Page 84 of Eclipse Bay

“Sure.” Dell opened the refrigerator and hauled out two cans. He carried them into the living room portion of the trailer and set them on the table in front of Rafe and Hannah.

Hannah glanced through the screen door of the trailer, studying the dog sprawled outside. “What happened to your dog?”

“Happy got run over by some drunk bastard on the highway while we was out on a tow job one night. Messed up his rear legs pretty bad. Vet told me I oughta put him down, but I just couldn’t do that. Cost me a fortune, but what was I gonna do? Me and Happy are partners, y’know?”

“I know,” Hannah said. Definitely not a dog killer, she thought. But if Dell Sadler wasn’t the one who had put Winston out on the rocks in Dead Hand Cove, who had? “Someone tried to kill my dog last night.”

“Why would anyone wanna kill a dog?”

“We think it may have been meant as a warning of some kind,” she said quietly.

“Shit. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You think maybe I tried to hurt your dog on accounta what happened to Kaitlin?”

“It crossed our minds,” Rafe admitted. “You’re the only one I can think of who might have wanted to avenge Kaitlin’s death.”

“Shit,” Dell said again. He sank down onto a threadbare chair and stared at the logo on the can in his hand. “I wouldn’t hurt no dog. That little pooch of yours didn’t have anything to do with what happened to my sister.”

“You’re right.” Rafe leaned forward, legs spread. He held the can of soda loosely in his fingers between his knees. Serious but nonthreatening. Man to man. “I’ll come to the point, Dell. I know you think I killed Kaitlin. I didn’t. That’s the God’s honest truth. You’ll believe what you want to believe, but in the meantime, I really need to know why you’re so sure I’m guilty.”

Dell turned the can between his hands. Eventually he looked up. “I always figured it was you because you were the last one with her that night. Everyone said you were pissed that she was playing around.”

Hannah stirred. “But why were you always so sure that it was murder in the first place? Why couldn’t it have been an accident?”

“Because they found her in Hidden Cove. Said she must have been up on the path in the middle of the night. Doesn’t make sense. Why would she go out there?”

“To meet a man?” Hannah suggested gently.

Dell gave her a derisive look. “She had her own house. And a car, too. She didn’t have to go to someplace like Hidden Cove to fool around.”

“Unless she didn’t want to be seen with whoever she met there,” Rafe said bluntly. “Which lets me out. She sure didn’t mind having people see her with me.”

Hannah pursed her lips, thinking. “Maybe she didn’t go out there to meet anyone. Maybe she just went there to meditate.”

“Meditate?” Dell looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Kaitlin wasn’t into that kinda weird stuff.”

“Everyone needs to get away to a quiet place to think about their future once in a while,” Hannah persisted. But she noticed that Rafe was now looking at her strangely too. Obviously neither of these two considered Kaitlin to be the thoughtful, introspective type.

“Not Kaitlin.” Dell took a swallow from his can of soda and wiped his mouth with the back of a stained sleeve. “She had her future down cold. Didn’t need to do any meditating on it. Kaitlin always had big plans, y’know?”

A tingle of expectation shot through Hannah. She and Rafe exchanged nods. She turned back to Dell.

“Why do you say that Kaitlin didn’t have to do any meditating on her future?” she asked carefully.

“She already knew what she was going to do. Called me that night.” Dell studied his soda can intently. “Said she’d had enough of this town. She was gonna leave first thing in the morning and never come back.”

“Are you telling us that you spoke with Kaitlin just before she died?” Rafe asked.

“Yeah. Like I said, she called me. Woke me up. She was still really mad at you, y’know? Said she’d had it with everyone here. All losers, she said.”

“How did she plan to finance this final exit?” Rafe asked.

Dell sucked in a deep breath and took another swallow of soda. He lowered the can slowly and peered into the middle distance. Looking into the past. “She told me that she was going to use her nuclear option.”

Rafe did not move. “What the hell was that?”

Dell hesitated. “I’m not sure, to tell you the truth. She never was real clear about it. I got the feeling that she had some cash stashed away. Figured one of her boyfriends had given it to her. Or maybe someone gave her a piece of fancy jewelry she thought she could sell.”

Hannah’s mouth went dry. She said nothing.

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