e9c12ac8d703d9a536f23183edf8b22c

“I know the land you’re referring to. So what’s the verdict? Who is the scoundrel who dug up my boy and decided to play this mean-spirited prank on me?”

“That’s just the thing, Blake. It’s not your boy.”

Blake gave him a frown.“What do you mean?”

“The remains we found? It’s not Steven.”

“Well, then who is it?”

“We don’t know. So far all they can tell us is that it’s a woman, and that she probably died five or six years ago.”

“But… what was she doing on my land? I don’t understand.”

“That makes two of us.”

“But what about the jersey? Surely that’s the jersey Steven was buried in?”

“I don’t think so, Blake. Just one of those coincidences.”

“But it had his name on it. The S and the E…”

“Coincidence. It’s not his jersey. Besides, Steven was buried in a coffin, and there’s no way his body and his jersey could have decayed…” He paused when Blake winced. “Take it from me, Blake—it’s not your son.” He placed a hand on the man’s arm. “Just thought you’d want to know.” Give the man some peace of mind before he died, he thought.

“What a terrible business,” said Blake, and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. In spite of his lousy health, his gaze as it raked Alec’s face was as unrelenting as ever. Icy blue eyes bored into Alec’s mellow brown peepers. “I still want you to investigate this business, Chief. I think whoever put that body on my land did it to play a dirty trick on me. Make me believe they’d dug up my boy and try to drive me into an early grave.” He chuckled tiredly. “And it looks as if they’re succeeding.” He tapped the cop’s chest. “It’s Jessie Largess you want.He’s behind this. He always said he was out of town the night Steven died, but I know for a fact that he was in the other car. He’s the one who picked that field—that death trap. If it wasn’t for Jessie, Steven would still be alive today.”

“And how do you know this?”

“I have my sources.”

Alec knew that even now, ten years after the fact, Blake still kept a private detective on retainer, to find out what he could about the tragic night Steven had met his maker. Blake was determined to find the person he could blame and bring them to justice, as he saw it.

“Talk to Jessie. He’s the one who’s behind this whole business. He put the body of that girl there, just so he can get me off his back. But I won’t give up—I’ll never give up!”

“All right, Blake. Take it easy,” said Alec, seeing that Blake was getting worked up.

Blake had clasped his arm.“If you catch this guy, I’ll reward you handsomely, Alec.”

“I’m a public servant, Blake. I don’t need you to reward me.”

“Talk to Jessie. He’ll feed you a bunch of lies, so you lean on him. You twist his arm until he tells you the truth. Here—take my phone. Everything is there. My private detective has been following Jessie. I’m sure he went to the cemetery and dug up that girl.” He tried to grab his phone,which was located next to a big vase full of flowers.

“Looks like you’ve got an admirer,” said Alec.

“One of the nurses used to date Steven. She still carries a torch for him, even though she’s married with three kids now. Take my phone, Alec—take the damn phone!”

“Take it easy, Blake. You’re not exactly in the best shape of your life here.”

Blake hacked out a weary laugh.“The only thing that’s keeping me alive is my determination to catch the man that killed my boy.” He closed his fingers around Alec’s arm like a vice and spat, “And you’re going to help me, Chief. You do this for me, you hear!”

“All right. I’ll see what I can do.”

Blake collapsed, his head digging a hole in the pillow. He smiled up at Alec.“They’re all out to get me, Alec—but I won’t give them the satisfaction. I intend to live forever.”

“You do that, Blake,” said Alec, but then that same nurse entered the room again, and when she caught sight of Blake’s deathly pale face and sweat-covered brow, she gave Alec a vicious glare and pointed to the door.

And since Alec knew what was good for him, he quietly skedaddled.

18

I’d had my nap, I had my stomach full of kibble, and I’d had some excitement in the form of Blake Carrington being carted off to the hospital, and now it was time to help our human crack this mystery of the missing girl. So Dooley and I decided to head into town to do some poking around, and were soon walking along the sidewalk.

“Where are Harriet and Brutus?” asked Dooley.

“Why, do you miss them?” I asked.

“A little bit.”

“They’re probably taking a nap.”

“How does it work exactly, Max?”

“How does what work?”

“The alien abduction thing. Do they beam the person up into their spaceship, or do they land first and then carry them in?” But before I could respond he added with a knowing nod, “If they’d landed we would have seen the signs: the indentation of the spaceship—the circle where all the vegetation was burned away. No, they must have beamed her up and then flown off. Too bad they picked such a remote spot, though, right, Max? Otherwise some witness could have seen them, and maybe even taken a picture.”