Page 50 of Fire Harbor

“Look, how about we sleep on it before we do something stupid that will irritate Brent Cody and have him laughing at us or, worse, get in our face?”

Lake was far from satisfied or appeased. But she knew there was no need to argue about it. She had another way to find out if Derrick might be involved in the murders. If Linus didn’t want to help, she’d take care of the problem herself. Until then, she would play it his way.

Chapter Thirteen

Lake waited until the next morning to set her plan in motion. She hadn’t slept well the night before with all kinds of images running through her head. She kept seeing Derrick Kingsley standing over a large hole in the ground, burying a body.

She’d kept it cool with Linus at breakfast. But now at work, with Glynnis covering the front desk, she dialed Greta’s number at home. Another nerd like her, Greta, was the closest thing she had to a friend. “Are you busy studying?”

“No. I’m barely awake. You know all my labs are on Wednesday afternoons. Why?”

She told Greta about what Abby had seen two weeks ago. “What do you know about Derrick Kingsley?”

“Derrick? He helped remodel my parents’ house. Why? What is this about?”

“Abby thinks he might be the serial killer.”

“Derrick? I don’t know, Lake. Derrick’s a mild-mannered sort of guy. He doesn’t strike me as a potential killer.”

“Isn’t that what they said about Edmund Kemper? Personally, I believe Abby’s claim is worth looking into,” Lake said.

“I don’t like the sound of that. What exactly do you mean by ‘looking into’? That sounds like you want to check out his backyard.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s called trespassing. The California Penal Code strictly forbids willfully entering another person’s land or property without permission, especially if it is enclosed by a fence. I happened to know Derrick’s house has a fenced backyard. What’s up with you? This doesn’t sound like something you’d normally do. Did Linus put you up to this?”

“Just the opposite. He’s opposed to checking it out. We sort of argued about it last night.”

“Ah. So you’re dragging me into committing a crime in his place? What if we get caught?”

“We won’t. We’ll be in and out within five minutes. I promise. But if I do find something, I need a witness to back it up.”

“Not to mention a lookout,” Greta muttered. “How do you know Derrick won’t be at home?”

“I called Tradewinds Construction. They confirmed that Derrick is out on a job site today.”

“You did what?” Greta thundered into the phone. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Isn’t that the same thing I said to you when you asked me to help you spy on your ex-boyfriend last year?”

Greta sighed. “I knew you’d throw that up to me eventually. Fine. I’ll go with you. But I’m driving. If we need to get out of there fast, I know my Fiat beats your Volkswagen for speed.”

“Are you nuts? My Beetle has a turbocharged engine.”

“Doesn’t matter. I drive. If we get caught, I’m turning state’s evidence.”

“You’d give me up just like that?”

“The short answer is yes. You’re masterminding this whole crazy scheme. Remember that old saying? Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”

“Fair enough. If you feel that strongly about it, maybe you should take a pass.”

“No. I’ll come with you. Maybe I can get a TikTok post out of it.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding. But if you get arrested, I’m filming the entire thing for my Instagram. I only have five hundred followers on that account, it won’t embarrass you the way it would on TikTok. Also, I could start a true crime podcast. You could do an interview behind bars from the criminal’s point of view.”

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