Page 59 of Secrets in Calusa Cove

“It’ll be logged into our system,” Remy said. “We’ll have access to it, and I think Detective Lester had a hard-on for you.”

“Not the point. Just do it.” Dawson sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want to see it one more time. Humor me, man.”

“All right, but that’s not even an airboat. It’s a flat-bottom?—”

“Boston Whaler, and it’s too fuzzy to make out any numbers if the damn thing even has any,” Dawson said. “Who do we know that owns one of those?” He cocked a brow. “Silas. Tim. Paul. Dewey. Andrew. Morgan. Even Trinity owns one.” Dawson smacked his fist on the counter. “Hell, Baily has three of them for rent out of these docks.”

“And don’t forget Paul’s son owns one,” Remy said. “He keeps his boat down the street at the big marina because he’s an asshole.”

“Wonderful,” Dawson muttered.

“We have the other camera footage to look at,” Remy said calmly as he tapped on the keyboard, pulling up the second camera.

For the next five minutes, they watched the wind rustle a few leaves across the ground before the camera went dead, catching nothing.

“Damn,” Dawson muttered. That video had told him absolutely nothing. The only thing he knew for sure was someone didn’t just want Audra to leave town.

They wanted her gone in a more permanent way, and they were willing to frame her for murder to do it.

CHAPTER11

Dawson leanedagainst the hood of his patrol car and rubbed his temple. He’d gotten all of a few hours of sleep before the call had come in. He was running on fumes.

“Thanks for meeting with me,” Silas said, startling Dawson.

He jerked, smacking his elbow on the window. “I don’t like games, and I hate secrets even more.” He sighed. “Why are you being so cagey about the statement you made?”

Silas plucked the toothpick from his mouth and narrowed his stare. “Nothing cagey about me reporting what I saw.”

“You’ve asked us to keep it quiet. Not discuss it with anyone, especially Paul. Why?” Dawson had planned on keeping everything about this case buttoned up tight now that it had turned into murder. He needed to keep things from the public eye. Speculation would happen no matter what he did, but he had to protect not only the townspeople—but Audra.

She was taking a beating in the court of public opinion, and Dawson took that personally.

“For all we know, Paul was signaling to his son.” Silas folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the driver’s side of the car. “Or even Dewey. They might not be registered as a team, but they worked in tandem last year, and we all know how Dewey gets when he sees a breakdown in the density of the mangrove. He wants to protect it. At first, I didn’t want to make a big deal about things because Paul could’ve been trying to get someone’s attention. He’s pulled shit like that before.”

“You’re backpedaling.” Dawson arched a brow. “And making excuses.”

“I gave them the benefit of the doubt until Tim accused Audra and Paul and lied to my face. He had no idea I was standing in a river of grass, so he didn’t see me.” Silas nodded, waving his finger toward the waterfront. “Ever since those damn pythons were introduced to the Everglades, I’ve been hunting those slippery bastards. I don’t need no stinking challenge to go out there and do it. I don’t do it for a stupid prize or the notoriety but because the Everglades is my backyard. I want to protect the beauty of this place and the ecosystem. That little girl knows exactly what I’m talking about. Her father was the same way, and he raised her to respect this land.” Silas lowered his chin. “Paul’s my friend. Has been for years, and he and I have always believed the same thing when it comes to this shit. He’s out there hunting pythons not because he gives a shit about this stupid challenge but because we do this year-round. So why did he lie? Why did he fire those rounds and let Tim accuse her? What’s their end game?” Silas shoved his toothpick back in his mouth and twirled it around. “Other than she makes us all nervous.”

“You all have an opinion about Audra and what happened the night her father died. None of you have any hard facts about that, yet you’re willing to toss her under the bus.”

“Come on, Dawson. That’s different. Hugely different. Paul knows she didn’t shoot anything, and he stood there like a damn moron and didn’t call Tim out on his bullshit. Why?” Silas plucked his toothpick out again and waved it around. “Even I wouldn’t do that, and I’ve admitted to doing some shady shit over the course of my life.”

“Let me ask you this—and I’d like an honest answer.” Dawson pushed away from the vehicle and glanced around. The crime scene had been cleared, and the hunters had begun to prepare the boats for a long day of python catching. “You didn’t believe she killed her dad at first. Why not, and what changed?” Dawson lowered his chin. “And be a little more specific than you have been.”

“Nothing’s changed,” Silas said. “It’s all pretty simple, and the truth is, I don’t know for certain she did kill him, at least, not in cold blood. The fight she had with her dad the day before he went missing was verbally vicious. No one who heard it could deny part of that little girl meant those words. Her mother was the glue that held that family together, and without her, Victor continued to lose his grip on reality.”

“You really think she went out there and took an opportunity to get rid of the town crazy?”

Silas let out a long breath. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s possible that weird shit went down, and she made up a story to protect her own ass. Or it was an accident, and she honestly doesn’t remember. But the fact that Trip continued to investigate it—and no matter what that file says, I know he did—tells me he believed it was no accident. Add her slinking away in the middle of the night like a criminal?” Silas shrugged. “What’s a man to think? Especially after I was the only one—outside of Trip—who believed her. She might as well have slapped me across the face.”

“And based on the encounters that Audra has told me the two of you have had since her return, you’ve essentially accused her of killing her dad, and you’ve threatened her.”

“That’s what she said?” Silas sighed. “I told her she should leave because something bad could happen if she didn’t. I didn’t say I was the bad.”

“Doesn’t matter, Silas. It’s how you said the words and the tone you used.” Dawson cocked a brow. “You did the same thing everyone accuses her of doing and accused her old man of doing.”

“Look. As crazy as Victor was, I considered him a friend. If she had anything to do with what happened, I want to know why. That little girl has always been a tad terrified of me, so I thought I could scare it out of her back then.”

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