Because someone lost a lot of money to him in a poker game?
    But where did Billy Wayne Gresham fit? All the evidence pointed to him. Ben just didn’t buy that he killed Tony over gambling debts. But if it wasn’t gambling debts, what was it?

    “Okay,” Ben said. “If you were calling the shots, would you go with Billy Wayne acting alone in Leigh’s shooting and killing Tony?”
    They were in Wade’s office, and Ben sat on the edge of the chief deputy’s oak desk as the late afternoon sun filtered through the window. Photos of the chief deputy with his hunting dogs adorned the gray wall behind his chair.
    Wade leaned back in his chair and juggled a Rubik’s Cube. “You’re not putting that monkey on my back. You’re the sheriff, you make the call.”
    It was well known around the county that as Sheriff Tom Logan’s chief deputy, Wade had expected the board of supervisors to appoint him as acting sheriff after Tom’s stroke on the operating table. To Wade’s credit, Ben hadn’t detected any animosity from him in the intervening six months.
    Ben snagged the cube. Wade had just worked the thing in under a minute. Again. He scrambled the squares before he looked up. “Not asking you to make the call, just a little input. Livy said the ballistics fingerprinting wouldn’t be available until at least Thursday, and Leigh wants an answer today.”
    The deputy shrugged. “Don’t see that you need it to confirm what you already know. You have two shootings, and we found two guns that could possibly match the types used in both crimes in