Travis’s grin sharpened. “I’m looking forward to it, Sheriff.”
Behind Travis, two men stepped into the light of the doorway. One was older, thicker through the shoulders, with a face that looked like it had been carved from the same stubborn rock as Travis’s. The other was younger and leaner. Micah recognized them both. Henderson brothers. Jared and Kyle.
“Everything okay out here?” Jared asked.
“Sheriff was just leaving,” Travis said, still watching Micah.
Micah didn’t move. He let the silence sit a beat, then another.
When he spoke again his voice was quieter. “By the way, were you at the hospital tonight, Travis?”
Travis’s expression didn’t change, but something behind his eyes shifted.
“The hospital?” Travis repeated as if he were tasting the words. “Why would I be at the hospital?”
“That’s what I’m asking.”
Travis tilted his head, the toothpick moving to the other side of his mouth. “My cousin had surgery today. Knee replacement. I did stop by to check on him.”
He said the words smoothly, as if he’d had the answer ready before Micah even asked the question.
“Which cousin?” Micah asked.
“Jerry. You know Jerry.”
Micah did. Jerry Henderson, mid-fifties, worked at the lumberyard, had bad knees from twenty years of hard labor.
The story was plausible. Easy to verify. And Travis knew that.
“What time were you there?” Micah asked.
Travis shrugged. “I don’t know. Six? Maybe seven? Didn’t stay long. He was half out of it from the meds.”
Micah held his gaze. Travis held it right back, the smile still there, patient and unbothered and infuriating.
“One more thing,” Micah said. “We found a dog on the road this afternoon, not far from your place. Yellow lab. No collar. You know anything about that?”
Travis’s smile faltered. Just for a second. Just long enough. “A dog?”
“Yeah. A dog.”
“Lots of strays out here, Sheriff. You know that.”
“This one wasn’t a stray. This one was abandoned. On the same stretch of road where you hit Naomi’s vehicle.” Micah took a step closer to the porch, and his voice dropped. “Funny coincidence, don’t you think?”
Travis didn’t answer. His jaw worked, the toothpick going still between his teeth.
Jared shifted. “That’s enough, Sheriff. You got a question, you ask it. Otherwise, you’re trespassing.”
Micah looked at Jared, then back at Travis. He could push. He could make this bigger than it needed to be. But he’d already gotten what he came for.
Travis was rattled. Not much. But enough.
“I’ll be seeing you,” Micah said.
He turned and walked back to his SUV without waiting for a response. Behind him, he heard the door close. By the time he pulled back onto the gravel drive, the lights in the house had already gone dark.
Micah drove back toward town with his hands tight on the wheel and the feeling in his gut louder than it had been all day.
Travis Henderson was lying.
He just didn’t know yet which part was the lie.
