Page 80 of Sanctuary of Secrets

“Of course.”

“He confirmed that the barcode card is a key to get in. Theo and Ethan are current members, along with some other people he deemed unlikely suspects. Chase is an inactive member, meaning he hasn’t been there for over a year. Victor’s no longer a member. There are a few on the list Travis could have hired to come after you based on their history.”

“Do you think Victor is the shooter?”

“No. I saw him at the fair while you were running after the quad driver. So he’s either not involved or he’s helping the actual shooter.”

“So Allen’s the shooter and Victor’s helping him?”

“It’s a possibility. Except, what would Allen have to gain? We have nothing that suggests he has a motive.”

Seyla shook her head. “He’d lose his job. There’s no way Victor would pay him enough to offset that. It doesn’t make sense.”

“There’s one more thing. My uncle read through his notes and remembered an important detail pertaining to Laurel Anderson. Apparently, she approached him at the precinct to ask him how restraining orders work. That happened after the incident at the gun range.”

“Okay, that’s not normal.”

“Exactly. He explained them. She became upset when he warned her of the limitations.”

“Did she ever file one?”

“No. Laurel died four days later.”

Seyla gasped. “Is it me, or does that sound similar to what happened with Hannah?”

“I know. Suspicious, right? They investigated Laurel’s death because of that exchange with my uncle, but couldn’t find any evidence of foul play. The chief eventually told him to move on. The case never sat right with him, though. It’s what he called one of his ‘white whales’. In other words, a case he never solved. He felt certain she’d been murdered.”

“Wow. That poor woman. Okay, we’ve got to get into the gun range. It’s possible they have some records detailing the incident there that’ll lead us to whoever killed her.” Her fingers rubbed against her necklace. “Did they find the note?”

“What note?”

“In my SUV.”

“No, the sheriff didn’t mention any note.”

Seyla attempted a smile, planting her hands on her hips. “So, it’s at the bottom of the pond now. Along with my replacement phone. And they pocketed the carabiner clip.”

“So much for getting into the gun range.”

“At least, not the easy way.” Seyla laughed, the sound hollow and defeated.

“What did the note say?”

Seyla’s hand drifted back to the necklace, rubbing a finger across the front of it. “Get out of my way or you’re dead.” She whispered the words, closed her eyes, and gulped.

“I—”

“There’s something else,” she interrupted, opening her eyes to look at him. “I don’t think the person who attacked me was that muscular. It took some effort to lift me into the SUV. Travis is wiry, so that makes sense. But the more I think about it, the more I think it wasn’t Travis.”

“Don’t discount him yet. He could have been drinking.”

“True,” she agreed. “Although I didn’t smell alcohol.”

“What about Janet, her son, Allen, or Ethan?”

“Out of the pool of suspects we’ve considered, I think Janet could lift me the easiest.” She squinted her eyes. “As for the rest…maybe. Most of them are pretty lanky.”

“According to my uncle’s old chief, Ethan had two assault charges filed against him in the past. In both cases, the victims recanted. Suddenly.”

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