When they reached the intersection at 18, Caruthers took a right. Clint sat up straighter.
Fitzpatrick took the left that led directly into Pine Bluff. Clint turned around in his seat and watched Caruthers drive off in the other direction.
“Why the hell is he going that way?”
“My orders are to take you to City Hall.” Fitzpatrick met Clint’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’m certain Caruthers knows what he’s doing.”
The vehicle carrying Emily faded out of sight ... taking her farther from Clint’s reach.
58
Emily didn’t want to think. She kept her eyes closed and tried to stop all the things Justine and Misty had said from playing over and over in her head. Now she knew what Heather had intended to tell her. About Justine. Heather was going to tell Emily and then they could have gone to the police together.
Tears scalded Emily’s eyes, leaked past her clenched lids.
Damn Justine Mallory and Misty Briggs.
Emily would see that Misty got what she deserved too.
The car suddenly slowed and started to bump over the shoulder of the road.
Emily’s eyes shot open. She sat up, looked around. Didn’t immediately recognize their location.
She leaned forward. “Mike?”
He shifted the car into park, released his seat belt, and turned sideways to look at her. “You all right, Emily?”
There was no reason to be afraid. She knew Mike Caruthers, not all that well, but he’d married one of her closest friends.
But she’d known Misty and Justine too.
Emily blinked, stared at his profile. Recognition slammed into her. The blondish hair. He was one of the guys in the photo she’d taken from Justine’s house. Emily had only seen his profile in the picture. His profile and the blond hair that wasn’t quite blond. It was him. She remembered now. He’d hated his carrot top so bad, he’d tried to goblond one summer. As a freshman, she vaguely remembered making fun of him behind his back.
Mike Caruthers had been one of Justine’sboys.
The fear pressing against Emily’s throat suddenly made speech impossible. She forced her head into an up-and-down motion in response to his question. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” He sighed, removed his cap. “I wanted to do this myself. The others warned me against it, but I know what you’ve been through these past ten years. I’ve kept up with your folks, and Ray always said you’d paid a high price for what happened to Heather.”
Emily licked her lips, wished her throat weren’t so dry. “I ... I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to worry. Everything will be fine now. We know Misty is lying. And we’re going to take care of everything. You have my word.”
Somehow she managed to squeeze two words around the constriction in her throat. “Thank you.”
“You have to understand that our information was limited during the Baker investigation. Protecting certain people was priority.”
Keith. He meant Keith and his father. He didn’t have to say so. Ray had likely confronted Justine about the necklace and she’d claimed Keith was the guilty party. There was no telling what else she and Misty had done to make Keith look guilty. Granville had no doubt paid top dollar to see that Keith was left in the clear. Clint Austin had taken the fall. He was nobody. A guy who was on thin ice with the law anyway. No big deal. Who was going to argue? Who would care enough to?
No one.
That injustice twisted in Emily’s chest. Clint never had a chance.
“We’ll make sure justice is carried out swiftly and fairly this time. Misty Briggs will be dead before she reaches City Hall. We won’t waste the taxpayers’ time or money on a trial.”
Shock generated a tremor along Emily’s limbs. She tried to hold still, certain she hadn’t heard right. Absolutely positive she didn’t want to ask him to repeat it.
“You may have forgotten, Emily, since you’ve lived away so long, but here in Pine Bluff we take care of our own. Misty and Justine just got out of control before we realized how much damage they’d done. Even Ray was fooled for a while. But we’ve got the situation under control now. We’ll take care of everything. Justine’s home will become a secondary crime scene, as will Misty’s; whatever they’re hiding, we’ll find it.”
