Page 47 of Longest Ride

“You go ahead and start, Dad. I’ve never done aninterrogation by myself. I don’t want to fuck it up.”

“Okay, let’s find out what Stacey knows about the murders.” Travis knocked on the door of the bungalow and a tall girl with short red hair pulled it open.

Peering at them through dark-rimmed glasses, she frowned. “The sheriff is on my doorstep. Huh. What a start to the day. Come on in, boys. Coffee is on.”

We followed her into the kitchen, and she kept on talking. “What can I do for you, Sheriff Frost? Yeah, I know who you are. Everybody in the county does.”

Stacey pointed at the chairs around the kitchen table and Virgil and Travis sat down.

“You’re a friend of Paula Fleming?” asked Travis.

“I’m guessing you saw my truck at her place yesterday when you were bringing her in for questioning.”

“Deputy Bristol saw the truck and jotted down the tag.”

Virge nodded his head.

“Okay, when you saw me I was supposed to have coffee with Paula. She’s been pretty stressed since the murders, and I told her I’d drive down and help her plan Harry’s funeral.”

“Nice of you,” said Travis.

“Something any friend would do, Sheriff.” Stacey poured three mugs of coffee and set cream and sugar on the table.

“Appreciate the coffee,” said Travis.

“I’m not particularly generous with my time off, but Paula and I went to school together and we’re longtime friends.”

“If you and Paula are close, she must have talked about the murders with you.”

“She did. Some, but not a lot. She was sad and crying a lot. She loved Harry before he got mixed up with Alex’s friends at the trailer park. That’s when their marriage got shaky.”

“Who do you think killed those three people?” asked Travis. “Give me your best guess.”

Stacey shrugged. “No idea. I met Alex Perkins a couple of times but didn’t really know him at all. Never met the girl—Carla Venner.”

“Did Paula ever talk to you about Carla?” Travis pulled a worn leather notebook out of his pocket.

“Once or twice. Carla was Alex’s brother’s girlfriend, wasn’t she?”

“She was, and we’ve talked to Tim Perkins about Carla. You ever meet Tim?”

“Never did. I’m from Cut Bank and I work at the Inn, so I don’t gallivant around the county too much. I work a lot and spend my down time at home.”

“Are you married, Miss Croft?”

“No, but I’m seeing someone, and we’ve talked about getting married. He’s a nice guy and we get along well.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?” asked Travis.

“You wouldn’t know him.”

“Try me. I know a few people in Harrison County.”

“His name is Wyatt Thompson.”

“Uh huh. We’ve met. He runs the Cut Bank paper.”

“That’s right.”

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