Page 82 of Wild Frost

Chris nodded.

I shared a look with JD, then asked Chris, "Don't you think that's relevant?"

Chris shrugged. "How so?”

"He was a major prosecution witness.”

"So. A lot of people she knew were.”

"Did they ever date?”

"Not that I'm aware of." Chris thought back. "I think Wesley had a girlfriend at the time. I'm not sure. It was a long time ago." Chris paused. "I still don't see what that has to do with anything.”

I shrugged. "Maybe it's nothing. But all the prosecution witnesses are dying. You're aware that Landon Walsh was shot this afternoon."

His brow lifted with astonishment. "No. I hadn't heard.” He paused. Thoughts raced behind his eyes. "You don't think my father is involved in that, do you? I mean, what possible reason would he have to kill Landon?”

"We’ll have ballistics back soon enough.”

I thanked him for speaking to us.

Before we left, he said, "Sarah was really special. One-of-a-kind. Who knows? She could have changed the world."

We walked down the dock toward the parking lot.

Jack said, "Where are you going with this?”

"I'm not sure." I had a theory brewing in the back of my mind, but it hadn’t formulated yet.

We hopped into the Porsche and drove over to Sandpiper Point.

Darrell had been discharged, and Deputy Van Zandt was keeping tabs on him. Jacob Sweet was still at large. I was convinced that Darrell didn't have anything to do with this, but I still had questions for him.

Jack found a place to park, and we strolled the dock to theFreebird. I banged on the stern and shouted, “Coconut County!”

Lexi poked her head through the hatch a moment later. She looked at us with annoyed eyes. “What do you want?”

“How’s he doing?”

“He was doing great until you two showed up. Why do you keep harassing him?”

“I’m not here to harass him,” I said. “In fact, I don’t think he’s involved in the recent shootings.”

Her brow wrinkled. “You don’t?”

“Landon Walsh is dead.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “Who’s Landon Walsh?”

“Can we come aboard?”

43

Darrell reclined on a settee in the salon while Lexi catered to his every need. For a guy who had been shot yesterday, he didn’t look too bad.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, gentlemen?” Darrell asked in a slightly sardonic tone.

“We just stopped by to see how you were getting along,” I said.