“We can find a way around this,” Ryan said, following her into the hallway. “Let’s talk it through.”
“I’m done,” she replied, walking up the stairs. “Please don’t hate me, Ryan. I’m doing what’s best for you.”
She knew he was watching her walk away and she didn’t trust herself to turn around. One of them had to be strong. One of them had to be sensible. And one of them had to ensure that Ryan became the man he’d always dreamed of being.
And if that meant she returned to being alone, it was a price she was prepared to pay.
ELEVEN
Sheriff Wilkins was visibly angry, standing on the sidewalk outside the Bethesda station, obviously waiting impatiently for Ryan to show up.
“You’re late,” he said, as Ryan stepped from his truck. “I said one hour and it’s been almost two.”
“I was busy,” Ryan replied, no longer caring to show politeness where the sheriff was concerned. “Kitty’s kitchen window got shot out yesterday and Shane and I needed to ensure that a new one was fitted before nightfall.”
“I learned about that incident from Shane,” the sheriff said. “We’ve got a homicidal man on the loose here in Bethesda, which is why I need you showing concern for the whole town and not just Kitty.”
“But that makes no sense, Jim,” Ryan said with exasperation. “It’s Kitty he’s trying to kill, so it’s Kitty who needs me the most.” He decided to lay all his cards on the table. “I met Harry Linklater today and I believe he’s innocent.”
“What’s gotten into you?” the sheriff said. “Kitty’s filled your head with all kinds of nonsense about a miscarriage of justice and you’ve lost any sense of reality.”
“Actually,” Ryan said, “there has been a miscarriage of justice.”
The sheriff threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know what to do with you, Ryan. You’re wrong about this.”
“I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on that.”
The sheriff pushed his hat back on his head. “Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re moving out of the Linklater house. That’s a positive step at least.”
“How did you know that?”
“I got a call from Kitty a few minutes ago. She said she’s cutting her ties with you and asked me to reconsider endorsing you as sheriff.”
Ryan clenched his teeth together. Right then he was furious with Kitty for refusing to allow him to make his own decisions. She was trying to do right by him, but he didn’t want or need her intervention. She should leave well enough alone.
“And I’m pleased to say that if you prove yourself over the coming weeks, I’ll be happy to support you once again,” the sheriff said.
“Prove myself?” Ryan questioned.
“Do your job, serve the people and don’t associate with the Linklaters outside of work.” He raised his eyebrows. “That means no more visits to the prison, no more cozying up to Kitty and I definitely don’t want to hear you repeat that you believe Harry is innocent. That’s how you’ll prove yourself.”
Ryan stared at the sheriff, struggling to control his spiraling emotions.
“This is just one big popularity contest, isn’t it, Jim?” he said. “You don’t want me embarrassing you or making you look stupid.”
“You don’t need me to make you look stupid, Ryan,” the sheriff retorted. “You’re doing a pretty good job all by yourself.” He instantly seemed to regret his cruel words. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m under a lot of pressure here. I don’t want to fight with you. The truth is that I need your skills here in Bethesda. I’ve got the district attorney breathing down my neck to solve the murder of the woman under the floor of the Starlight Bar.”
“Do we even know who she is?”
“We got an official ID today, based on dental records.” He pulled a photograph from his pocket and handed it to Ryan. “Elena Karowitz, a twenty-three-year-old Californian who drifted between states. She was quite a hippie, by all accounts, and she occasionally stayed in a commune up in the hills. She had a baby here in Bethesda before vanishing nineteen years ago.”
All the clues pointed toward one person. “Buzz’s mother.”
“That’s right. She worked for Harvey Flynn on a casual basis so it’s no coincidence that she came to be buried under his floor. Her official cause of death can’t be established, but there was a large crack in her skull. The rope used to tie her hands contained traces of Harvey’s DNA, so we know he was involved prior to her death—he didn’t just conceal the body. But her dress was stained with the blood of an unknown person who probably injured himself in the struggle. I want you to find out who that person is.”
Ryan strongly suspected that the unknown blood would match Molly’s killer. He had no idea how many victims were out there, but Elena, Molly and the girl found in the river were likely to be three of many.
“What was the name of Buzz’s father?” Ryan asked. “He’s Frank’s son, right?”
“Tommy Price.”
“Does anyone know where he is now?”
“I have no idea, but he’s definitely a person of interest.” The sheriff stepped forward and put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder as if in a gesture of reconciliation. “This is why I need you, Ryan. Bethesda is reeling from the discovery of another murder victim, so I want it investigated quickly and thoroughly. And we also have to catch this gunman terrorizing Kitty.” He raised his hands, fingers splayed. “I know I’ve been hard on her for monopolizing all your time, but her safety is still a priority. I need my best man on it here in town, chasing down leads—not hovering over Kitty down at the lake house.”
Ryan nodded. He had to put their personal differences to one side in order to focus on serving justice. Whether or not he became the next sheriff was irrelevant. At that moment, he was a chief deputy and he had a job to do.
“I’m on it, Jim,” he said. “You can count on me.”
