“Wes.” Sheriff Sutherland nodded as he approached. “Good. Saves me repeating myself.”
Caleb glanced over. “He’s got something on the helicopter.”
Wes stopped at the edge of the steps and waited.
“Registration came back to a charter company out of Roanoke,” Sheriff Sutherland started. “They have a clean recordand are a legitimate operation on paper. But when I dug further into the ownership it got layered. The company has a parent company, then there’s a holding company above that, and above that there’s another LLC with a registered agent address in Delaware.”
“That’s the kind of structure you build when you don’t want someone following the trail back to a name,” Wes muttered.
“Exactly,” Sheriff Sutherland said.
Caleb’s jaw tightened. “Which means it’s someone with resources.”
“And someone who knows how to use them.” Sheriff Sutherland glanced between them. “Could be connected to the fire. Could be something else entirely. I’ve got a contact looking further into it, but it’ll take a few days.”
Wes reached into his jacket pocket and produced the evidence bag. “Speaking of the fire . . . I found these at the site this morning. I took pictures of them before retrieving them.”
He handed it to the sheriff.
“Rowan mentioned Travis Henderson had a toothpick in his mouth when she stopped at his property yesterday,” Wes continued. “She also noticed the smell of gasoline there when she got out of her car.”
Sheriff Sutherland studied the bag without touching the contents. His expression didn’t change, but something behind his eyes did. “That’s good to know. Thanks for sharing. If you could send me the photos, I’d appreciate it. In the meantime, I’ll get these to the lab.”
“Maybe something will pop up,” Wes said.
“Let’s hope.” The sheriff shifted, his gaze darkening. He hesitated before turning toward Caleb and asking, “Have you been on your phone this morning or have you watched the news?”
“Only a little.” Caleb frowned. “Why?”
“Because I saw a headline I couldn’t ignore.” Sheriff Sutherland kept his voice even, almost apologetic. “It was about Rowan.”
CHAPTER 15
Wes watched everything play out.He’d known Caleb would eventually find out. It appeared Rowan hadn’t told him yet.
Caleb went still as he turned toward the sheriff. “What kind of story?”
“According to the news, Rowan left her movie set a few days ago without telling anyone where she was going. The studio put out a statement this morning. They’re calling it a personal crisis.” Sheriff Sutherland paused. “They also mentioned something about erratic behavior.”
Caleb stared at him. “That’s not—Rowan doesn’t . . . she seemed fine when she got here. Tired, but fine.”
Sheriff Sutherland shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s true. I’m saying it’s out there, and I thought you should know since she’s here and since she’s your sister.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell us? If something was wrong—” Caleb stopped and looked at Wes, something shifting in his expression. “You spent time with her this morning. Did she say anything to you?”
Wes considered his answer. “She didn’t have to say anything. I saw the headlines.”
“Did you ask her about it?”
He nodded. “She didn’t tell me anything specific. But I also didn’t press her for answers.”
Caleb held his gaze. “What’s your guess as to why she’s not telling us?”
“Pride, maybe,” Wes said. “She bet everything on going to Hollywood to make it big. She left when most people were telling her it couldn’t be done, that she was wasting her time. If something went wrong, admitting it would mean admitting they were right.”
Wes had been one of those people. Not one of the ones who’d doubted her talent. He’d never questioned that, not for a second. But he’d told her not to go, and the memory of that conversation hadn’t faded the way he’d expected it to over the years.
It had been a late summer evening. The air had still been warm, and the two of them had stood outside with everything about to change, yet neither of them had been willing to say it directly.
