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“Is everything okay?” I asked, seeing the concern on her face.
“The sheriff called when you were still sleeping. He said he needed to talk to you. I told him that you weren’t awake yet and he said it was an emergency and he would be here in ten minutes.”
There was a sharp rap on the trailer door. “Earl! Are you with that hussy again? I told you to stay away from the loose Landry women!”
Earl bristled, his full eighty pounds shaking with indignation. “I told you to leave me alone, you old battleax!”
Sutton rolled her eyes and went to the door to unlock it.
“Wait!” Candice called out. “Knox said to leave it locked until he arrived!”
“I’m here.” His deep voice carried through the front door. “It’s okay, you can open it.”
Sutton opened the door and saw a very angry Martha, who most likely just wanted to be fed like her husband. But it was Knox’s face that gave her pause.
“What happened?”
Knox blew out a breath. “Gabe is dead.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Sutton
“We had a call about three this morning that came through dispatch about a disturbance at Abberly’s. By the time Brown and I arrived on the scene, all was quiet. The back door wasn’t locked and didn’t show signs of forced entry. We found him in his office slumped over his desk, three shots to the chest.”
I felt Mark’s arms close around me, but I couldn’t feel anything. Was Gabe dead? I hated the bastard, don’t get me wrong, but—dead?
Knox looked as grim as I had ever seen him. And after they uncovered that smuggling ring in the high school, he was pretty low. This was worse.
“Sutton, I don’t suppose you were out and about early this morning?”
I blinked, “What?”
Mark’s arms tightened and I could feel the menace and protection radiating off of him as he spoke to Knox.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mark growled.
Knox ran a hand over his face, “I know she wasn’t involved in the murder. But it doesn’t look good, y’all coming into town and Gabe dead twelve hours later.”
Candice bristled. “I can safely say that Sutton was here all night long.”
Knox raised a brow, but he couldn’t have been more surprised than I was.
She blushed, but didn’t back down. “I heard her and Mr. Williams multiple times through the night. Nobody came or left this trailer until Earl showed up this morning.”
The old man nearly wet himself. “I ain’t killed, nobody! I swear it, Sheriff. I didn’t!”
Martha narrowed her eyes. “Well he wasn’t home, I can tell you that.”
If anything, this caused Earl to panic even further. “I’m not a murderer! Sheriff, I don’t even own a gun.”
This was news to me because everyone in Otterville Falls had a gun, including myself. Come to think of it, I hadn’t checked on its whereabouts since I’d been home. I broke out of Mark’s embrace and moved to the fridge, reaching above it to where the gun usually resided.
But no matter how far I felt around for it, I came up empty.
Knox shook his head. “You won’t find it, Sutton. It was at the crime scene.”
For a second the room dimmed, and I was afraid I might hit the floor. Mark had to have been watching every movement of mine because he was next to me in an instant.