“But why would Malcolm run off?” Louise pressed. “I asked around, and no one remembers him being gone for more than a day or two at a time. Definitely not a week.”
“Then, I guess you’ll have to ask him when he gets back.”
She was silent again, heavy and deliberate.
“Rumor has it there was a big shootout off BB County Road last week,” she finally said. “The night you were supposed to meet your father.”
“Wow.” I was struggling to keep up the charade. Her questions were exactly how I would have played a suspect. Wear them down. Twist them up. Make it hard to remember the lies. “What happened?”
“Good question. The deputies who went out to investigate couldn’t find any evidence of anything except a car fire.”
Carter had said he’d clean up the scene, which included the bodies. Several of them.
“How’d the car catch on fire?”
“Good question. The deputies said it was put out by the owner.”
James Malcolm was the owner, and he sure as hell hadn’t put it out.
“So, then no shootout?”
“That’s what they’re claiming.”
“You sound skeptical.”
“It sounds sketchy.”
I could let the topic drop, but since she didn’t know I was involved, I pressed her. “Which part?”
“The part where you’re lying to me.”
The lump in my throat turned solid. “About what?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. But I know you’re not just having a self-care week in Hot Springs.”
I leaned my head back, struggling with my conscience. This wasn’t how you treated a good friend. But I’d been involved in multiple illegal activities over the last month, and Louise was a deputy sheriff. If I told her too much, she’d be duty-bound to report it. And once she knew, she’d be in trouble right along with me—whether she wanted to be or not.
Still, she could be helpful. Hell, she’d suspected the Little Rock PD was dirty before I had. Then again, I’d been idealistic and naïve. I was neither of those things now.
“You’re right,” I said carefully. “But there are things I can’t tell you, for your own sake. And if I’m honest, for mine too.”
“Are you going after the Little Rock PD?” she asked, breathless.
I blinked. “No.”
“Don’t lie to me, Harper.” Frustration sharpened her words. “Friends don’t lie to one another.”
“You’re right.” My throat tightened. “And I’ve tried to not outright lie to you. I’ve just made some lies of omission.” I drew in a slow breath. “I’m not going after the LRPD. At least, not yet. I’m working on something else first.”
“What? Are you working a case?”
I decided to give her a nugget of truth. “Yeah. I was working a case when I went to see my grandparents.” I paused. I needed to be damn sure I wanted to do this, but I was tired of keeping so many secrets. I could tell her this one. “My mother didn’t accidentally drive off the bridge. And she didn’t do it on purpose either. She was murdered.”
She gasped. “What? But the report says it was accidental.”
“Yeah, the autopsy report was doctored.”
“How do you know that?”
