Page 3 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
“Yep. Same one,” she verified. “Around here, Everett Langston’s practically royalty. When it came to town loyalties, he won out over Bobby Ray without even trying.” She stopped, sighed. “But the thing is, the evidence obviously pointed to Bobby Ray. Not Everett.”
Griff didn’t look away from the file. “So why was Everett questioned?”
Lily’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Because of a rumor.”
She flipped to another section of the report, then tapped the corner of a supplemental note buried in the back. “People said he was having an affair with Hannah. She was nineteen. Everett was in his mid-forties. Married.”
Griff’s brow furrowed. He scanned the report and found the DOB. “The victim was just a kid.”
“Yep,” Lily said softly. “And Everett was twenty-five years older. Married to Catherine Marsters-Langston, who, for the record, was never questioned.”
Griff looked up at her, clearly unsettled. “Even with the rumor?”
“Even with the rumor,” Lily confirmed. “No affair confirmed, no motive proven. Everett gave a statement saying he hardly knew Hannah and that was that. He was never brought in again. Never pressed.”
She leaned forward, elbows on the desk, fingers laced tightly beneath her chin. “The thing is… in my opinion, this case was handled fast. Too fast. No one dug deeper than they had to.They had a suspect who looked guilty, and no one wanted to rock the boat by going after someone like Everett.”
Griff sat back in his chair, his expression unreadable as he looked down at the open case file. “And nobody’s rocked it since.”
“Until now,” Lily said.
The name Everett Langston stared back at her from the page.
In this town, some people were untouchable. But she had never been good at leaving things untouched.
Lily had just flipped back to the original arrest report when her phone buzzed again. For a second, her muscles tensed—half expecting another anonymous threat—but when she glanced at the screen, her shoulders loosened.
Sheriff Hallie McQueen.
I know you’re still at work. Go home.
A smile tugged at Lily’s mouth despite the lingering heaviness of the case file. She didn’t even have to respond before another message popped up.
Tell Griff to go home too. I know he’s still there.
Lily let out a soft laugh and turned the screen toward him. “Boss says we’re officially off the clock.”
Griff glanced at the message and quirked one brow. “She tracking us with drones now?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Lily said, her smile lingering. She thumbed back a quick response, a single thumbs up emoji, and slid her phone into her pocket.
With a sigh, she pushed back from the desk and began stacking files, carefully separating the ones she planned to leave behind from the one she wouldn’t. The Bobby Ray Moore case folder was still open in front of her. She closed it slowly, almost reluctantly, and slid it into her bag.
Griff stood as well, finishing the last sip of his coffee before setting the empty cup on his desk. “I’ll walk out with you.”
She slanted him a look. “Because of theleave it alone or you’ll be deadmessage.”
He didn’t deny it. “Yeah,” he said simply. “I’m thinking about it.”
Lily slung her bag over one shoulder, her fingers brushing the edge of the case folder inside. “Well, you’re not the only one.”
They crossed the quiet bullpen together, the overhead lights humming softly as they made their way toward the exit. They stepped out into the cold January night, the door to the station swinging shut behind them with a soft thud.
The wind hit Lily first, sharp and bitter, slicing straight through the thin cotton of her uniform shirt. She tugged her jacket tighter, grateful for the weight of it, and glanced up at the sky. No stars tonight, just a heavy, clouded blackness.
Griff fell into step beside her, quiet as always, but she felt his presence like a solid wall at her side. Watchful. Steady.
Across the street, the old diner still had its Christmas lights strung along the awning, twinkling stubbornly against the cold. Red, green, and gold cast a soft glow onto the empty sidewalk, even though the holiday had passed three weeks ago.