* * *
Kitty heard Ryan enter the hallway and take off his jacket. His presence in her home had become like a comfort blanket, but she knew it would be hard to adjust to living on her own again.
Ryan went into the kitchen and spoke with Shane. Their voices were low and hushed, as if Kitty were ill and in need of peace and quiet. She heard Shane saying that he was compiling a list of people in the area who owned the same make and model of boat that the suspect had escaped on, but it was the most commonly used vessel for locals and tourists alike. Both Ryan and Shane sounded despondent, as if the task of locating her attacker was overwhelming. They clearly needed help, but any extra assistance would have to be authorized by Sheriff Wilkins.
“The sheriff said you called him,” Ryan said, coming into the living room. “And that you asked him to reconsider supporting me.”
“I did,” she said. “And I’d do it again a million times over.”
“You told him you were cutting ties with me. Is that true?”
“Yes. I’ll help you with the investigation and I’ll work with you when we need to, but that’s as far as it goes. We have to show the sheriff that you’ve distanced yourself from me.”
“I don’t need approval from Sheriff Wilkins for anything in my life. I don’t even want to be the sheriff of Comanche County anymore.”
“I can always spot your lies, Ryan, so don’t try to hide from me.”
He smiled. “That’s what I love about you,” he said. “I can’t lie to you and I can’t hide from you. You’re the only person who really, truly knows me.”
She winced at his mention of love. She didn’t want to drag this out, to make her heart ache even more.
“I called Nancy from the grocery store,” she said, changing the subject. “And she says they have a spare room you can rent until you find something permanent.”
He sighed and sat down. “You won’t even take some time to think about this?”
�
��I don’t need time.”
“You said things would be different if we managed to prove your father’s innocence.”
“But that could take months or even years. You said so yourself.”
“We got a breakthrough in the Starlight Bar murder case today,” he said. “So we’re already one step closer to finding the man who might’ve also killed Molly.”
She sat up straight, intrigued. “What happened?”
“The woman under the floor is Elena Karowitz.”
“Buzz’s mom?”
“Yeah. Harvey’s DNA was found on the rope used to tie her up, but we still don’t know the origin of the blood on her dress. My guess is that it belongs to Tommy Price.”
“You think Tommy killed Elena?”
“Yes, I do, and there’s a reasonable likelihood that he’s our serial killer.”
“Nobody’s seen Tommy in years. I don’t think his family even knows where he is.”
“Maybe they know more than they’re prepared to divulge. Isn’t it odd that he skipped town and never came back?”
Kitty barely knew Tommy, but she remembered him as a sullen and doleful young man, browbeaten by his father and spending much of his time at the Starlight Bar.
“Tommy was good friends with Harvey,” she said. “And Harvey employed Elena as a bartender for a while, so he knew her well, too. Tommy and Harvey could’ve murdered her together and kept each other’s secret all these years.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Ryan said. “After giving birth, Elena might have wanted to take Buzz away, maybe even move back to California. Or maybe she just wanted to leave on her own, and Tommy didn’t like the idea. Perhaps she had a fight with Tommy and he killed her, and Harvey helped conceal her body under the floor of the bar. Then Tommy pretended she’d left town, and because she was transient everybody just accepted his word.”
“It’s possible,” Kitty said.
“It’s more than possible. If Tommy killed Elena then there’s a good chance he’s gone on to kill others who look just like her. She was blonde and blue-eyed with freckles, like all the other girls who’ve gone missing. He could’ve developed a morbid obsession, seeking out young women like Elena to control and dominate.”
“You need to talk to Frank,” she said. “He’s the only person who might know where Tommy is.”
“I’m not sure that Frank is going to be very cooperative. He’s made his feelings pretty clear.”
“Shall we talk to him together?”
“I don’t think your presence would help matters.” Ryan rubbed a hand on his jaw, where stubble the color of a sunset had begun to grow. “Maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree. Maybe someone else would be more helpful.”
“Sheila?”
“Yes. If we could get her on her own, we could ask her what she knows about Tommy’s whereabouts. It’s worth a try.”
“I think that Frank often goes to Carla’s café for lunch,” she suggested.
Ryan nodded. “That’s right. I see him there every day at one o’clock, leaving Sheila on her own for an hour. We could try and sneak into the store while he’s eating.”
“Good idea. We’ll go tomorrow. And then we can go see Nancy at the grocery store and get you settled in to your new place,” Kitty said with forced positivity. “I think you’ll like it there.”
“I want to stay here with you. I won’t be able to sleep a wink anywhere else, knowing you’re here on your own.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“No,” he said, rising from the sofa. “I’ll never get used to it.”
And in truth, neither would she.
Ryan moved quickly along the sidewalk, sticking close to the storefronts to conceal himself from the window of Carla’s café. With Kitty close behind, they must’ve looked like a pair of criminals, scurrying from sight, but it was necessary to avoid Frank’s gaze and find Sheila alone.
Ryan didn’t even want to think about his suitcase in the back of his truck, fully packed and ready to transport into Nancy’s spare room. His attempt to persuade Kitty to change her mind that morning had fallen on deaf ears.
