Page 45 of High Country Escape
His throat tightened and he was horrified to realize he was close to tears. How was it that every emotion with her seemed more intense? “That’s good,” he managed to croak.
She smoothed her hand down his chest. “People like Ledger like to break things,” she said. “Whether it’s people or possessions. I’m worried he’ll try to break us.”
“No, he won’t.” He gripped her arms. “He didn’t break you all those years ago, and you’re stronger now. You make me stronger.”
“I love that you’re so sure about that. I wish I could be.”
He kissed her again, harder, and slid his hand beneath her sweater to trace the edge of her bra. “We could go back to my place.”
She pulled back again, a soft expression of longing and regret on her face. “I’d rather wait,” she said. “I don’t like to rush things.”
“And I don’t want to rush you.” He took his hand from beneath her sweater and kissed her again. A gentler brush of his lips. He was disappointed that he wouldn’t be making love to her tonight, but also thrilled that she trusted him enough to be honest with him.
She turned in his arms to look out across the lake once more. “It’s a beautiful sunset,” she said. “I can’t get over how everywhere I look is a picture postcard. I don’t want to ever take that for granted.”
“Then you’re not sorry you came here?”
“No. I’ve found so much here.” She smiled, and he hoped she was thinking of him. Then the smile faded. “I’m not going to lose that,” she said. “I’m not going to let Ledger steal that from me.”
Chapter Twelve
Roxanne was working on Friday, midmorning, when the doorbell rang. The Ameses were both at work, so she moved downstairs to answer the summons. But instead of a package delivery, which was what she assumed the ringing was about, Debra stood at the door. “Thank goodness, you really are here,” she said, bouncing on her toes. “I had to bug people all over town before someone told me they thought you were staying here.”
Roxanne was so startled to see her she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Why are you stalking me?”
“I’m not stalking you. And this is important. I’ve found out some stuff about Billy Ledger.”
Roxanne knew she was no match for Debra’s energy. Better to let her spill whatever she had to say and move on. “Come in.” She held the door open wider. “But you can’t stay long. I’m working.”
“You’re going to want to hear this, I promise. The more we know about Billy, the more we can help the authorities capture him.”
Roxanne followed Debra into the living room. “There is no ‘we.’ The sheriff is searching for Ledger. I can’t do more than they can.”
“Are you sure about that?” Debra sank onto the sofa. “No one even considered that Bettina might have been one of Ledger’s victims until I brought it up. My investigations gave us all the information we know about her disappearance. I’ll go anywhere and talk to anyone if I think it will lead to Bettina.”
“I already told you—I don’t know anything about your sister,” Roxanne said. “I’m very sorry, but it’s the truth.”
“I believe you.” Debra hugged a throw pillow across her stomach. “I think my best hope now is for law enforcement to capture Ledger. Then they can question him about Bettina. He’s never mentioned her before because no one thought to ask.”
Roxanne lowered herself onto the other end of the sofa. “Why are you so sure your sister was one of Ledger’s victims?” she asked.
“He was living in the area when she went missing,” Debra said. “This was two years before he took Alice. Bettina could have been his first victim. She walked to a store two blocks from our house to buy a loaf of bread and never came back. She just vanished into thin air. Police searched, but Ledger wasn’t even on their radar back then.”
“What do you think happened to her?” Roxanne asked.
“I think he took her but something went wrong. He killed her. Then he got rid of the body. He lay low for a while until he tried again with Alice and then you. It makes sense.”
Roxanne nodded. The neat narrative had appeal. “But you don’t have any proof.”
“No.” She leaned toward Roxanne. “But if the police question him, maybe he’ll let something slip. Enough to make them search the house he lived in at the time.”
“What will you do if that doesn’t happen?” Roxanne asked.
“I’m not going to stop looking for Bettina. I’ve even thought about trying to buy the house where Ledger held you and Alice from the current owners. Or at least renting it for a while so I could get people in there with ground-penetrating radar or something.” She shoved her hands between her knees and looked away. “I know you think I’m extreme, but it’s the worst thing in the world not knowing what happened to her.”
Roxanne nodded. She could imagine how that would feel. But the chance of Debra getting the answers she was looking for seemed so small. “What did you find out about Ledger that you wanted to tell me?” she asked.
“I started corresponding with a guy who worked at the prison he was at, down in Texas,” Debra said. “I got him to tell me all about Ledger’s time there.”