Page 106 of The Stone Secret

“And then they left?”

“Yep.”

“… how did you get the bag off your head?”

“I used my mouth, kept yanking it with my teeth until eventually it was repositioned enough where I could shimmy it off.”

I stare at her for a long minute.

The door opens and a nurse hurries in with discharge instructions.

Ten minutes later, I am wheeling Sylvia Stone to my truck. Twilight glows blue around us, the setting sun nothing but a thin line of orange on the horizon.

I open the passenger-side door, scoop Sylvia into my arms, and carefully sit her on the seat, my eyes grazing the bandages on her legs. She is wearing an oversized blue T-shirt with the hospital logo and baggy shorts, given to her by the nurse.

“Good?”

“Good.”

I shut the door, return the wheelchair, then slide behind the steering wheel.

“Nice truck,” she grins. She has laid back the seat, her head resting against the torn leather.

“Only the best for you.” I turn the engine, click on the lights, and pull onto the road.

“Whose is it?”

“Someone I work with at the construction site. It’s on loan.”Usedto work with.

She turns her face to me, the light from the streetlamps highlighting her pale skin. “Thank you, Rhett. You literally saved my life. Thank you.”

“I just checked the mail, that’s it.”

“Exactly. Why the hell didn’t the cops check my mail? Seems so obvious to check a missing woman’s mail. Right? … Did you talk to Jesse?” She’s obviously wondering the same thing I had when I found the letter—did Jesse deliver it, as he had the others?

“I did, and no, he had no part in this letter. He’s been in the cave for the last few days and hasn’t left. Whoever sent it, did so through the mail system.” I pause. “There’s something else…”

“What?”

“Crystal Cheri was just found…”

Sylvia’s eyes round in horror. “Dead?”

I nod.

“Where?”

“In a ditch on the side of the interstate.”

“Oh my, God. Who did it? Do they know?”

“I don’t know. I just saw it on the news. That’s all I know.”

Sylvia sighs deeply, closes her eyes. “What the hell, Rhett? What thehell?”

I don’t respond because truth is, I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around it.

A minute later, her eyes are still closed. I can’t tell if she’s asleep or not, so I do my best to stay quiet. After picking up her prescriptions, I drive to her house, slowly over the dirt road so as not to wake her.

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