Page 120 of Obsession

“I’ll put it on speaker when she answers,” she said. But the call went to voicemail and Emma left a message detailing her reason for calling, telling her it was urgent that she talk to her. “Maybe she’ll call back soon,” Emma said as they pulled back onto the Trace.

He nodded. “The owner of the Hideaway left me a message, but the background noise was so loud, I couldn’t understand him.” Sam called the number back, and it went straight to voicemail. “I’ll try again later and let you know what he says.”

“You’re going to be busy with Jace and then going to see Trey. Want me to call him?”

He hesitated. “If I don’t reach him before I drive to Trey’s cabin, you can. Nate says there’s no service out there. But I figure I’ll talk to him before that. I’ll let you know,” he said with a smile. The atmosphere inside the SUV was so different from earlier. “You’re a good one to brainstorm with.”

“Anytime.”

He hesitated, hating to ruin the mood. “I know you’re planning to go back to work at Mount Locust tomorrow, but is there any chance you could work at one of the other park locations so you’ll be around people?”

“Because...?”

“We’re getting closer to discovering who the killer is, and it could get dicey. It’s just too dangerous for you to hang out at Mount Locust alone.”

65

Jace was the last kid in the car line when Sam pulled up to the school. Traffic had slowed them once they got to Natchez, and then he’d had Emma’s apartment to check out. “Sorry, bud,” he said when his nephew piled into the back seat.

“We’re not late yet,” Jace said, grinning.

The boy’s excitement squeezed his heart. He hoped Jace would be okay when Sam had to leave early, but for the next hour, he would stand in as a dad for his nephew—Jace would not be the kid without one.

An hour later, Sam hugged his nephew. “Sorry I have to leave, but I have a case I’m working on.”

“That’s important too,” Jace said. “You’re the best!”

When some of the other dads had to leave as well, Sam didn’t feel quite as bad. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Sam glanced in the rearview mirror as he drove away. Jace was still waving, and he turned his siren on for a second, knowing it would thrill the kid. A few minutes later, he texted Nate and asked if he still planned to go with him to interview Trey and received an affirmative. When he pulled into the sheriff’s department, Nate met him out front.

“Have you heard from your chief deputy?” Sam asked.

“No. I even tried to raise him last night when they put his dad in ICU.”

“I’m surprised he doesn’t have his radio with him.”

“When he goes to his cabin, it’s because he wants to get away from everything,” Nate said. “And no landline either since there’s not another house within five miles of the place. He doesn’t even have electricity, uses a generator.”

Sam had never wanted to escape civilization that bad. “I guess if something was really important, someone would go and get him.”

“Yeah. So far that hasn’t happened.” Nate tilted his head. “Do you really suspect him of killing Mary Jo and Ryan?”

“He’s my best suspect.”

As they drove, Sam asked if Nate had been able to interview either George Selby or his daughter.

“Not yet. The father is in a drug-induced coma, and Mrs. Wyatt’s doctors have put a no-visitors order in place, but if she keeps improving, I hope to talk with her tomorrow.”

A thought niggled at the back of Sam’s mind. He groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was supposed to call Charlie Shaw at the Hideaway,” Sam said. He glanced at his phone. One bar. Maybe ... Nope, the call failed. He could usually send and receive texts with one bar, and handed his phone to Nate. “Text Emma and ask her to call Charlie Shaw. And text his number—it’s in my recent calls. She’ll know why.”

Fifteen minutes later, they turned off a paved road onto a gravel one that turned to sand and finally a sand-dirt mixture. With overcast skies, it wouldn’t be long before it was pitch black. “Looks like there have been a few trips in and out, but how does he get in here when it rains?”

“Four-wheeler, if it rains very much. I think he leaves his truck back where the road is gravel,” Nate said.

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