Pushing open the door of the hardware store, he heard the bell ring overhead and saw Sheila look up from the counter. She smiled nervously as they approached.
“Frank says you’re not allowed in here,” she said. “But if you need something then I’ll serve you real quick and you can leave before he comes back from lunch.”
“We don’t want to buy anything, Sheila,” Ryan said. “We’re searching for some information.”
“Information?” She began to look even more uncomfortable. “What kind of information?”
“Did you know that the body recovered from the Starlight Bar was Buzz’s mother, Elena?”
“The sheriff called yesterday to give us the terrible news,” she said. “We’re devastated. We had no idea she’d come to harm. We thought she’d moved on somewhere else.”
Sheila’s small eyes darted around as she spoke and her hand kept reaching to touch her curled hair, set with spray. Ryan could plainly see her anxiety.
“What gave you the impression that Elena had moved on?” he asked.
“Um...well, if I remember rightly, she told Tommy that she was too independent to be a mother and wanted her freedom, so she turned Buzz over to him and disappeared. We never saw her again.”
“Where’s Tommy now?”
“I don’t know.”
“When’s the last time you spoke to him?”
“A long time ago—probably ten years or more. He decided to start a new life.”
“Does he keep in touch with Buzz?”
Sheila shook her head. “No. Frank is the only father Buzz needs.”
“Frank’s not much of a father, though, is he, Sheila?” said Kitty, stepping forward. “He’s a bully and he treats Buzz like a possession, the same way he treats you.”
Sheila visibly shrank, as if she had been slapped. “Frank tries his best. He struggles with his temper and he’s got some problems, but he can change with our help.”
“If he hasn’t changed in forty years, I don’t think he ever will,” Ryan said gently. “Why do you insist on making excuses for him?”
“He’s my husband and it’s my duty to stand by him,” she said, pulling herself upright again. “I don’t expect you to understand it, but that’s the way it is.”
Ryan saw that Sheila’s eye bruise was turning a greenish color, though she had styled her hair to obscure the worst of it. Clearly, she had a warped view of a sense of duty. Being dutiful didn’t involve being a punching bag.
“Do you have an idea of where Tommy might live now?” he asked.
“Why do you want him?”
“Why do you think we want him?”
She laughed, the sound high and brittle. “You think he killed Elena?”
“Did he?”
“No, he didn’t. Tommy’s a good boy, just like Buzz, and I won’t hear a bad word said against either of them.” She wrung her hands, becoming agitated. “You have no idea what we’ve gone through, but we still have each other. We’re still a family.”
“What have you gone through, Sheila?” Ryan asked. “If you tell me, I can help.”
She fixed him with her steely blue eyes. “You can’t help us. I think you should go now.”
Ryan sighed and admitted defeat. Sheila was a closed book.
But as he headed for the exit, she called out, “Can I ask you something before you go?”
He turned. “Sure.”
“How did Elena die? Do you think she suffered?”
“We can’t say what killed her for sure, but there was a large fracture on her skull.” He knew what Sheila wanted to hear, so he decided to give her the reassurance she was seeking. “It was likely a quick death. She wouldn�
��t have suffered.”
“Elena was no saint, you know,” Sheila said. “But she didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
“What do you mean, she was no saint? What did she do?”
Sheila picked up a cloth and started wiping the counter. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“If you know something, you should share it,” Ryan said. “You want us to find the person who hurt her, don’t you?”
“I know nothing.” She wiped the counter more vigorously. “Just leave, please.”
Buzz appeared in the doorway that led to their apartment. “Is everything okay, Grandma?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s all fine,” Sheila said quickly. “Deputy Lawrence and Kitty just wanted to ask some questions, but they’re leaving now. Perhaps you’d care to show them out, Buzz.”
Buzz walked to the door and opened it, catching Ryan’s eye. “Do you think my dad killed my mom?” he whispered.
“It’s possible,” Ryan whispered back. “The killer left a bloodstain on your mother’s dress. If we can match that blood to somebody, we’ll be able to make an arrest.”
“Can you test my blood?” Buzz asked. “Would that help?”
“We don’t need your blood. We just need a cheek swab for the DNA. That can be tested for a family link.”
“What are you whispering about?” Sheila called from behind the counter. “I thought I asked you to show Ryan and Kitty out, Buzz.”
“Come back tomorrow,” Buzz whispered as they passed. “Three o’clock.”
After stepping out onto the sidewalk, Ryan steered clear of Carla’s café and led Kitty a little way down the street before stopping.
“Well, that’s interesting, huh?” he said. “If Buzz gives us his DNA, that will tell us whether the blood on the dress is Tommy’s. And then we can try to establish his whereabouts.”
“Sheila is scared about something more than we know,” Kitty said. “I can see it in her eyes.”
“I agree. That family is one big tangle of secrets.” He glanced over at his truck, where his belongings were stowed. “I’ll take you home, and come straight back to Bethesda to settle in to Nancy’s house.” He paused to gauge her reaction, but she gave nothing away. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
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