“No,” Ledger said. He caught the waitress and mouthed “Beer” at her. While she went to get it, he turned his attention back to Syder. “You want to know how to get what you want out of a sacrifice.”
It wasn’t that Syder trusted him; it was just that he was desperate enough that it didn’t matter. He needed what Ledger had on the hook, so he’d swallow it even if he could see the barbs.
“Alright,” he said slowly. “But if you think you can stab me in the back, I’ve still got four months left.”
The waitress set Ledger’s beer in front of him. He picked it up, the glass cold against his fingers. “You’re not going to be up to much the last two, though,” he said. “But I don’t need to stab you in the back, Sheriff. You were a good friend to Bell, whatever he was, and you should get what you’re due.”
It was what Syder wanted to hear. He maybe even heard more than Ledger said. Enough to make him smile slightly and pick up the Scotch to pour another shot.
He held the glass out. “To paying down your debts.”
Ledger tapped the base of his beer against the glass and took another drink. He checked his watch. “Can you come now?” he asked. “I’ve got some other debts to pay off tonight.”
Syder thought about it and then drained his Scotch.
“No time like the present,” he said as he got to his feet.
Ledger shrugged, took another drink, and followed suit. He pulled out twenty bucks and left it on the table for the beer.
“We’ll need to take your car,” he said, reaching down to pat his leg. “I’m still not up to driving.”
Syder shrugged. “Where are we going?” he asked as they headed out of the bar.
“My motel,” Ledger said. “Everything you need is there.”
* * *
There wasa dent on the passenger side, just over the door. Ledger traced it with his fingers before getting in the car. Syder had the grace to give him an awkward look.
“It wasn’t anything personal,” he said. “I’ve known you since you were a kid, Ledger. The last thing I’d want to do is hurt you. I’m just desperate, and it was all I could think of.”
“No hard feelings,” Ledger said as he buckled himself in. When Syder looked suspiciously at him, Ledger added, “I’ve learned this last few weeks what lines you’re willing to cross when you’re desperate. Maybe I’m more like Bell than I thought.”
“He always thought so.” Syder started the car. “That’s why he never trusted you.”
That left a bad taste in Ledger’s mouth, but maybe he deserved it. He didn’t bother to give Syder directions. The sheriff knew his way around town better than Ledger did. He did tell him to park around the back of the motel, next to the dumpsters. Once the car stopped, he began the clumsy process of extracting himself and his uncooperative leg from the seat. He managed to drop the key as he was doing it, the plastic tag bright and recognizable against the mat.
“Damn it,” he said as he bent down to get it. “Sorry.”
“I get it,” Syder said. “Don’t worry about it.”
Ledger flicked the key under the seat and let his own key slide down into his hand, dangled from his finger by the ring as he straightened up.
“Got it,” he said. “Come on, let’s walk round the front.”
He didn’t bother to hurry.
“I had wondered how Hark found you, or you found Hark,” Ledger said. “Who was he going to talk to in New York that would call you? Then I figured it out. He was asking around town. That’s why someone told you about him. Which made sense.”
“It did?” Syder asked.
“Yeah,” Ledger said. “Because you’ve not taken more than an afternoon off in months. So how would you get to New York to kill Violet and steal the deed? No, you brought her here. That’s what Hark found, right? An email or a text she showed a friend? Security footage of you picking her up at the bus station?”
Syder slowed down and put his hand on his gun. “What’s it matter?” he asked.
Ledger pulled a Post-it out of his pocket and held it out.I’m here i’m here imherescrawled over the paper.
“Because she’s been leaving me these messages,” Ledger said. “And I’d no idea why until I worked out you’d killed her here. At the motel.”
