None of it had been a dream and all of it was turning into a reality of twists and turns he wasn’t sure how to navigate.
“I didn’t sleep well,” he admitted.
“Your book keeping you up?”
“I haven’t started it yet. I’m not sure if I will.”
He wanted to but realized that he couldn’t. Not while he was here.
His confession to Gale made him realize the truth. His writing wasn’t a passing of time in his life. It was as great as it was because all those emotions he wrote about, he’d felt them.
At times they were cathartic. But now, he needed to stay sharp, and taking a break to write would dull the drive into Rene’s case.
“Everything okay?”
“It’s great.” He had to decide what he told his mother. The last thing she needed to worry about was that his life was in danger, but he wouldn’t completely lie either. “I feel closer. I’m not sure if it’s being here or what I’m discovering.”
“Tell me about it.”
His head went back and forth as he looked at the papers on the table. Most of them he’d jotted notes on. “Rumors are swirling around town that I’m here. They figured out who I was.”
“It’s not that hard really. Do you think it was Gale who let people know?”
“No. Not at all. I’ve had a few people warn me to not ask too many questions or ruffle feathers. You know how I get when that happens.”
“More defiant,” his mother said, laughing. “Just like your sister did.”
He smiled. A genuine one. “That’s right. There is a big developer in the area. I’m not sure if he plays a part in the murder itself or that news of what happened slowed down his plans.”
“It happens, but run through it with me.”
“You know the old rundown cabin Rene was taking pictures of was sold and there are several condo complexes on the grounds now.”
“I do. The pictures you sent look so different from when we were there.”
“Time changes things. But the company that built them has a lot of feelers out in the community. Lots of money in businesses. I want to say they are trying to take over, but it’s not that dramatic.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
He leaned back in the uncomfortable kitchen chair and wished there was a desk in this house. “I don’t, but I know Gale and met with her family yesterday.”
“Did you talk to the sheriff?”
“I did. Mom, things weren’t just sloppy back then, they were left out. I know it. Ford is being careful because that is how he seems to operate, but he’s also not blocking me.”
“What is he doing?”
“He listened about Rene’s ankle bracelet and he had someone he trusts take swabs and it was sent outside the county to a private lab. He made it sound as if he doesn’t want any talk going around about it, but I wonder if it’s more, or it’s just my imagination.”
Could be either of those things, but more likely the fast lips in this area.
“That’s a great start,” his mother said. “More than we’ve gotten before. What about the detective on the case if Ford did that?”
“It’s a cold case now. It might work in my favor, as no one else is looking at anything.”
“Other than people in the community by the sounds of it.”
“That too. The McGregors, they own the development firm, they’re getting a little pushy and the Ridgeways are big names in their own right. Not with money, but influence. They won’t be pushed back.”
