“Yes, she does,” I said.

We headed out to the parking lot. The kids were surprised and excited when I told them Neely Kate and I had traded cars. I got the booster for Mikey out of the back, clipped Hope into Daisy’s car seat, and headed home.

My car wasn’t parked in front when we pulled in front of the house, and a moment of longing for Liam filled me, but I tried to shake it off as we got out and went inside. The cooler weather had changed to the low seventies, so when we let Muffy out, we all stayed outside with her. The kids ran around the front yard, while I settled onto the porch swing, sipping a cup of tea. I was trying to decide if I should ease my fears and call Neely Kate when my phone rang. While I’d hoped to see her name on the screen, I was nearly as relieved to see Dermot’s.

“What’d you find?” he asked straight away.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I scanned the yard for the kids’ location. “It’s unusual for your phone to go straight to voicemail.”

“I had another interview with your husband.”

My stomach dropped, then I thanked God that he’d turned his phone off. I had no idea how he had saved my name in his phone, but I could only imagine how it would look if my name had popped up on his screen during his interview.

“Do they think you’re behind them?”

“No. I think it was another fishing expedition. They found a third body.”

“I heard,” I said. “Do you think it’s the guy Austin saw murdered?”

“Possible. One of the detectives let it slip that the guy died from a head shot, but I’m reluctant to say it’s the same guy. For all we know, it’s a fourth murder.”

“Agreed.” Although I certainly hoped it wasn’t.

“So what’d you learn?”

I told him about my conversations with Darlene and how I’d decided to stop by McDonald’s and talk to Scott Van de Camp.

“Alone?” he grunted.

“He’s the manager of a McDonald’s,” I said dismissively. “You think he’s gonna do anything to me in front of his employees?”

“Still…”

“It was worth finding out what he told me.” I paused. “What do you know about an illegal secret bar south of Pickle Junction? Some guy named Derby Sloan runs it on the downlow. He sells drugs and hosts gambling.”

“I’m acquainted with Derby Sloan.” His tone left me guessing what he thought of him.

“Derby Sloan provided drugs to Harvey, Noah, and a guy named Huey-slash-Hugo Dempsey.”

“I talked to some of Noah Parker’s coworkers,” Dermot said with a grunt. “They never mentioned he was a drug addict.”

“Darlene claims Harvey was a recreational user. That he held a job and was responsible and reliable. Of course, she’s his sister, so she could have blinders on.”

“That’s what all of Parker’s coworkers said as well. They didn’t know of a connection with Harvey Smith. This Hugo Dempsey is someone Harvey went to school with?”

“Yeah, he and Scott Van de Camp.” I took a breath, my gaze following the kids. “Scott says some dealer came into the bar about a month ago and gave them all some new drug. Then he convinced the three of them to deal for them.”

“At Sloan’s place?” he cursed under his breath. “Sloan don’t tolerate that shit.”

So Dermot did know about the bar. “I got the impression Scott thinks Sloan could have murdered them.”

He was quiet for a moment. “That makes sense. Only there’s a slight problem. Based on your vision and Austin’s story, the murderer was looking for something. A package.”

“About that…”

“You know what it is?” he asked in surprise.

“No, but Darlene found an envelope her brother left at her house. It has a name—Thomas Benton—then Dallas, Texas, and a long number that starts with a lot of zeros. It looks like it might be some kind of bank account. Darlene has no idea who Thomas Benton is and says Harvey had never been to Dallas, let alone left the state of Arkansas. Do you think the paper could be the package the guys were looking for?”