Page 89 of Reading Between the Lines
Diem wouldn’t be deterred. Shaking his head, he adjusted himself on the bed. “No. We aren’t quitting. This is the big break I needed. We’ve got something here. Delaney is right. If we quit now…” He hesitated, eyeing me like he had more to say but didn’t want to say it.
“What?”
“We need the money, Tallus.”
I felt the weight of his statement, reading clearly between the lines. The bills in the glove box. The comment about his rent. How bad was bad?
“Okay. We stay.” Danger or not. “I told the constable about the man in the woods. How he pointed a rifle at your head and sicced his dog on me. The officer laughed in my face and told me McConaughy is a harmless drunk who still considers himself an important figure even though he hasn’t worked a steady job in years. He said he’s notorious for stirring shit, and we should ignore him.”
Diem seemed to absorb that, but I didn’t think the police officer’s dismissal surprised him. It emphasized Diem’s point that all cops were lazy pricks who didn’t give a shit half the time.
“Find the iPad. Let’s write some stuff down and see what we’ve got.”
A knock sounded at the door while I searched his bag for the device. I poked my head out, still dressed in nothing but underwear, and was greeted by the undead man himself carrying a tray of covered food and a carafe of steaming coffee. My mouth watered when the savory aroma hit my nose.
“The missus said to bring this up. Is your man still alive, or should I call the coroner?”
Was that a joke? “Believe me, the wake-up call was enough to raise the dead.”
Ivory’s husband didn’t seem to know what to do with that statement and stared unblinking as he held out the tray. His gaunt face and pasty skin tone were concerning.
Instead of explaining, I thanked him and brought the breakfast tray to Diem. With assistance, he shuffled upright and propped his back against the headboard. I located the iPad and joined him, opening a fresh page in the Notes app.
Diem offered me a fork and uncovered two heaping plates. An astounding amount of food awaited us. Waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, toast, strawberries, melon, and a heap of home fries grilled to perfection. Ivory had included ketchup, salsa, syrup, and an assortment of flavored creamer cups for the coffee.
We ate as we discussed the case. Diem’s color improved with food. The longer he was awake, the more mobile he seemed. He wasn’t without pain, but I relaxed, no longer fearing we’d made the wrong decision by not taking him to a hospital.
“Give me your phone.” He motioned to where it lay on the far bedside table. “I want to see the pictures you took inside the cabin.”
I handed it over, and as Diem listed what I’d photographed, I wrote it down.
“How are they getting away with such an extravagant setup in the middle of the woods?” I asked. “It was better furnished than my apartment.”
“You saw their house. We’ve got a pair of rich twins whose parents likely give them whatever they want.”
“Including a cabin in the woods? Fuck me.”
I stabbed a piece of waffle and stuffed it into my mouth, chewing as I thought. “You know, if Weston was part of this club and dating Londyn, that gives him two possible reasons for being out in the woods that day. Either the club had a meeting,or he and Londyn had a hookup. I’m leaning toward the latter. Either way, he went into those woods and didn’t come out again.”
Diem grunted his usual unhelpful affirmation as he awkwardly spread jam on a piece of toast.
“Do you think Londyn’s capable of murder?”
“Anyone’s capable of murder.”
“I’m not.”
Diem eyed the dead mound of covered clocks in the corner and hitched a brow.
“That’s not fair. I was triggered.”
“And a woman put in a potentially compromising situation by a horny teenage boy could also be triggered.”
“True. I have a few thoughts.”
Diem flashed his attention from his toast to me, wordlessly telling me to go on.
“Let’s say it was a club meeting for the sick and depraved. Delaney didn’t know Weston was part of this secret club. Hence, she wouldn’t have had a clue he was meeting these kids from school in a hidden cabin in the woods far from the library where he was supposed to be with his girlfriend. It’s possible they were working on the story that illustrates the…accident.” I added air quotes. “What if they went out into the woods to reenact it? What if Weston falling into the river was unexpected and they panicked.”
