And he was so damn near to nailing every last crime on Jeremy Covington. Sam rolled down the window to let the cold fall air into the truck, hoping it would help revive him before the caffeine started working.
Patience Wilkerson had been picked up for trying to break into his house. Between the arresting officers’ statement and—he hoped—fingerprints on the slingshot, she’d be in enough trouble to possibly give evidence against her boyfriend. If not—at least she was behind bars. Assaulting a cop would keep her away from Aiden for a long time.
But Sam’s case against Covington had really tightened up when Tiffany McCord had called late last evening and promised to deliver both Kate Covington’s and Jeremy’s family computer files to the sheriff’s office today. Kate had confirmed that those records contained messages he’d sent to at least six known victims on a computer that previous police searches hadn’t unearthed.
With those elements in place, he wouldn’t have to torment Covington’s victims by making them testify in court. He had a handful of depositions that established a pattern of crimes. And now he’d be able to prove solicitation. The evidence was solid. The conviction would help Heartache heal after the nightmare this case had brought into their midst.
And Amy’s secrets could remain her own. But not just because Sam had more evidence now. He understood that the decision to testify or not was hers alone. Now that he’d gotten his own taste of soul-crushing fear, he no longer sawvictim testimony as black-and-white. And he hoped that would make him a better, more empathetic cop.
More important, he hoped it would make him a better man.
As he drove down Main Street, he waved at Erin Finley, already at work on her storefront, sweeping off her walkway with a cup of coffee in hand. Lucky’s Grocer was quiet as he turned the corner, but a boy on a bicycle refilled the newspaper dispenser with the day’s stories.
Parking the truck in the lot outside the town-hall building, he planned to review Bailey’s statement and make sure the restraining order against J.D. was extended for a long time.
“Back already?” The town clerk smiled at him as he shoved open the outside door.
The woman tended to put in her hours early, too.
“Can’t stay away.” He looked forward to quieter months in Heartache soon.
“I saw Kate Covington come in here earlier. She had a big box of files. She said she was going to be in later to give you a statement?”
“Yes. After what happened yesterday, she’s been very helpful.” It was a relief to hear Kate had delivered on her promises. He had Jeremy Covington now; he could feel it.
“Has it been noisy at your house with all the construction up the hill from you?” the woman—Delta—asked him. She was filing some papers and listening to the morning news on the radio, but she turned it down now as he got closer.
“Not really.” He was curious how she knew about Amy’s renovations. “There’s a good bit of road between the Finley place and mine.”
Although he had noticed a lot of trucks in and out ofthere lately. Between her own work and what she hired out, the cabin had probably come along quite a bit since he’d seen it last.
After closing the filing cabinet, Delta rearranged photos of her grandchildren on her desk, and one of a baby caught his eye. He had that same snuggly seat for Aiden. Damn, but that made him smile. He’d nearly gone out of his mind when he’d found that empty crib the day before.
“I wondered because Ms. Finley left me a phone message last night, asking if I could get the property inspectors over there as soon as possible. She must be making good progress.”
It took a moment for the words to click into place. Amy wanted her inspection dates moved up.
And she’d called about it last night. After the ordeal with Aiden and Bailey.
Why would she do that? She’d been tired and a bit shaken when she’d left the Hastings’, but she’d said she was fine to go home alone. Why the sudden rush to be done with the renovation?
He could think of only one reason. Amy was getting ready to leave town.
“When did she want the inspections?” Sam rested a shoulder on the glass window looking into Delta’s office, trying to tell himself that Amy couldn’t just up and leave town with a big project under way.
Delta shrugged, running a feather duster over a plastic plant as part of her morning tidying. “As soon as possible. But she has to know it takes time to arrange all that. She needs approval on the electric, the new roof she raised...a lot of things.”
Amy wanted to get out of town as soon as possible.
That was the only explanation. And it was happening over his dead body.
“Delta, I just remembered some paperwork I forgot at home.” Plowing right back out the town-hall doors, he charged toward his truck. He was going to settle the Amy Finley business once and for all.
“THANK YOU FOR letting me come over so early.” Gabriella Chance settled onto one of the new counter stools. Amy had bought them to go around the new kitchen island that had taken the place of a former wall in the expanded hunting cabin.
She was happy with the way the kitchen had come together. The creamy speckled granite and stainless-steel cooktop brought a sleek, industrial look to the home. The whole cabin now mingled rustic and modern in a way that pleased Amy’s aesthetic. She just hoped a new homeowner would love the way the place was coming together as much as she did.
She flipped the switch on the coffeepot to brew some more and then settled into the molded leather seat next to the high school friend she hadn’t seen in a decade. Not since that night. She’d been surprised to get the text from Gabriella that morning—a message the other woman had sent the night before when she’d boarded a red-eye flight to Tennessee—asking if she could see her first thing in the morning.
