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“Well, I would, but she’s not here. About fifteen minutes ago she rushed out of here like the place was on fire.”

Oh hell.

“Thanks anyway. I guess she already heard.” Vera ended the call and put through another to her sister’s cell.

No answer.

She stamped down harder on the accelerator. She had to get to Bent’s office.

Why was it that trouble always came in pairs?

For once she would love to be able to handle one problem at a time.

“Christ.” She felt sick.

On top of that, Eric was coming.

“What else?” she groaned. Then she snapped her mouth shut.

As her mother would say, it was never smart to tempt fate.

22

Lincoln County Sheriff’s DepartmentThornton Taylor Parkway, Fayetteville, 10:45 a.m.

Bent probably should have been recording this conversation. He also really should have had Myra in here as a witness.

But he’d done neither of those things, and now there was no going back.

“Suri.” He laid down the pen he’d been using to take notes and settled his gaze on the agitated woman seated in front of his desk. “Let’s take a minute, okay?”

She nodded. Her long red hair was tied back in a ponytail. Her face looked pale. Suri had always been a little thing. Petite. Bent had known her brother. He’d worked at the supermarket on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and College Street all through high school. Nice kid, never in trouble. He’d grown up and moved to Huntsville and started his own chain of convenience stores. Suri had stayed in the little house she’d inherited from their grandmother and gone to work at the funeral home.

He couldn’t see her doing what she’d just confessed to in damned vivid detail.

“Sheriff,” she said, her voice firm despite the way her lips trembled, “I’m telling the truth. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to come forward, and I’m even sorrier I didn’t tell you the truth when you foundhis remains.” She exhaled a big breath. “I was afraid I’d lose everything.” She shrugged. “I don’t want to go to jail. It isn’t fair. I was only protecting myself.”

This was one part of the job he didn’t care for. Suri Khatri was a victim, not a killer. To have her go through what this confession could very well entail twisted his gut. To make matters worse, she had ignored his every warning about her rights. She’d refused to call for an attorney. She’d just forged ahead with her story, whether he wanted to hear it or not. She was determined—he’d give her that.

“How about we take a break, and then we’ll go through your story once more, make sure we didn’t miss anything.” He needed to talk this over with the DA before he made any assurances.

Shouting outside his office door drew his attention. “Give me a minute.” He stood and walked to the door. As soon as he opened it, he saw the trouble. Myra was attempting to prevent Eve from coming into his office.

“Bent,” Eve shouted, “I have a right to be in there.”

“Sheriff,” Myra said, clearly flustered, “I tried to tell her she needed to wait.”

“It’s all right.” He gave Myra a nod. Keeping Eve out would be like trying to prevent a bull from charging once the matador waved his cape. He stepped to the side. “Come on in, Eve.”

Eve rushed to Suri, who was now standing. They hugged fiercely. Bent closed the door and rounded his desk. He said nothing, just sat down and waited for the two to decide what they wanted to do next. The tears had started, and that knot in his gut tightened a little more.

All he needed now was Vee, and the party could really get started.

What the hell were the Boyett sisters thinking? They had to have known about this. No matter that Suri had insisted she’d taken Gates to that cave and put him there all by herself—that was impossible. Gates had been a grown-ass man, and Suri likely didn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet. It was possible, he supposed, that her brother had helped her, but Bent’s money was on Eve. Vee had been in Memphis,so she hadn’t likely been involved. But he knew as sure as he was sitting here that she had been brought up to speed about it once those remains were discovered.

“Don’t do this,” Suri warned.

Eve pulled away from her and looked to Bent. “Suri didn’t kill Gates. I did.”