Page 18 of Crossing Lines

“No. Everyone loved her. It couldn’t be anyone that knew her.” Mary looked from Sam to Jo, alarm in her eyes. “It must have been some random stranger, right?”

“It’s possible,” Sam said.

The alarm in her eyes turned to fear. “You don’t think…” She glanced out at the woods beside her house. “That person is still out there. Do you think he’ll come after me?”

“We’re going to catch him. Then he won’t come after anyone. Until then, though, you might want to steer clear of parties in the woods.”

* * *

* * *

Shelly Macintyre lived in a Victorian painted mint green and pink. It reminded Sam of the one his second wife had made him live in before they got divorced and he moved to his grandparents’ cabin like he’d always wanted.

Shelly was the opposite of Mary, tall and blond, but she had the same sadness about her. They sat on period carved-mahogany furniture in the floral-wallpapered living room while Shelly’s mothered hovered in the doorway.

“I can handle this, Mom.” Shelly gave her mother a wan smile. Her mother left, and Shelly put her hand tentatively toward Lucy, who had been sitting quietly by her side for comfort. As they talked, the girl’s left hand would occasionally reach down to pet the dog.

“Kirsten did ride with me that night. I can’t believe it’s the last time…” Shelly’s face crumpled, and Sam and Jo gave her a few minutes to pull herself together.

“Why didn’t she leave with you? Was that unusual?” Sam asked as gently as he could. He didn’t want Shelly to blame herself for what had happened to Kirsten.

“It wasn’t unusual. It’s not like we had plans to hang out. She messaged and asked for a ride there. She said she’d get another ride home.” Sam nodded. He’d seen the message on Kirsten’s texts. It was the last one she’d sent.

“Any idea who she was riding home with?”

Shelly shook her head, her hand dipping down to pet Lucy. “Sorry.”

“What about Ricky Webster? Could it be him?” Jo asked.

Shelly pressed her lips together. “I know they kind of had a thing, but she didn’t say who was giving her a ride. I don’t think her mom liked Ricky, so she didn’t talk about him much.”

“You don’t know anyone who would want to hurt her, or was there anything unusual about her that night?”

Shelly frowned. “No. Of course not! She was a nice person… but there was something unusual that night.”

“What?”

Her cheeks turned pink. “Well, one time I went to the, ahh… ladies room, and I thought I saw someone in the woods. I called out for them to cut it out. You know a girl needs privacy.”

“Of course,” Jo smiled. “You don’t think it was someone from the party?”

“It could have been. I called out, but then they just sort of faded away back into the woods. Maybe no one was there. I did have a few beers.”

Sam exchanged a glance with Jo. Maybe no one was there, or maybe someone was lurking, waiting for his next victim. If it was the latter, he wondered if Shelly had any idea how close she may have come to being the body they’d found in the grave. Unless, of course, the murderer had targeted Kirsten specifically for a reason.

“If you think of anything, will you let us know?” Jo handed her a business card, and they left.

Back in the car, Jo asked, “You think that could have been the killer lurking in the woods?”

Sam started the engine and glanced over. In some ways, Jo was acting the same as usual, but he still sensed some sort of hesitation. He should probably say something and clear the air about her sister’s investigation. He thought about what to say as he answered her question. “It could have been. Those woods where they party are pretty far from where we found the body.”

“Yeah, and I suppose that doesn’t help us much. We don’t know if the lurker was someone from the party or a stranger.”

“Let’s send Wyatt a message to check into Ricky Webster.”

Jo got out her phone and messaged Wyatt.

“We have to drive past Brewed Awakening on the way to the next interview. You want to stop?” Brewed Awakening was Jo’s favorite coffee shop.

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