He crossed to the side wall, well away from any doorways, and leaned down by the baseboard to flip the switch. Light flooded the room from the ceiling fan overhead. He sat on the wicker chair across from her. “Your father had a thing for putting the switches in the craziest places, didn’t he?”
“He called it his security system. Anyone breaking in wouldn’t know how to turn on any lights.”
“That’s for sure. I bet it makes for some stubbed toes at night, though.”
She shook her head. “I’m used to it. Except for all the boxes in the living room, of course. I’m still banging my shins against those, day or night.”
His smile faded at the reminder that she was packing up the house to leave. He fanned the pictures out again.
She scooted forward, careful to keep the afghan tucked around her. “Those look like hospital photos. Five guys. The gunmen again?”
“Yeah. Better pics than the ones on my phone. Are you sure that you don’t recognize any of them?”
“Do you know their names yet?” She picked up the first picture.
“We do now, yes. From a witness at the grocery store. Plus, Blake, one of the new detectives, worked with some of his contacts at his old job to corroborate the information. We’d have figured out their names anyway from their prints since they’re all in the system. But that was taking a while. Regardless, I’m more interested right now in finding out whether you’ve seen them around, maybe watching you in the days leading up to the assault.”
“Watching me? Like...stalking me?”
He nodded.
A shiver went down her spine and she set the first picture down, then carefully studied each of the remaining ones before shaking her head.
“Sorry, Max. I don’t think I’ve seen any of these men before. Or, boys, really. How old are they?”
“They range in age from nineteen to twenty-two. But don’t feel sorry for them. They’re old enough to make better decisions. And this isn’t their first brush with the law. They all belong to the same gang.”
She gave him a sharp look. “We have gangs in Destiny now?”
He laughed without humor. “Even a town this small has its own version of gangs. But, no, they’re not from here. That’s why I want to make absolutely sure that you look carefully at their faces. Think back over the last few weeks, even.”
After looking over the pictures again, she pitched them onto the table. “I haven’t seen any of them before. They must be from Knoxville, since you’re making such a big deal over whether I’ve seen them before.”
He shuffled the pictures into the folder and leaned back against the chair. “Can’t confirm or deny that.”
“You don’t have to. I can still read you, just like I always could.” As soon as she said it, she wished she could take the words back. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to rehash the past. Really, I’m not. It just seems like every conversation we have takes us there, sooner or later.”
“Don’t apologize. Sitting with you here is...weird, strange. Not what I expected I’d be doing this week, that’s for sure.”
She smiled. “Me neither.”
He checked his watch, then swore beneath his breath.
“My mama would have washed your mouth out with soap for that back in the day.”
He grinned. “You’re right. She would have. Guess I’ve picked up some bad habits I need to work on. I’ll get to the point, since it’s getting late. We’ve made a lot of progress on the investigation.”
“Which one?”
He stilled. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you about Marcia with everything else that’s been going on. She confessed to shooting the rifle but swears it was only to scare you. She said it wasn’t planned, that she had her gun in her car and after seeing you here with me she got to thinking about Bobby—whom she fancied her boyfriend, even though from what I remember he was always telling her to get lost—and as she was driving away she pulled over and decided to try to scare you just to make herself feel better, I guess. She thinks you killed him.”
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Her and about half the town.”
He didn’t bother to deny the obvious. Half the town, or more, did think she’d killed Bobby Caldwell. She shivered again.
“Are you cold?” He started to shrug out of his jacket.
“No, no. I’m fine. Thanks. So you let Marcia go, right?”