Page 140 of This is Why We Lied

Kevin accepted Will’s hand to help him up. “Sorry guys, I get these bad leg cramps.”

Drew looked skeptical. “Fish, I’m heading back. Thanks for the beer.”

Christopher tipped his hat as Drew walked toward the trail. Will nodded for Kevin to follow. Drew was not going to be happy when Keisha told him that she’d talked to Will.

“So?” Christopher said. “What is it? Did Dave confess?”

Will figured the news was already out. “Dave didn’t kill your sister.”

“Well.” Christopher’s expression was unchanged. “I knew he’d manage to squirm out of it eventually. Did Bitty give him an alibi?”

“No, Mercy did.” Will had been expecting at least some surprise, but Christopher gave him nothing. “Your sister called Dave before she died. Her voicemail rules him out.”

Christopher looked out at the lake. “That’s surprising. What did Mercy say?”

“That she needed Dave’s help.”

“Also surprising. Dave never once helped Mercy when she was alive.”

“Did you help her?”

Christopher didn’t respond. He crossed his arms as he stared at the water.

Will said nothing. In his experience, people couldn’t tolerate silence.

Evidently, Christopher was immune. He kept his arms crossed, his eyes on the lake, and his mouth closed.

Will had to find another way to rattle the man.

He looked back at the equipment shed. The doors were propped wide open. The knives were in the same place as before, but they looked sharper in the light of day. The blades weren’t Will’s only concern. A paddle to the head or a punch to the gut with one of the wooden handles on a net could do a lot of damage. Not to mention that Christopher probably had the same fishing gear in his pockets as Chuck. A folding line management tool. A folding fisherman’s multi-tool. A retractable tether. A pocketknife.

Will only had one hand. The other one was hot and throbbing because Sara was right about the infection. Then again, the hand that wasn’t infected was in easy reach of a Smith and Wesson snub-nosed revolver.

He went inside the shed. He started loudly opening cabinets and drawers.

Christopher rushed inside, clearly distressed. “What are you doing? Stay out of there.”

“I’ve got a search warrant for the property.” Will raked open another drawer. “If you want to read the warrant, you can go back to the compound and ask my partner to show it to you.”

“Wait!” Christopher was rattled now. He started closing the drawers. “Hold on, what are you looking for? I can tell you where it is.”

“What would I be looking for?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “But this is my shed. Everything in here is there because I put it there.”

He seemed to realize a second too late that he’d just taken ownership of whatever Will found.

Will asked, “What do you think I’m looking for?”

Christopher shook his head.

Will walked around the shed like he’d never seen it before. He kept his eye out for any sudden movements from Christopher. The man came across as passive, but that could easily change. What struck Will about the shed was that everything was back in its place. Early this morning, Will hadn’t been gentle when he’d rifled around looking for a way to tie up Dave. The tools had been returned to their outlined spots. The nets hung at the same intervals along the back wall. The daylight streaming in gave Will a clear view of the hasp lock to the room in the back. And the well-worn padlock.

“Look,” Christopher said. “Guests aren’t allowed in here. Let’s go back outside.”

Will turned to face him. “There’s some interesting species of wood you’ve got stored up by the house.”

Christopher’s throat made a gulping sound. He’d started to sweat. Will hoped like hell this wasn’t another eye drop situation. He wanted to move this along quickly. He decided to take a risk.

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