Page 42 of The Girl in the River

“He can verify that?” Ellie asked.

“Of course.”

“Was anyone else there?” Derrick cut in.

“No.” He reached for his phone. “Now, I think I should call my attorney. I don’t want to be ambushed like I was before.”

“We’re not here to ambush you,” Ellie said. “Just for answers and to help you. I thought Kincaid was loyal to your family. Didheambush you?”

Kevin’s nostrils flared. “No, he knows I wasn’t capable of hurting Jesse, that I loved her with all my heart. But reporters and tabloids revel in smearing reputations of successful people. And I don’t want them invading my life again.”

“You do want to know what happened to Jesse, don’t you?” Ellie pressed. “If you loved her so much, I mean. You want answers.”

Pain wrenched his face. “Of course I do. I don’t believe for a minute she left me of her own volition. And if she’s in trouble, I’ll do whatever I can to help find her.” He ran a hand down his chin. “Was she okay before she vanished?”

Ellie schooled her reaction. “She appeared to be,” Ellie said, thinking of Mark.

Mark, who claimed to love Mia just as Kevin claimed to love Jesse.

FIFTY-TWO

MOSQUITO COVE

Cord pulled on rubber wader boots, suit and gloves and joined Milo at the edge of the river. Humidity plastered Cord’s shaggy hair to his neck and he waved away flies and gnats as he grabbed the crowbar he’d brought and stepped into the water.

Mosquitos buzzed as the current sloshed loose twigs and sticks along the riverbank. The air smelled stagnant with wet moss, wild mushrooms and the pungent odor of lichen.

Cord waded knee-high until he reached the whiskey barrel, then checked the top to see if it would open. But nails held it together.

He tapped on the exterior to see if it was hollow; it wasn’t.

Milo wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. “I tried to move it to shore, but it’s too heavy and weighted down by mud and sludge. Thought it might be from the stillery around here, but there’s no markings to indicate that. Still, it could contain moonshine from an illegal still or drugs.”

“Hopefully that’s all it is,” Cord said. “Only one way to find out.”

Milo used a tool to loosen the nails, and Cord worked to pry the lid off. Seconds ticked by. Somewhere in the distance, a motorboat rumbled, a three blade propellor chopping through the river water.

The afternoon sun beat down, slicing through the edges of the trees and creating pockets of light among the muddy surface. Cord’s arms strained as he worked the crowbar around the edge.

An acrid odor seeped from the barrel as he pushed the top away from the side. His pulse thundered as a rancid smell assaulted him.

A body had been stuffed inside, the charred remains unrecognizable.

FIFTY-THREE

RED RIVER ROCK

Derrick had interviewed countless suspects, witnesses and victims in his days at the Bureau. He’d learned to analyze body language for signs of lying. For grief, pain, rage and guilt simmering below the surface.

But he hadn’t gotten a good read on Kevin Moon yet. The man could be honestly devastated and confused.

Or… he could be a sociopath.

Derrick never made snap decisions. The truth was in the wait. The watching. Being patient. Even sociopaths revealed their true colors at some point.

“Mr. Moon, why don’t you walk us through your relationship with Jesse Habersham, how you met, became business associates, your engagement?” Derrick asked.

The man inhaled a sharp breath as if it pained him to talk about Jesse. “Jesse came to town with a vision. I think she’d heard that our family liked to support small businesses and she was in the midst of designing her own clothing line.” A smile curved his lips. “The first time I laid eyes on her, she was wearing this red off-the-shoulder sheath she’d designed and made herself. It was exquisite.” He closed his eyes as if he was in the moment. “I fell in love with her at first sight. She looked like an angel with a spark of mischief and ambition and so much talent that I asked her out. We went to dinner a few times and we just… clicked. She loved living in the small town, said people here treated her like family.” He hesitated, breathing hard now. “We bonded over that, too. Her parents were dead and I’d just lost my mother a few months before.”

---