Page 94 of Vanish From Sight

“Why did you kill her?”

“Kill her? What the hell are you talking about?”

“We tracked her to your farm.”

“Well give yourself a fucking medal. We never touched her.”

“What?”

“She was at our farm. Yeah. Nosing around. But once we found out she worked for the paper and that her ex was a cop — guessing that’s you — we let her go! We put her back in her vehicle and sent her on her way. My mistake. Fucking bitch cost me thousands but we didn’t kill her. I wanted to. I wish I had now.”

Noah gritted his teeth; it was taking every ounce of restraint to hold back his emotion. “What about Katherine Evans and Laura Summers?”

“Who the fuck are they?”

He stared back at her, unsure if she was being genuine with her response.

“Look, we’ve done nothing wrong. Sold a few dogs. Whatever, man. We’ll be out before the end of the day.”

Noah motioned to the marshal.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath to that,” he replied as he walked away, his mind in turmoil and confusion.

CHAPTER 26

Wednesday, November 23, 12:30 p.m.

The caffeine was doing little to touch the tension headache.

Noah sat hunched over, devouring the remains of a ham sandwich, his eyes scanning timelines, dates, and occasionally looking up at the mugshots and names of suspects. His brow furrowed. He leaned back, trying to piece together the puzzle based on what evidence they’d collected so far, possible motives and opportunity. He took another sip of coffee; the dark bitter taste jolted his mind back into focus.

Callie barged into the room, holding a piece of paper that had an address scrawled across it. “I found her, Noah,” she said, her eyes soaking in the sight of names on the mounted screens. “The girl from the Academy, Isabella, she’s in Plattsburgh, an hour away.”

Noah sat up straight, a flicker of hope igniting in his chest. They had been following every lead they could find, and thisone seemed promising. Still, he couldn’t quite make sense of what was before him.

“Did you hear me?” she asked.

“I heard you, Thorne.” He pointed at the screen. “Katherine’s husband, Nicholas Evans, could have been involved in both murders. He never reported her missing and there is the history of her feeling unsafe. Thomas Green was in jail when the second murder occurred and if he and Teresa are to be believed, they didn’t even know the two women. The only connection they have is to Lena and they are adamant she left that farm alive. Then we have journalist Nate Sawyer, he was out at the time of both murders but swears he was in a meeting with Rector Hawthorne on the Friday when Katherine was found, even though Hawthorne denies it and says the meeting was canceled. As for the second murder, Sawyer didn’t have enough time to kill Laura Summers, change vehicles and return. Based on surveillance, he had a twenty-minute window, tops. And he was inside when Lena was found dead and when his SUV was found on fire.”

“So, what are you thinking?” she asked, standing by him and staring.

“I mean, on the surface Hawthorne or someone from the Academy had every reason to silence them. Katherine was trying to stir the waters with Sawyer’s help. Laura was caught in the middle of that.”

“And Lena?”

“I don’t know. Sawyer worked for the paper. According to Maggie, Lena had taken his job. Maybe, she did some digging after it was confirmed to be Katherine and started nosing around.” He brought a hand up to his mouth, feeling a wave of emotion.

“Hey. If this is too hard, I can get someone else to go out with me. It’s just that it’s out of our jurisdiction but not yours.”

He exhaled hard. “I told her so many times to stay clear of stories that were dangerous but…” he took a deep breath. “Lena never listened. She moved to the beat of her own drum.” He reached into his pocket and took out the necklace with her wedding band on it. “You know, the day I bought this, I thought it wouldn’t fit her. It did. First time. What are the odds of that?”

“She kept it?”

“Wore it around her neck. Never told me.” He looked at her. “Look, what is McKenzie doing?”

“Forensics have gone to Nicholas’ home. You know, to run UV lights over the place. See if Katherine was killed there. McKenzie is following up with the bank and plans to speak with Nicholas again and pin down his alibi by canvassing the neighborhood.”

“He didn’t want to go with us?”