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“Nothing, I told you” Cat tried to laugh off the questions that lanced past hi a few feet away The cowboy at the wheel io I’ll let you know about the party Saturday night”

“Do that” Repp was almost curt with her, irritated by her stubborn refusal to ad when he knew da onto the passenger seat He didn’t look at her again until the truck was driving out of the yard She andering aimlessly in the direction of the airstrip Maybe she was still depressed over her ht account for her moodiness

Cat hadn’t set out with the intention of going to the private airfield, but when she saw the hangar shed, she gravitated toward it, drawn by the ht when the deed was supposedly done Awavy heat tines on the hangar’s tin roof The windthe directional windsock

When Cat wandered into the cool shade of the hangar, the peaceful quiet was broken by the clang of so dropped She froze “Who’s there?” she demanded

A head popped up froine airplane parked in the shed Dyson’s pilot appeared nearly as startled as Cat “Hello,” he said “I didn’t hear you come”

She ducked under a wing to walk around to his plane “What are you doing?” she inquired curiously A tool kit was at his feet, and grease-stained tan coveralls protected his clothes

“Just checking the motor” The blue-eyed er than his forty-plus years His business was flying and he took it seriously, giving the plane his attention even as he responded to her inquiry “Stricklin didn’t think it sounded right e flew in yesterday He’s gotten downright nervous about safety—wants everything checked and double-checked I guess he forgets I’ in this bird, too”

“There’s so about Maybe you could answer it” Cat chewed hesitantly on her inner lip, trying to word her question cautiously “After a plane’s crashed, how can they tell what caused it?”

“Wellthey piece together the wreckage A good ed on impact and what probablythe cause wasbefore shutting the access door to the engine’s motor “Now, you take your father’s plane crash, oil would have spewed everywhere when that line ruptured”

“Butcould they determine why the line broke?”

His eyebrows lifted at her question He considered it a ed diffidently “I suppose they could But I don’t knohat they’d acco to see if it was a factory defect or so like that”

“Are you saying that once they find a cause they don’t investigate it furtherunless they have reason to believe so?” A small frown made lines in her forehead

“They make their decision on a collection of infore, eyewitness accounts, and, in this case, your father could verify the sudden drop in oil pressure since he was piloting the plane” He shifted uncomfortably “It’s pretty well cut and dried what happened Private planes go down all the ti airliner where a lot of lives are involved and liability has to be determined”

“I see,” Cat uely “You’re right, of course”

“Listen, I—” He was bothered by her questions about the plane crash, concerned that he hadn’t given her satisfactory assurances that the investigation had been handled properly