Page 102 of The Summer that Changed Everything

“What are you going to say to Claxton?”

“I’m going to remind him someone else was in the Matteos’ trailer that night who bled in the sink, and that’s the guy we need to find.”

He sent that message and got an immediate and emphatic response.

Back off, Ford. Go home to your pregnant wife before you regret coming here.

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“He’d better not do anything.”

Lucy frowned. “What happened fifteen years ago has caused enough pain. Maybe you should listen to him, back away and let me deal with this on my own.”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “That’s what I’d regret, and I know that’s true because of how much I regret the way I behaved last time.”

She leaned over to kiss him, and he pulled her back into bed.

28

Just in case Chief Claxton had contacted Reggie about their conversation, Anna had been on guard ever since she’d visited the police station. She was glad she’d spoken to Claxton; doing so had allayed her fears. But she knew her brother would consider it another betrayal, and she didn’t want him coming to her house angry like he had before.

She eyed the patch on the wall; Joel had repaired the hole Reggie had made when he put his fist through the Sheetrock, but it still needed to be painted. Then she checked the clock. Her last appointment at the barbershop had canceled, so she’d had the chance to come home from work and change, and she needed to pick up the kids from a swim party. But as soon as she scooped her keys off the counter, she caught sight of Ford and Lucy coming up the walkway and set them down again.

Shoot.Anna hesitated. Claxton must’ve told them about the baseball card collection, and now they were coming to speak to her about it.

When she answered the door, Ford briefly inclined his head. “Hey, Anna. We’re sorry to bother you, but we have a fewquestions we were hoping you could answer. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” She moved aside so they could enter the house. She could’ve kept them standing at the door, but she didn’t want Reggie to come by and see that she was talking to them again. He was already mad at her. “Let’s go into the living room,” she said and led the way.

“We’re sorry to intrude,” Ford said once they’d all sat. “But there’s just so much that doesn’t add up about the murders fifteen years ago. And now—”

“That may be true, but I’ve done all I can to help,” she broke in, wanting to back away from it all once again.

“We appreciate that,” he said. “But are you aware that your brother was at the trailer park the night the Matteos were killed, trying to score some drugs?”

She felt her heart sink. She’d just decided the baseball card collection meant nothing—and nowthis? “No. Who told you that?”

“Susan Willett. She says he didn’t have any money, so Cary Whitehead refused to sell to him.”

She didn’t want to hear this, didn’t want it to be true. She’d just decided that her brotherhadn’tbeen involved.

“Then he happens to be the one who comes up with a ‘confession’ Mick McBride claims he never gave,” Ford continued. “It’s all a bit too... coincidental, wouldn’t you say?”

“It might be coincidental, but that’s all it is,” Anna replied, trying to keep her voice steady. “I admit I was worried when I spoke to Chief Claxton yesterday, but he insists that baseball card collection didn’t come from the Matteos’ trailer.”

“Baseball card collection?” Ford repeated.

Anna looked from one to the other. “I assumed he’d told you. I remember my brother bragging about a baseball card collection that came into his possession around the time the Matteos were killed. Reggie told me he traded a set of tires for it, butthe tires were only worth five hundred, and the collection was worth nearly fivethousand.”

Ford whistled. “That’s a nice trade.”

“A littletoonice,” Anna said. “That’s why I went to Claxton about it. But he insists nothing was stolen—” She stopped talking midsentence; she’d been so focused on Ford she hadn’t realized the blood had drained from Lucy’s face. “What is it?” she asked.

Ford turned to Lucy, too.

“Tony Matteodidhave a baseball card collection,” she said.

No!Anna caught her breath.

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