That got his attention.
“I’m not sure what,” she quickly added. She groaned and scrubbed her hand over her face. “It feels as if a memory of him is right there, right on the fringes of my mind. But it could be nothing,” she conceded. “I could have maybe seen his picture in the news or on social media. Heck, even if he came into town.”
All of that was possible, but Ethan heard the worry in Livvy’s voice. And it was for a good reason. Someone had lured them to the scene of Zadie’s death, someone who wanted to drag them into this investigation. Maybe to expose Livvy for something that’d happened when she was a kid.
Or to get revenge.
Before he could voice that possibility, his phone rang, and he saw Grace’s name pop up on the screen. “Eden just gave me an update,” the sheriff said the moment she was on speaker. “Is the injured woman on the way to the hospital yet?”
“The ambulance is about to leave,” Ethan let her know.
“Good. I’ll have Rory meet the ambulance and stay with her,” she explained, referring to Deputy Rory McClennan. “I’m setting up a search of New Hope, both the house and grounds, and working on a search warrant. I need Livvy and you back here to interview Anthony Carter.”
“He’s there?” Ethan asked.
“He’ll be here any minute,” Grace replied, “and he seems eager to cooperate.”
Good. Because Ethan was eager to ask the man some hard questions. “Livvy and I are on the way,” he assured the sheriff, and they ended the call.
And he glanced at Livvy.
“Don’t ask if I’m up to this,” she insisted as she drove away from New Hope. “I’m not going to bury my head in the sand. If I’m remembering, then I’ll deal with it.”
The words sounded right, but he knew what this was costing her. The nightmares and amnesia had eaten away at her. Recalling the truth would no doubt do the same.
Or worse.
Because he couldn’t think of a good reason why she’d had trauma memory loss. Or why she’d been found wandering around town with blood on her hands. Or why no one had ever reported her missing.
Yeah. There were some very bad possibilities hidden in those blank spots of her mind.
Livvy pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the police station, and they used the side entrance to head to the bullpen. Ethan immediately spotted Grace at her desk, and she was having what appeared to be a very intense conversation with someone. He also saw the sandy-haired man with the bulky build going through the metal detector.
“Anthony Carter?” Ethan asked him, and he got a quick nod.
Not a friendly one though. Anthony looked intense and riled. What Ethan didn’t see were any signs of grief. Surely he’d heard about Zadie’s death, but maybe the man didn’t consider that to be terrible news.
When Anthony was finished with the metal detector, he made his way to them. “Sheriff Granger?” he asked, looking at Livvy.
“No. I’m Deputy Walsh, and this is Deputy Oakley,” she said.
“Walsh?” Anthony repeated, and he seemed to do some kind of mental double take.
She nodded. “We’ll be taking your statement.” And as if she hadn’t just gone through a morning from hell, she motioned for Anthony to follow them down the hall and into an interview room.
Ethan activated the recording and recited the time, date and those present. “Mr. Carter—”
“Call me Anthony,” the man interrupted, taking a seat at the metal table.
“Anthony,” Ethan obliged, though he wondered if the cooperation would continue when he added, “I’m going to Mirandize you.” That got Anthony’s eyes widening, and he looked ready to bolt. “It’s standard procedure.”
The man didn’t look at all sure of that, but he sat quietly while Ethan read him his rights. However, the silence ended the moment Ethan finished.
“Do you think I killed Zadie?” Anthony demanded on a huff.
“Did you?” Livvy asked as Ethan and she sat across from him.
“No,” he snapped but didn’t volunteer more.
