Swallowing a sigh, she filled Sergent Howell in on the events over the past twelve hours. “Burt Jones responded to the shooting outside the Elk Lodge. We now know for sure the gunman is driving a dark-colored GMC Sierra pickup truck. Unfortunately, we don’t have a license plate.”
“Where are you now?” Howell asked. “I’ve gotten a few interesting calls about you and Dominic Lakeland. Specifically from the US Marshals office.”
A chill that had nothing to do with the cold weather outside snaked down her spine. She caught Dominic’s gaze. “Who from the marshals office called you, and what did he or she want?”
“Andrew Levy and he wanted to know if you and Dominic Lakeland were here in Cody,” Howell explained.
“Andrew Levy?” She repeated the name for Dom’s benefit. “What did you tell him?”
“I answered honestly that I hadn’t seen you or a man by the name of Dominic Lakeland,” Tom assured her. “I tried your cell phone but didn’t get an answer.”
“That’s because we don’t have our regular phones.” Her mind whirled with possibilities. How had Andrew Levy narrowed his search for them to Cody, Wyoming? Why not assume they were in Billings, Montana? “Don’t tell Andrew Levy anything about us. We’re not sure we can trust him.”
“You don’t trust the US Marshals?” Tom’s voice rose incredulously. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
“We’re in danger, and whoever is after us has the resources to find us despite our efforts to stay off the grid.” Dom’s expression turned grim as she spoke. “This all started at the Redwood Motel in Greybull. From there, we were followed here to Cody. The man in the GMC Sierra truck has fired at us multiple times, and we have reason to believe he’s still out there searching for us.”
Tom sighed loudly. “Do Maya and Chase know about this?”
“Yes, I spoke to Chase.” She didn’t mention that was hours ago or that their situation had changed for the worst since then. “Please don’t let Marshal Levy know we’re in the area. We’re waiting for Raine to give us some inside information on whether we can trust him or not.”
Tom didn’t know everything about what Raine and Justin had been through a few months ago, but that didn’t stop him from saying, “I won’t. You’ve got my word on that.”
“Thanks, Tom.” A wave of relief hit hard. “I appreciate that. Will you please ask your officers to be on the lookout for a dark GMC Sierra?”
“I will, but I’m running a list of GMC Sierra’s registered in the county and there are just over a dozen of them. Half are dark colors.” He was sounding testy again. “I can’t have all the drivers treated like suspects.”
She winced. “I know that. I highly doubt the driver of the truck is from this area. He’s likely from out of town.”
“Even worse, but I promise my officers will keep their eyes open for trouble.” There was a pause, then he asked, “Do you have anything else?”
“No, but thanks, Tom. We’ll be in touch.” She lowered the phone. “Sounds like narrowing the search to a GMC Sierra won’t help.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that,” Dom agreed. He set the laptop on the table and connected to the free internet. “I think we call the hospice nurse, Helen Gingrass, next.”
“It’s a little early,” she protested.
“She works day shift.” He glanced at the early hour, then shrugged. “Figure we might catch her before she heads to work.”
“Unless today is her day off.” Kendra sat back in the booth. “Worst case, you can leave a message.”
Of course, Helen didn’t answer, so he identified himself and then asked for a call back. Less than two minutes later, his phone rang.
“That was fast.” He grinned and answered. “Helen, is that you?” When the color leeched from his face, she leaned forward in concern. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” There was a pause, then he said, “I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Know what?” She stared at him as he lowered the device. “What happened?”
“Helen Gingrass was killed in a car crash late last night.” Dom appeared stunned. “That was her daughter. It was a hit-and-run. The police are still investigating, but they don’t have many leads.”
A hit-and-run? Kendra shivered again as the news of Helen’s death sank deep. First Stuart Ramsey confessed to murder to Helen, then she notifies Dominic and the police. Now she’s dead?
Kendra wasn’t a cop, but she felt certain Helen’s death was no accident. It was far more likely that whoever had hired Stuart Ramsey six years ago was tying up loose ends.
8
My mother died in a car crash. She’s dead. The woman’s words from the recent phone call ricocheted through Dom’s mind as he stared at the empty seats within the restaurant. He couldn’t believe the hospice nurse was gone. And he found the timing of the poor woman’s death suspicious. Had the crash been accidental or intentional? Had the hospice nurse been brutally murdered?
If so, why? Because she’d passed along Stuart Ramsey’s confession? Or because she was given a Krugerrand? It seemed ludicrous that she would have been killed over a measly four thousand dollars. Not that other innocent victims hadn’t been killed for less. He hadn’t wanted to press the distraught daughter, but he was curious about whether Helen had the Krugerrand coin in her possession at the scene of the crash. Or if it had been stolen.
