Wynona sighed in defeat.“Billy was going through a rough patch in the weeks before he died.He called me one night after he got in a bar fight and lost.The other guy took it too far.Beat him up pretty bad.”
“What was the fight about?”
“A woman, naturally.Billy had a crush on a waitress named Natalie, and he was trying to impress her by acting tough.”
“Wade has mentioned Natalie before.”
“They were both interested in her, but she preferred Wade, like all the others.Billy was very depressed about it.He accused Wade of stealing his girlfriends and following him around in his patrol car.”
“Was that true?”
Wynona shrugged.“I don’t know.Wade might have had cause to follow Billy around.Even so, Billy felt targeted unfairly.He said that Wade was using his power as a police officer to harass him and interfere in his life.”
Meredith assumed that there was more to this story.She doubted that Wade would abuse his authority just to annoy his brother.She felt the urge to defend him.Instead she stayed quiet and let Wynona continue.
“Billy grew up in Wade’s shadow.Wade was the star athlete, the straight-A student, the outstanding police officer.People were constantly telling Billy to be more like Wade.The comparisons bothered Billy.He excelled at one thing.Misbehaving.”Wynona cleared her throat.“A month after the fight, he died of a gunshot wound to the head.”
Meredith drew in a shocked breath.“Who shot him?”
“They called it an accidental discharge.He was showing the gun to a friend.”
“Oh my God,” Meredith said.She reached out to cover Wynona’s hand with her own.“That’s awful.I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t believe it was an accident.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wade was the first responder at the scene.His father is the town sheriff.They can make anything look like an accident.”
Meredith stared at her in disbelief.
“Billy wasn’t happy.He threatened to commit suicide several times when he lived with me, but I didn’t think he was serious, and I never told anyone.”Her face crumpled as she spoke.“I was afraid they’d take him away from me.”
Meredith got out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Wynona.“I’m sorry, Nona.I’m so sorry.”
Wynona didn’t break down into noisy sobs.She was too dignified for that, or too good at repressing her emotions.She shed a few silent, stoic tears and patted Meredith’s hand.“Now you know why we don’t discuss it.”
Yes, she did.These were the kinds of secrets that kept people sick.Wynona’s guilt would haunt her forever.Wade had his own demons to fight.She couldn’t imagine him covering up a crime, but he refused to talk about his brother’s death.He was clearly traumatized by it.
“I’m going to lie down,” Wynona said.“I don’t feel well.”
Meredith let her go.She’d asked for the truth, and she’d gotten it.Wynona’s truth, anyway.She suspected that Wade’s truth would be entirely different.The situation was even more fraught than she’d figured.
Meredith borrowed the Subaru and drove to the hardware store to purchase some supplies.Then she continued to the library.A month after she’d arrived in Lost Lake, she’d applied for a library card under a fake name.She used it to book a thirty-minute computer session.The Lost Lake branch had ten computers for patrons, all in a quiet workroom.
Meredith huddled at a corner desk and typed the same search terms she’d entered yesterday.She was afraid to enter her real name.She didn’t know how IP addresses or technology worked, but she had the vague idea that hackers could track specific terms.Searching for Tripp Gilley wouldn’t trigger anything because he was famous.People searched his name all the time.Her name was another story.
Tripp had enough money to buy the best security staff, and the best hackers.The incognito mode she used at Wynona’s house wouldn’t protect her.She couldn’t afford to draw the notice of a private investigator on Tripp’s payroll.
Maybe he didn’t care about her anymore.Maybe he’d called off his dogs.She hoped so, but she had to proceed with caution.If he found her, he’d kill her.That was what he’d promised to do, and she believed him.
The article she’d seen yesterday came up first.She clicked the link and used a read-aloud app to listen to the text at a low volume.
Meredith A.Rose of Plainview, Kansas, has been reported missing.Her last known address was in Memphis, Tennessee.Ms.Rose wrote a short letter to her family over a year ago stating that she was safe, and she intended to dedicate her life to serving a remote religious community in the Ozarks.Interviews with community members indicate that no one matching her description had joined.Ms.Rose has not been in contact with friends or relatives since her disappearance.
Ms.Rose may be living under an assumed name and working in the farming or service industry.
Anyone with information regarding Ms.Rose is asked to call…
