Page 15

Eve blew out a breath of frustration. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and Nolan will—”

“Eve,” Vera cut her off again, “you don’t mean whatever you were about to say. Anyway, it was difficult to determine what either of themknows, based on that one-sided message. I’m guessing Nolan is trying to dig up some big break to boost his career. Which, in my opinion, might actually be why he’s missing right now.”

Her sister’s gaze narrowed. “You think this is a fake abduction for the attention.”

“Maybe. We can’t be certain of anything at this point, but if that’s the case and it comes out, anything he does in the future would be less than credible. That said, having him poking around in the Gates case could create a snowball effect by generating interest.” Vera scrubbed at her forehead. “Frankly, the part that worries me more is the idea that Teresa Russ is involved. We both know she isn’t one to give up.”

“Good point.” Eve searched Vera’s eyes. “What do we do?”

“We,” Vera said with emphasis, “do nothing. Let me sort this out. And don’t tell Suri.”

“But what if Russ calls her or comes to see her? She’ll find Suri’s name on those class-registration rolls the same way you did.”

Eve was right. “Okay.” Vera set her hands on her hips. “Tell her she shouldn’t talk about what happened between her and Gates to anyone. He was her professor for a couple of classes. End of story.”

This was the same story Suri had given Bent when he reviewed the class rosters for the final semesters Gates had taught before disappearing. There were some things Bent didn’t need to know. If Vera had her way, he never would.

Eve nodded. “Who knew that cave would turn into such a nightmare all these years later.”

“No kidding.”

Eve’s mouth dropped open. “I just remembered something you need to know.”

Vera’s stomach knotted. “I swear to God, if you tell me there’s another body hidden somewhere ...”

“No,” Eve griped. “I don’t kill people. Not on purpose, anyway.”

Vera drew in a big breath. She sure hoped Eve was telling her the truth. Just because she had no social skills and spent most of her timewith the dead—preparing them and talking to them—didn’t mean she was a psychopath. Maybe. Probably.

“What do I need to know, then?”

“Rumor is”—Eve glanced around, her gaze resting a moment on the corpse a few feet away before returning to Vera—“that Nolan is gay.”

Vera made an exaggerated face. “So? This is not twenty years ago, Eve. Being gay is just being who you are.”

Eve executed another eye roll. “Seriously? Like I don’t know that. I’m gay. But this is Boggie’s only child we’re talking about. His mama was captain of the cheerleading team. Prom queen three years in a row. Having high school football star Carl Baker for a daddy doesn’t help either. Nolan cannot be gay and live in this town—not because of the town but because of his parents.”

There was that. “Okay, so how did you hear about this?”

“Suri and I saw them in a club in Nashville. They didn’t see us, so Nolan has no idea I know.”

“Maybe he was just playing the field,” Vera argued. “Stretching and exploring his boundaries.”

Eve shook her head, a goofy grin on her face. “No ... this was way more than that. Trust me, I know the difference.”

She supposed her sister would. It had been so long since Vera felt anything like that for another person, she might not recognize it when she saw it. Except maybe all those little feelings Bent elicited. She chased away the thought. Apparently having forty bearing down on her was really messing with her head.

“Who was this other person?”

“A big deal attorney from Huntsville, Liam Remington. His family’s firm is like one of the biggest in the Southeast.”

Remington.Vera had heard about the firm. They had huge signs all over the place. No one wrangled bigger settlements than the Remington firm, or so the billboards boasted.

“Liam is the younger of two sons,” Eve went on. “His father is some highly decorated retired military guy. His grandfather is a war herotoo. They’re all part of the firm. Seriously hard-core conservative types. Nolan isn’t the only one keeping secrets about his sexuality.”

Vera couldn’t say she blamed either one. Sometimes family could be ...difficult.

“He might know what Nolan was up to,” Vera considered out loud.