Page 85 of Eclipse Bay

“Let me get this straight.” Rafe sounded as if he was choosing his words with exquisite care. “You’re saying that she left me on the beach that night, went home, and called you to tell you that she was going to go nuclear and then leave town?”

“The next thing I know,” Dell said dully, “Yates is pounding on my door. Come to tell me Kaitlin’s dead.”

“And you told him you were pretty sure I’d killed her—is that it?”

“Well, yeah,” Dell muttered.

“Follow your own logic for a while here,” Rafe said. “How did I know she was headed for Hidden Cove?”

“I figure you went to her place. You killed her there and then dumped her body in Hidden Cove.”

Rafe groaned. “Well, it’s a theory. I’ll give you that much.”

“Kaitlin wasn’t like me,” Dell pleaded to Hannah. “She wanted to get out of this town. Be someone. She had dreams, y’see? Lots of ’em. Big ones.”

“I understand,” Hannah said.

“But none of ’em ever worked out for her.” Dell gave a sad sigh. “Seemed like everything always went wrong. I was her brother, y’know, but there was never anything I could do to fix things for her.”

Rafe frowned. “It wasn’t your fault you couldn’t straighten out her problems, Dell.”

“Maybe. But it just seemed like I shoulda been able to do something, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Rafe said. “I know. Sometimes you’ve just got to live with the fact that there wasn’t anything you could do.”

Dell nodded bleakly. “Thought I’d put it all behind me. Told myself it was finished. Then you two showed up in town together. Made it clear you planned to hang around awhile. People started talking about what happened that night again.”

Rafe looked at him. “When Yates came around asking questions, did he say whether or not he had searched Kaitlin’s house?”

“He went through the place real thoroughly. Her car, too. I was with him when he did it,” Dell said morosely. “Said he was looking for a suicide note, but he tore that place apart, y’know? Why would he do that if he was just lookin’ for a note? I mean, if she’d left one, she would have put it in plain sight, don’t you think? Why leave a note if you don’t want it to be found?”

“You’re right,” Rafe said. “She’d have left it in plain sight.”

Hannah gripped the edge of her chair very tightly. “Do you recall whether or not Yates pulled out her washer and dryer to check behind them?”

Dell nodded. “And the refrigerator, too. Like I said, he really went through her stuff. But I know she didn’t jump off that cliff. There was no note. I told him she wasn’t the type to commit suicide. Asked him what he was really looking for.”

Hannah watched him. “What did he say?”

“Said he’d know it if he found it. But he didn’t find anything.”

They all sat in silence for a time. After a while Dell sighed heavily and drained the last of his soda. “I didn’t try to kill your dog, Hannah.”

“I believe you,” Hannah said. “You wouldn’t hurt an innocent animal.”

Dell nodded and said nothing.

“There’s something else,” Hannah said. “Rafe didn’t kill Kaitlin. I really was with him that night on the beach near the Arch. There was no way he could have followed your sister home, let alone kill her and take her body to Hidden Cove. You have my word on it.”

Dell did not move for a long time. Then he looked at Rafe. “If it wasn’t you, who was it?”

“Good question,” Rafe said.

Back in the car, Winston draped the front half of his body over the back of the seat and nuzzled Hannah’s shoulder. She scratched his ears and glanced at Rafe.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.

“About that lingerie and the videos the Willis brothers found hidden behind Kaitlin’s dryer?” Rafe steered the Porsche in a tight circle and drove down the dusty, rutted road that led away from Sadler’s Auto Rebuild. “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. Maybe those videos were her nuclear option.”

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