Page 35 of Crossing Lines

“Did you see anyone or anything suspicious when you were in the parking lot?” The killer, if it wasn’t indeed Ricky, had to have gotten into the woods somehow. That lot was closest, but that wasn’t the only way he could get in.

Ricky appeared to think about it for a while. “No. Just everyone’s cars.”

“So you just left when she didn’t show up?” Jo asked.

Ricky sighed. “Well, not exactly. I went in to see if I could find her, but I didn’t talk to anyone. I just stuck to the edges of the crowd looking for her. Never saw her though, so I guess she must have left by then.”

That was exactly what one would say if they weren’t sure someone had seen them lurking around.

“Did you see anyone suspicious in the woods at that time?” Jo asked.

Ricky shook his head. “I don’t think so. I was looking in at the party around the fire. I might have heard a few people, but it’s not unusual for couples to go off into the woods.”

Sam nodded. “And what did you do after that?”

“I came home.” Ricky glanced back at the house. “Gram can verify that.”

“What time would you say that was?”

Ricky pressed his lips together as if thinking. “Around eleven? Yeah, it was, because I remember I looked for my phone and finally found it in the sugar canister. Gram puts things in strange places sometimes. Anyway, when I pulled it out, I looked to see if Kirsten called or messaged, and it was five past eleven.”

Sam calculated how long it would take to get from the spot where they’d found the body and then back here. Ricky wouldn’t have had time to kill Kirsten and get back here. But could they believe him? Sam didn’t exactly think that Hazel would be a reliable witness to corroborate his alibi.

Sam glanced at Jo to see if she had any more questions, but she shook her head slightly. “Okay. If you think of anything that could help us, let us know.”

“I will.”

Sam could feel Ricky’s eyes on them as they walked to the truck. Lucy hopped in first, and Sam got into the driver’s seat then glanced back at the house to see Ricky and Hazel watching them from the porch.

“I think we need to dig into what happened in Pennsylvania,” Sam said as he started the Tahoe.

“Hopefully Wyatt has the details on that.”

“Do you think Ricky was lying?”

Jo looked out the window at the farmhouse as Sam pulled away. Ricky and Hazel had gone inside. “Maybe. He definitely has something in his past.”

Jo’s phone rang, and she looked down. “It’s Reese. At least she’s using the phone instead of that dispatch system.”

Jo answered. “Hey.”

Sam could hear Reese on the other end but couldn’t make out the words.

“Are you sure?” Jo said into the phone.

Sam glanced over at the incredulous tone in Jo’s voice. Her eyes were wide, brows raised. She talked into the phone as she turned to meet Sam’s gaze. “We’ll get over there right away.”

“Please don’t tell me they found another body.”

“No. Hillcrest called the station. Kevin is waking up.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The killer had a name. Victoria. Vicky. Such a lovely name. And the long red curls...divine! Funny thing, you could get information on anyone from Facebook, especially with his new fake profile of a young blond girl. No one would suspect.

His research had been enlightening. He knew that Victoria was friends with people named Carly, Ronda, and Melanie and that she worked at Liscomb Insurance. She liked to have lunch at the diner downtown. She was there now as he watched her from a park bench.

The diner was one of those old-fashioned diners that looked like something out of the 1950s, full of chrome and Naugahyde. It even had glass cake stands on the green Formica counter. Vicky was sitting in front of one of those cake stands right now on a little round stool.

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