Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
“Good ol’ Ethel. I drove all the way out there to meet this waitress. Her name is Bella Rogers. She’s twenty-four years old and she’s lived in that town her entire life. In fact, she has served Ethel every Wednesday morning for the past three years.” The flat look he gives me makes me snort.
But there’s nothing amusing about it. “So, we’ve officially exhausted all leads.” We’re at a standstill in the investigation. There are no witnesses, no trails. We have no hits on Holly’s bank card. No secret text messages on her phone.
We have nothing.
Terry nods, growing somber. “Command is sending us up to the Kirkland Lake area for another case.”
“Yeah, I know. Doug gave me the heads-up.” My boss and I speak daily, much to my dismay. I knew the call was coming and soon, but it doesn’t make this any easier.
“Any new tips that come in, Schmidt or I will be on it in an instant,” Terry promises.
Despite our rocky start, I’ve come to appreciate his dogged work ethic over the past month. He’s turned every stone, chased every lead, and he’s irritating enough that he could probably get an admission of guilt out of someone who didn’t want to give it.
“And you saw the Murphys one more time?” Pressing CIs hasn’t garnered us any clues, and Isla said there was nothing between Holly and Hank’s son, Kyle, beyond a friendship and the occasional joint. CCTV footage showed him at a gas station around midnight and then leaving there and reappearing at the back door of a closed weed shop. He didn’t come out again until after three a.m.
“I did. Me and Big Hank are—” Terry bumps his fist against his chest twice in rapid succession. “And I’ve got Beef and Pork Chop eating out of my palm.” He named the two mastiffs on his third visit to the house, looking to speak to the rest of the Murphys, who are as slippery as eels in a vat of oil. By the fifth visit, Big Hank was so annoyed by the cops constantly on his doorstep, he promised he’d have his grandsons and grandnephews come by the station later that day to talk.
All of them showed up within the hour.
“Anything new?”
“They’re still singing the same song about seeing Logan and Holly getting close in the hallway.”
I roll my eyes. “At least they’re consistent.”
Terry hums with agreement. “Good thing Logan has a solid alibi, right?”
“Not that the Murphys’ word means anything,” I say. Do I hear a hint of doubt in his tone?
“Nah, I don’t trust anything that comes out of their mouths.” Terry picks at a piece of lint on his sleeve. “But you trust the Landrys without question.”
“Holt is one of the most rigidly honest and proud men you’ll ever meet.” Which is why him covering for Logan and I was so shocking. “If you deserve to be punished, don’t look for protection behind him.”
“I checked out Logan’s case files. It was a riveting read.” His dry tone suggests otherwise, but that’s Terry’s style—he probably read it five times. “No doubt, Logan got the raw end of that deal. Someone sure was trying to make an example of him. I noticed he had a lawyer from Legal Aid defend him.”
“Oh God. That guy was a clown.”
“Seemed strange, though. A tight family like that, a lot of land they could have used as collateral to pay for a good defense lawyer.”
“Holt refused. He said he wouldn’t risk losing everything his family had built to help Logan avoid a punishment he deserved.” When my father sat me down and told me what was happening, I was so furious, I swore I’d never speak to Holt again. “I don’t think he believed Logan’s punishment would be so severe.” Nobody did.
“Does he feel guilty about that decision?”
“You’d have to ask him.” I imagine Holt would tell Terry to go fuck himself. But I see where Terry’s mind is going. He’s wondering if Holt feels guilty enough to lie for his son to make up for the past. “I can tell you with absolute certainty that Logan was nowhere near the Bale House or Holly again that night.”
Terry stretches a leisurely arm over the back of the other chair. “You and Logan were really close, from what I hear. You know, way back when.”
“Our families have been close friends for as long as I can remember. You already know that.”
“Yeah, but you two were more than friends, weren’t you? When he went away.” Whatever Terry may have thought about that day on the Landry porch, he has never said a word, never questioned Logan’s alibi or him trying to cover for my being there. He didn’t even include the conflicting answers in the case report.
But I’ve been waiting for this.
“We were kids. That’s all in the past.” Even if I can’t close my eyes these days without replaying every touch, every kiss, every tear from our one stolen night together.