Page 37 of The Sister's Curse

A very irritated-looking man in scrubs stared at me. He was in his fifties, with graying hair and a harsh line of a mouth. The badge on his lanyard read:ER Department Dr.Floyd.

Shit. Nick’s boss.

Floyd glowered at us and elbowed his way into the elevator. “Excuse me.”

Lister shook his head, his confession trance broken. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

He exited the elevator, and I stumped after him. “But there’s—”

He turned on me in a flash of anger. “Leave me alone. This is police harassment.”

I paused, taken aback by his sudden change of mood.

He stabbed a finger at me. “You were at both drownings. How do I know that you didn’t have something to do with them?”

I blinked. “That’s not—”

“Stay away from me.”

Lister slipped away, into the lobby, practically at a run. Definitely faster than I could pursue him.

Mark Lister knew things. Jeff Sumner knew things. But neither one of them was saying anything. Jeff seemed angry. But Lister seemed scared.

But scared of what?

I found Monica’s car in the pickup area and eased into the passenger seat.

“I saw Lister flying out of there like a bat outta hell. Was that your doing?” I noticed that she’d raided the vending machines. She handed me a candy bar, and I took it gratefully.

“Almost had him spilling his guts. He knows something. He might be easier to get to than Jeff.”

“Well, we got a nice letter from Jeff’s attorney, threatening to charge us with harassment.”

“Not surprising.”

“Well, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. CPS is involved in Mason’s case now. The social worker assigned to the case wants to know everything we find out.”

“If we’re investigating a crime, he can’t claim harassment.”

We bumped fists.

“You know what’s weird?” I said. “It will be twenty-five years since Dana disappeared this Fourth of July. And now, all of a sudden, the children of the principal suspects in that case have been harmed. It makes me think that’s not a fluke, especially given that number on the skull.”

“You think it’s a countdown?”

“Could be. I mean…what if a kid like Leah is next? Even if the girls aren’t allowed to swim, I feel like we’ve got to warn the parents.”

“Agreed.”

I called Pastor Sims. He picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Pastor Sims, this is Lt. Anna Koray from the Bayern County Sheriff’s Office.”

“Hello, Lieutenant.” His voice echoed peculiarly. Maybe he was in the bathroom, which I didn’t want to imagine. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s been another near drowning in your social circle recently.”

There was a pause. “I heard about Ross.”