“We'll see to it.” He's still red when he jumps behind the wheel and floors it. I watch Jerry speed away and try not to consider what it means that he’s left me with these assholes.
“Where are you going, Mr. Olsen?” Tanner asks.
I turn around. “To my truck.”
They share a look.
“Why don't we come with you. And then we’ll give you a ride back to the station.”
I hold in an annoyed grunt. “Sure thing.”
We walk out to the visitors’ lot. I see right away that May-Bell and I didn't exactly aim for precision when we were scrubbing my truck down. There’s still a few specks of blood on the door.
“Can you unlock it for us?” Agent Lightfoot asks.
I unlock it remotely without taking my keys out of my pocket.
“It's a nice truck. Expected something a little more beat up for someone who lives on the mountain,” Tanner says as he snaps on a pair of rubber gloves. Lightfoot is slowly walking around of the front of my Chevy.
“Yeah, rusted out classics with no heat are great when they break down in the pass,” I say.
“Touché.”
I watch them as they slowly inspect every inch, doing my best to keep my mouth shut. Tanner calls Lightfoot over to the passenger side. He mutters something and then she pulls out her phone.
“Yeah. We need someone down here to collect evidence from Shepard Olsen’s vehicle.” She pauses. “Not much. He scrubbed it pretty good, but there’s still some trace evidence.” She ends the call with a “Yep.” Then turns to Tanner, who's taking off his gloves. “Why don’t you two go have a chat?” I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”
Tanner nods, then turns to me with this creepy as fuck smile. “Come on. We’re right over here.” Right over here is back in front of the hospital’s main entrance. They’ve left their car in a red zone. There’s only a few people coming in and out of the main doors, but that’s enough to get people talking. I climb into the front seat to keep the rumors that I’m the real suspect to a minimum. Tanner doesn’t object.
“How do you and Miss Cade know each other?” he asks as we drive away from the hospital.
“We don’t.”
“No doubt you two are already bonded through this experience, but from the looks of things you seem pretty close. I saw the way she looked at you from that hospital bed. My wife isn’t even that protective of me.”
“That sounds like a problem between you and your wife.”
“Hmm.” Tanner grunts and then he laughs. He doesn’t saying anything else until we’re back in the Sheriff’s station. We go through the whole song and dance, but this time Tanner sits me down with a video camera pointing right at me over his shoulder.
“So tell me what happened last night,” he says.
“I heard screaming outside my cabin and then someone banging on my door.”
“Mhmm? Go on.”
“I got up, grabbed my gun and when I opened the door, Claudia—”
“Miss Cade.”
“She told me her name was Claudia. You want me to be more formal?” I ask.
“I want to make sure you two aren’t tangled up in this some other way.”
“Tangled up how? Do you think she and I planned this? Do you think I shot the wrong guy?” I don’t have time for this shit.
“I want to make sure we put the right guy away. Please continue.”
“I opened the door and Claudia basically fell into my arms.”
