Page 160 of Capturing You

“When we get away from here?—”

“Lori Putnam.”

Brooklynn had expected a dispatcher or receptionist, but this was the name of the woman Jon had said she should talk to.

“My name is Brooklynn Wright.” She ignored Forbes’s glare. “I’m here with…” She paused to let him supply whichever name he preferred.

“Ford Baker, legally,” he said. “But I’m Forbes Ballentine.”

“As in, the Ballentine murders, down in Shadow Cove?”

“Correct,” he said. “We’re at the mansion now, and we believe we know who killed my family.”

“Okay.” The word held neither excitement nor disbelief. Seemed she was reserving judgment.

“We’ve been going through Charles Ballentine’s old files,” Brooklynn said, “and we also found some recordings?—”

“Let’s skip to the punch line,” Putnam said. “Whodunit?”

“Leonard Taggart.” Forbes’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “He’s the police chief in Shadow Cove.”

“Leo?”

Brooklynn shrank back from the phone. “You know him?”

“I’ve met him, yeah. He’s a good guy. Or… Well, he seems like a good guy.”

“I agree,” Brooklynn said. “I dated his son, and Leo was always kind to me. He’s been a good police chief in Shadow Cove. I’ve lived here all my life. But we have evidence.” Even if it was mostly circumstantial.

“He didn’t work alone,” Forbes added. “The night my family was killed, there was a woman. We have a name—Stratton. Could be Maury Stratton, who’s a Realtor here in town. Also, there’s a smuggling ring operating out of a remote inlet on the north side of the property. It was operating back then too. We believe drugs are coming in from Halifax, from the Montreal Mafia. Do you want to look at what we’ve got? Or should we contact the FBI?”

Brooklynn heard the scratch of a pen on paper.

“I’ll bring the FBI in,” she said.

“We’ve got a contact,” Forbes said, though they didn’t yet. “We’ll bring them in. No offense, but I’m not great at trusting law enforcement.”

“Most of us are?—”

“Considering my whole family is dead at the hands of a cop,mostisn’t good enough for me.”

There was a protracted silence before the woman said, “I understand. You’re at the mansion now?”

“We’re about to leave.”

“I’m in Portland. I’ll send you an address. We’ll meet in an hour.”

Tonight?

She wanted to meet that soon?

Forbes studied her phone as if he could see through to the woman on the other end. He was suspicious, but he agreed to the meeting.

Brooklynn ended the call.

“Can you be ready in five?”

“Yup.” She hobbled toward the door, thankful the ice had brought her swelling down.