Page 60 of Final Escape
“We checked the caves, but didn’t find even a hint that he’s been there. Of course, he’s always been careful to cover his tracks—even if no one is looking for him.”
“Some people say he must’ve been in covert operations during Vietnam.”
“Which makes it all the harder to track him down, unfortunately.”
Penny bit her lower lip. “The sheriff and one of his deputies were here this afternoon. They weren’t very happy to find that you two weren’t here.”
“Neither of us have been charged, the last I heard,” Logan said drily. “So what did they want?”
“They were really insistent about finding out where you were, for starters. I think they seemed suspicious about you both not only being in cahoots, but thinking that you might decide to flee the country or something.”
“If they think that, they’re less intelligent than I thought.”
“But it worries me that they’d evenconsiderthe possibility that either of you had anything to do with Billy’s death. How could they? You have a solid alibi with Aunt Betty and me. And I don’t believe for a minute that Carrie could’ve pulled the trigger.”
“Well, they won’t find any evidence proving it, because there isn’t any. So what else did they want?”
“They wouldn’t say. But,” Penny added, “I do have a good idea about what’s going on, thanks to the local grapevine.”
“Gossip.”
“Not exactly. I’ve heard that the deputies and the BCI have been investigating a number of leads since Billy died, but they still don’t have any good suspects.”
Carrie shivered. “Which means they’re no closer to getting the killer off the street.”
“But it’s worse.” Penny swallowed hard. “I’ve had some phone calls from several of the people who were around when Billy confronted Carrie after the movie. They’ve all been questioned extensively down at the sheriff’s office about what happened.”
“That isn’t a surprise, I guess.” Logan rested a hand on Carrie’s shoulder, knowing the murder and uncertainties afterward had to be weighing heavily on her heart. Wishing he could lift her burden.
“But most of them have been brought in a second time, now,” Penny continued. “And the thing is, none of those people were close enough to hear Billy’s demands, or to hear his threatening manner. And they couldn’t have seen the rough way he grabbed Carrie’s hand.”
Carrie drew in a slow breath. “You’re right. Billy was much farther in the shadows. They wouldn’t have seen his expression, either.”
“But one of them did say she saw Logan loom over him, and saw Billy cower. And the others arrived in time to hear Logan threatening to lose his temper. Ivy said she had to tell the truth when Sheriff Tyler pressured her, but she just feels sick about it, because she doesn’t believe Logan did anything wrong.” Penny looked between Carrie and Logan, her eyes shimmering. “And unfortunately, she says Tyler looked absolutely smug when she told him what she saw.”
Logan nodded. “I can imagine. But just think about this. One small town, two murders in just over a year. What are the chances that there would betwokillers here?”
“Not likely. And so far, no one has been caught.” Carrie’s expression turned somber. “I thought Billy was the one stalking me. Maybe he was...but he also offered to sell me ‘information that could save my life,’ and I didn’t believe him. What if he really did see something—or someone—while he was lurking around, and that’s why he was killed?”
