He knelt in front of her, his salt-and-pepper beard inches from her face. Extending a big, meaty hand, he helped her to her unsteady feet while she stared at him with growing suspicion.
“What are you doing here?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Hunting.” He sounded defensive as he gestured to his rifle.
Jamie’s eyes narrowed. “It’s out of season.”
Gideon’s beefy shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. “I don’t care much for rules.”
Something wasn’t right here. Despite the ringing in her ears and the incessant thudding of her heart, her brain was fully alert, and it told her that Joe Gideon’s appearance at the accident site was more than a coincidence. He just popped out of the blue ten seconds after her brakes failed and her car flipped over like a monster truck?
“What happened?” he asked in a rough voice, his brown eyes drifting toward the car imbedded into the tree.
“My brakes weren’t working.” She studied his face as she spoke, but his expression revealed nothing but surprise and concern.
“When was the last time you got new brakes for that thing?”
“Two months ago,” she said, her answer bringing on a fresh wave of anxiety. No way had the brakes just malfunctioned. They were brand-new.
Someone had tampered with the car.
Taking a breath, she took a step toward the road. “I need to get my purse out of the car so I can get my cell phone.”
Gideon trailed after her, and the two approached the vehicle with wariness. The fuel tank looked intact, but Jamie still moved with caution. What if the damn thing exploded in their faces?
You watch too many movies.
Her eyes widened as she gawked at the damage. The driver’s side of the SUV had been completely crushed, and the windshield had shattered, probably during the car’s downward roll. She grew light-headed as she realized she would’ve been killed if she hadn’t jumped out.
Ignoring the rush of fear coursing through her blood, she walked to the passenger side and opened the door, then reached in and grabbed her purse. She hastily darted away from the vehicle—those exploding cinematic gas tanks refused to leave her mind—and fished her cell phone from her purse with trembling fingers.
As she pressed the speed dial for Finn, she noticed Gideon circling the SUV in scrutiny. He bent down and peeked underneath the vehicle.
“Finnegan,” a voice barked in her ear.
“Finn, it’s me.” She steadied her shaky voice, adding, “I hope I’m not interrupting your meeting with the mayor, but I’m afraid I had a little accident.”
“What? What happened?”
“Just drove my SUV into a tree,” she said, attempting to make light of the situation.
“What?”
“Well, actually, I jumped out before the tree part. Needless to say, I require a tow truck.” From the corner of her eye she noticed Gideon moving to the front of the car, kneeling down again to poke his head under the mangled undercarriage.
“Where are you?” Finn demanded.
She gave him her location and he hung up without a goodbye. Tucking the phone into her purse, she glanced over at Gideon, who was walking toward her with a frown.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, still unable to fight the ripples of suspicion swimming inside her.
He’d come to her rescue incredibly fast. Conveniently fast.
“Can’t be sure, but it looks like the brake line was cut,” he told her.
Her spine went rigid. “Are you sure?”
“I just said I wasn’t sure. I’m no mechanic,” he muttered. “Just looks that way, is all.”
And he knew that because he’d peered under the car, or because he’d cut the line himself?
She took a discreet step back, grateful for the Bureau-issued Glock tucked into her purse. She didn’t carry it on her person when she was off duty, but she always had it with her.
“If I were you, I’d get the sheriff to look into it,” Gideon added.
No kidding. That was the first thing she planned on doing.
But Gideon wasn’t done dispensing advice. “And I’d tell him to speak to Donovan first.”
Jamie frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“Seems to me like someone was trying to hurt you.” The man shrugged. “I think someone wants you off the case.”
“You don’t say,” she murmured.
Without picking up on her sarcasm, he went on. “Donovan killed that woman. Don’t care if I saw him in the woods. Mark my words, he killed her. And I’d bet my last dollar that he doesn’t like you here snooping around.”
His motives were clear. He wanted to plant some doubt in her mind about Cole, but Gideon’s smirk only made her more suspicious of him. What if Gideon killed Cole’s ex-wife so he could pin the murder on his enemy? What if Gideon had tampered with her car because he wanted her off the case?
As her mind raced with unpleasant possibilities, sirens pierced the air. A few minutes later Finn’s Jeep appeared at the top of the slope, just as a blue-and-white cruiser skidded up from the other direction. Both Finn and Anna Holt arrived at the scene, each one wearing identical looks of concern.