Katrina and Robert didn’t get to drink lattes, nor did Cindy and Luke and their precious children, or the Millers.
I felt the flare of anger rising through my veins like black poison. A sudden breeze buffeted the trees. A crow screeched overhead and flapped away.
“Say the word and I’m gone.”
I couldn’t answer that question. It was too much. Ever since I’d found out what they were, I felt like the rest of the world was disconnected. As if it was across a great chasm of water, linked only by a thread of fibre and if I said yes, that link would be severed forever.
To make that kind of decision—I needed time, more information, more—what? Humanity. I needed to remember my humanity. I felt the anger drain away, slowly, like water through a drainpipe.
“Did you do it? And please don’t lie to me.” I didn’t need to tell him I was asking about Raynor.
“Yes.”
One word, and it shattered through my brain. “Jefferson too?” I rasped. I couldn’t stand it if he said yes, those injuries, all that blood. I couldn’t.
“No.” His jaw clenched. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was something Cole orchestrated. The bear story seems a little too convenient. Bears attacking people in town is a hell of an incentive to grant hunting permits, but whether Jefferson was the intended target or not I don’t know. We need Darcy to hack into the laptop. If we’re lucky we might be able to glean some information from there.”
I thought Jefferson being outside was too big a coincidence to discount that he was anything but the intended target, but I wanted to keep an open mind.
“What, do you think they planted a hungry bear near the ball and let it out?” I shivered, thinking about how alone I was on the bench.
“Maybe. I’ve heard of sneakier plots.”
“If that’s the case, Jefferson obviously wasn’t privy to it.”
“Unlucky for him.” He rubbed at his knuckles like was wiping away the urge to hurt something—Cole. “Or maybe it wasn’t a bear at all.”
There was a long pause as I curled the question around in my head. Dread licked up my spine, did I really want the answer? I couldn’t live in oblivious denial forever. I drew a breath and said, “How did you kill Raynor to mimic a heart attack?”
He looked to a place beyond my shoulder, his lips drew into a thin line. “I didn’t, he saw my face and before I could question him his heart gave out.”
I tried to process it all. The man who faked the autopsy knew they were murdered and covered it up, and now he was dead. But Ethan didn’t actually touch him, he would have died anyway, at some stage soon I figured. The line between what was right and wrong was blurred. It was not as black and white as I had always assumed. It was a sordid shade of murky red.
“Are you angry?” he asked when I made no reply. His brow was drawn deep, like he was worried I would be.
“No, I’m glad you told me the truth.”
His face flickered, and he dropped his eyes away for a beat, then he looked back up.
“So, what’s it going to be?” I know he wanted me to say kill him, the torment twisted in his eyes.
I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them, I spoke, “Prison for an asshole like that would be hell on earth, let’s send him there if we can. He can spend the next forty years trying not to drop his soap.”
Ethan stared at me, fury licking his iris, it wasn’t the answer he wanted.
Finding evidence that it was Cole would be a challenging task. He’d have covered his tracks. Someone else would’ve done the dirty work. He already had an alibi by being at the party. The bear can’t talk. Other than finding some email or phone evidence he ordered it, it would be tough to prove.
Hopefully, there’d be something on the laptop.
“Let’s get back.” Ethan said, he walked towards the car. I scurried behind him.
When we got to the parking lot I glanced at the diner—Cole was gone.
Ethan took the keys from my hand. “You drive like an eighty-year-old who forgot their glasses and I want to be home by midnight.”
I pulled a face but let him take them. I jumped in the passenger side and popped Cole’s card in my wallet. It would probably be the phone number of his secretary, but it may come in handy.
As we pulled out, I held out a water bottle and a muffin. He looked puzzled.
